Happy Halloween! Tomorrow officially marks the end of spooky season. How did that go by so quickly?? As sad as I am about this time of the year being over, I can now look forward to my birthday (which is in about 2 weeks!!). Also, NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow, so I will have a very stressful month.

But, this also means that another month is over. And of course, it’s time for another wrap-up.

I haven’t done a monthly wrap-up in the LONGEST time because I haven’t been reading as much in a month as I would have liked to. But, I read 8 books this month (which is my longest in a while), so I knew it was time to do one again.

The Books:

 

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett

I was literally so happy when I got approved for an ARC of this book. Jenn Bennett is one of my all time favorite authors (as of this year). I have read 3 of her books now, and I just bought a fourth. She just writes such amazing characters and her storylines are all so unique. I really fall in love with her writing time and time again. When this one comes out, please check it out! It is so worth it.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

I had an e-book of this for a while now and I finally got around to it. This was such a good book and I highly recommend checking it out. It deals with grief/loss but in such a powerful way. It is definitely more of a character driven story (which I personally love), so I fell in love with each and every person. I loved the writing in this, and I immediately purchased Akemi’s previous release, Starfish, after reading this one.

Rating: 5/5 stars

 

Best American Poetry 2018 by Dana Gioia

This next book is a collection of poetry I received from Netgalley. I didn’t really find myself connecting with the poems, and I felt as though there should have been a few popular contemporary/modern poets included. 2018 was a big year for poetry, and I just feel like these poems did not do the year justice personally.

Rating: 3/5 stars

All the Things We Lost by Kayla Tirrell

If I’m being honest, I can’t even remember what this book is about. I just know I really, really didn’t enjoy it. It was another book I received on Netgalley. I had high hopes for it because I loved the cover and when I read the description I thought I would enjoy it. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed by it.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Girls Write Now (Anthology)

This is an anthology of stories written by young women which I requested a while back. It was a wonderful read and many of the stories were so powerful. I am so happy that a book was created solely by women and features such diverse voices. I highly recommend checking it out.

Rating: 4/5 stars

 

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This is a book I was assigned to read in my Children’s Literature class this semester. It was actually an interesting read (although definitely written for a child). Some people read this as kids, but I never did, so it was fun to pick it up.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

This is another book I read for school, but one that I actually didn’t really enjoy much at all. I know it’s a classic, but I found it so pointless. I never really cared for the movie as a child either, so clearly it’s just not for me.

Rating: 2/5 stars

A Poet’s Notebook by Stewart Henderson

I wasn’t even sure if I should include this one because I DNF’d it. But, I figured I would just put this at the bottom of the list and let you decide. The book is supposed to be about the poet’s process and where he found inspiration for all of the poems. However, I found the stories to be very dull and I couldn’t get through them after reading the first one. I did read the poems at the end of each chapter, but I skipped through the actual prose.

Let me know what you think about these books if you’ve read any! What books did you read this month?