Monthly Round-Up for October
October has been an absolute whirlwind, so much so that I nearly named this post ‘September’ Round-Up. Where has this month gone?!
We’ve had a busy half-term at school, with my class producing their own anthology of re-imagined fairytales which I am showing off to everyone * proud teacher*
In personal life, me and the other half have been looking at houses and apartments, with the aim of buying our own – scary yet exciting!
How has your October been?
See my monthly round-ups for January, February, March and April, May, June, July, August and September.
Books read
Total: 40
Picture books: 13
Graphic novels: 0
Middle Grade: 12
Young adult: 13
Adult: 1
Non-fiction: 1
Poetry: 1
Sources of books
Library: 26
Bought/Owned: 6
Won: 1
ARC: 8 ( 3 e-ARCs from Netgalley)
October Posts
Book Reviews: Eternal Seas, Ada Lovelace, Distortion, East/North Child, West, White Feather, The Light Between Worlds
Author Interviews: Lexi Rees,
Multilingual flashcards: Crab, Fish, Coral, Happy Hallowe’en!
Language Learning:
Other posts: Random Question Generator, Book rainbow: Blue Books Part 1, Random Question Generator Take 2, My 5 Autumn Essentials, Witches, witches everywhere!
Reblogged posts: Children’s Books for Hallowe’en
I also took part in:
Waiting on Wednesday: The Familiars, A Pinch of Magic, A Witch Come True, The Winter of the Witch
(Just realised that they are all -pretty much- about witches! Turns out I have a type of books for October…or maybe just in general, lol)
Six for Sunday: Favourite series/trilogies, Books I want to Reread, Books I Wish I Had as a Teen
Library Loot: Dragons, Magic and Fairytales, Sequels and Secrets, Outer Space, Winter and Magic
October Achievements and Highlights
My class’s aforementioned anthology of fairy tales – my favourite thing in the classroom right now! I am also so proud of the work they have been producing in Maths and the depth of discussions we have been having around our whole-class reader (i.e. book we all read the the same time) The Iron Man. Our new school library is starting to look really welcoming, thanks to my Year 6 Librarians who have been brilliant. We also ran the Book Fair and raised some money to buy new books for the library – yay!
I was finally brave enough to e-mail some publishers for proofs this month and heard back from two of them – I am really excited to bring you reviews of some books from Thames & Hudson and Midas PR/ Perronet Press within the next few weeks.
Plus I was lucky enough to get an amazing selection of books from Barrington Stoke and Chicken House so look out for those too. I still feel nervous e-mailing publishers, but I hope that they can see how much I shout about books I love!
October Favourites
Food/Drink: The last few days have been gorgeous, sunny and warm, but you can still feel the Autumn chill and see the nights getting darker a bit earlier. For that reason, I’m back onto drinking my yummy gingerbread green tea and chai tea, sometimes on its own, sometimes whisked up with milk = yum! Also eating tonnes of soup because it’s so much nicer than a cold sandwich on a chilly day. Which flavours are your favourite? I like good, trusty old chunky vegetable soup, potato and leek and broccoli and stilton as a treat!
Skincare: Coming into the colder weather my already-dry skin tends to get completely dehydrated so I am trying to drink lots of fluids as well as use creams known to hold in moisture. I love the Garnier Moisture Bomb creams (both night and day) and the Simple Hydration booster which I mix with my primer and BB cream to get even more hydration. Vaseline is a life-saver for stubborn dry patches!
TV/Film: Recently I haven’t really been watching TV, apart from the odd episode of the Japanese drama, Nodame no Cantabile. I love this series so it is a bit like comfort food to watch, particularly as some of my favourite pieces of music are played in it. I am also planning to start watching a new Chinese or Korean series to keep my language skills up! Any recommendations?
What did you think of my monthly round-up for October?
How did your month go?
Would you like to see more posts like this?
Let me know in the comments!
Also, please link your monthly round-ups below so I can catch up with your blogs!
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Thanks for reading!
Chrikaru Reads 
Would love to hear your thoughts on Last Chance Hotel, A Spoonful of Murder, White Feather and Simon Vs! Did you enjoy them? I’ve read Race to the Frozen North as well (I enjoyed it!) and am going to be reading my review copy of the Dog Who Saved Christmas this month at some point. Your class’s anthology sounds fantastic! Hope house hunting is going well 💜
Amy x
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I really liked the Last Chance Hotel! I was a bit cautious going in, but really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the rest of the series! I loved the Hong Kong Setting of A Spoonful of Murder and seeing Hazel come into her own a bit more. Need to read Spotlight next! I liked White Feather too and reviewed it earlier this month. I liked Simon but didn’t love it as much as lots of other people seem to have (please don’t hate me!) The romance was really cute!! The Dog Who Saved Christmas made me cry twice – loved it! We’ve put an offer in on a house and now just waiting to find out if they will say es or not…..scary! x
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Ooh I hope you get it! X
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So do I! I know that I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but it’s really hard not to start planning out where the bookshelves are going to go (we could have a library instead of a dining room….). Also, has a garden so we can FINALLY get a dog!! 😀
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OMG A DOG?? YES!! Really hope you do get it and a dog, that siunds AMAZING! What breed would you want? X
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If examine my motives closely, getting a dog is definitely a big reason why I want to get a house, lol. I love all dogs but my favourites are collies so I would love to get a collie! We would have to supplement our walks with a dog walker though as we both work long hours! Or maybe get two dogs so they can play with each other…?
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I’m very curious. How do you read so many books per month? While the picture books and some others are short, that’s a mind blowing to me lol. That’s awesome!
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Thank you! I really don’t feel like I read much, compared to what I used to read when I was younger – now I have a job and have to clean, cook, etc, all of which eats into reading time. I try to read every day with breakfast and before bed, then I usually read 2-4 books a day at the weekend. Picture books I mostly read out load to my class or at the library on a Saturday morning! Where do you fit reading into your day?
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Ah ok, that’s fun to read the picture books out loud. I usually listen to audio books while I clean, drive or throwing for my dog. Reading physical books has tended to be mostly at night, but I’m trying to read more on my days off lol 🙂
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40 books?! From this list I’ve only read Simon but I did read the first book in the Murder Most Unladylike Series earlier this year
https://ahappylittlebookworm.wordpress.com/2018/11/02/nonfiction-november-2018-tbr/
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I do read lots of picture books which puts the number up 😀 They’re great though!
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