THE WITHERING WELL// October Wrap-Up

There is something about October that gets my blood racing. Those tingly feels on my skin and that excitement in my heart at the mere anticipation of its arrival – but it’s all fading away now, getting replaced with the quiet promise of chilly breeze and romantic days.

NOVEMBER is taking over the excitement of this spooky month and I cannot help but feel enchanted by it. The change in weather during this time incites an even stronger change in me.

A warm hearth, a comfortable chair, a blanket, a hot cup of coffee, a book in hand, and love ALL AROUND.

With the promise of all these lovely things, I feel at ease.

So, join me as I bid adieu to the fun-packed month of October. ❤

MY INCOHERENT POSTS OVER THE MONTH

//REVIEWS//

🖤 Rough Music by Patrick Gale was my first read of October and I WAS AMAZED by this author’s writing skills! This book left me awestruck. From complex relationships to heartbreaks, from mystery to catharsis, THIS BOOK HAD IT ALL! And I MUST urge you to read it AS SOON AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!

🖤 I finally picked up Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and MY ONLY REGRET IS THAT I DIDN’T READ IT SOONER! Such keen emotions! SUCH BEAUTIFUL WRITING! A mere mention of it and my heart starts spinning. LOVED EVERY SINGLE WORD OF IT!

🖤 October’s re-read was The Beauty & The Beast (THE COMPLETE VERSION, of course) and reading it again after soo many years made me realize why I fell in love with it in the first place! It was an enchanting read and I am tempted to make it a tradition to re-read it every few months! ❤

🖤 I also made a post titled – A BOOK REVIEWERS Prayer + Promise + Warning – declaring what you can expect in my reviews.

//MY BOOKISH OBSESSIONS//

In October, I decided to obsess over love letters of Keats to Napolean Bonaparte and MAN WAS IT AN EMOTIONAL RIDE!!! I ENJOYED SHARING ALL THOSE LOVELY LETTERS – filled with longing, love, and jealousy – IT WAS THE PERFECT SERIES. ❤

John Keats’ letter to Fanny Brawne

Napolean Bonaparte’s letter to his wife.

Zelda’s letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Another letter by Keats to Fanny. (this one had me bawling! 😦 )

//A BLOGGER’S LIFE//

🖤 It’s soo easy to get caught up in the never-ending chase of followers and likes and it happened with me as well. In my post titled – Beyond Comments, Likes, and Followers// How to Shake the Popularity Complex// – I talk about how I overcame my obsession with the stats.

🖤 People underestimate the amount of time and effort that’s needed to make a blog a success and I felt compelled to remind everyone AND MYSELF in my post titled – What does it take to be a better blogger? //E V E R Y T H I N G// – about some habits that the best ones out there make a part of their blogging schedule.

🖤 What happens when you live in constant competition with your fellow bloggers? When your desire to overtake them becomes bigger than your desire to have fun? Find out in – A RAT RACE //Surviving in a World where EVERYONE Wants to be THE BEST//

//A READER’S LIFE//

🖤 I am a very picky and irritable reader. 😝 And over the years I have developed some very weird – some relatable some not so much – quirks when it comes to books and that’s exactly what I shared in my post titled – Confessions of a VERY picky, VERY moody, VERY stubborn reader. 

AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE

Get ready for another LOONGGGG list of AWESOME posts from THE BESTEST BLOGGERS!

🖤 Ford’s poem on PROCRASTINATION was THE BEST AND THE MOST HILARIOUS THING EVERR!!! I loved it SO SO much.

🖤 October is at an end and I will REALLY miss Rook’s INKTOBER posts! So, here are two of my FAVORITES (although every single one of them is GOLD)- Treasure and Ghost.

🖤 Sophie – THE CHOCOLATE 🍫 QUEEN’s 👑– blog is SOO GORGEOUS – especially during October!! So, let’s enjoy all that spookiness, yeah? Here is her review of Serpent Dove by Shelby Mahurin. AND IT’S AWESOMEE! ❤

🖤 Belle is ONE OF THE BEST BLOGGERS YOU’LL MEET and she writes fantastic posts and her most recent discussion on slow/fast readers is a testimony of that. 

🖤 MP’s reviews are always very thoroughly written and information-packed. Two of my favorites are – The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins and Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. 

🖤 Lisa‘s review of Dark Matter – A Ghost Story by Michelle Paver made me sad that I didn’t already know about it! It sounds like a really good one and if it’s not already on your tbr, then please go and check out her review of it! 🙂

🖤 If you are thinking of reading The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah 🧜 I suggest you better go and read Dani’s review of it first before making a decision, ALRIGHT??? Oh, and also her review of The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco is A W E S O M E !! *heart eyes*

🖤 Sofii is one of THE BEST AND THE KINDEST 🥰 friends I have made here! AND I AM SOO GLAD TO HAVE MET HER. Her posts are always amazing and I love every single one, including her recent double book review of Orpheus Girl & Grace Year! PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT! ❤

🖤 Did you know about Scythe by Neil Shusterman? Well, I had no clue that it existed until I read Bludgers and Broomstick‘s review of it! AND NOW ALL I WANT IS TO READ IT ASAP! If you don’t know about this book, I suggest you go check this review.

🖤 Caitlin‘s blog is SOO BEAUTIFUL THAT I WANNA CRYYY!!!!!!!!! I love it soo veryyy much! And her most recent review of Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor is AMAZING! Please go and check her blog out!

🖤 How can I write a blogger appreciation list without a mention of THE AWESOME, THE ONE AND ONLY – Emer?? SHE IS MY BESTEST FRIEND, OKAY?? And I am going to give you an opportunity to go and read her awesome posts like her review of The Light Between Us by Katie Khan. 

🖤 Sophie, the AMAZING BLOGGER BEHIND the blog Me & Ink, is here to share with us some very important blogging tips in her beautiful post titled –  Blogging Tips From A Now 2-Year-Old Blogger (aka I pretend to know what I am doing for a change). So you better go and read it, OKAY? GOOD!

🖤 Lashaan, as usual, writes THE MOST PROFESSIONAL AND AMAZING REVIEWS EVERR!! I love reading EVERY SINGLE ONE and I don’t even read comics. Yep, he is THAT good. Don’t believe me? Why don’t you go and read his review of The Witching Hour by James Tynion IV? You will know what I’m talking about.

🖤 Leyre‘s posts always make me smile. I LOVE VISITING HER BEAUTIFUL BLOG!! ❤ And her latest post reviewing a couple of romance reads including The Flat Share by Beth oO’Leary is sooo cutteee!! PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT.

🖤 KB is THE SWEEEETEST SOUL and I am SOO glad I got the chance to meet her here and be her friend! She is so supportive and her posts are always fun. Two of my favorites are her review of The lost Ones by Anita Frank and her discussion titled – Is Context Important to a Book?

I wanted to include SOOOO MANYYY more but since it’s not possible here, I will make another post for them. But for now, please go and visit all these amazing blogs!

Also, I have decided not to make any official TBR for November. I mean WHAT’S THE POINT WHEN I DON’T EVER STICK TO IT?? xD I will just read what I want when I want. Ha!

ANDDD….THAT’S IT!
October 2019 all packed up and ready to be stored in the archives! 😇😇

WHAT ABOUT YOUUU???
How did this spooky month treat you? 👻☠️What were the most memorable moments? And the best reads?

LET ME KNOWWW!!

THE WITHERING WELL// September Wrap-Up

Honestly, I was not sure I’d still be able to pull book-blogging off after a YEAR long break but HEY, IT SEEMS I HAVE! CONFETTI ALL AROUND!!!

My blog during this month was like a newborn child and I needed to make sure I was attentive enough, nurturing enough because coming back from a hiatus can be a NIGHTMARE ESPECIALLY if you have been in a reading slump during your break, which was definitely the case for me.

But anyway, since the month has come to an end and I am still behind my computer typing away a wrap-up post is a success in and of itself!

MY INCOHERENT POSTS OVER THE MONTH

 

//REVIEWS//

🖤 I started by reviewing one of THE BEST books I have read the whole year. Frederick Backman was a stranger to me before AMAZON (my babyyyyy  ) suggested me US AGAINST YOU. And I am SOO FUCKING GLAD that it did because..my, oh my..I FELL IN LOVE with the residents of Beartown – their bravery, their stubbornness, their ability to love unconditionally – it was all just too much! And that line :

We’ll stand tall if you stand tall.

🖤 It seems like when my books saw me swooning over Us Against You and crying by the end, they started plotting to see which one can break my little heart even more and a series of events led me to pick out WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT from a dusty corner of my bookshelf. And I FELL IN LOVE A SECOND TIME!!  (And it wasn’t even the last ;))

🖤 By the time I had finished reading When God Was A Rabbit, I was hooked on the sweet solace of quiet tears and an even quieter sadness. And as though reading my mind, my JARVIS-like brainy bookshelf prompted me in the direction of  THE CELLIST OF SARAJEVO  and words are NOT ENOUGH to describe how STRONGLY I feel about this gem of a book by Steven Galloway who is now MY FAVORITE AUTHOR!! (Look, I am a fickle human being okay? I tend to fall in love 30 times a day. SO WHAT? Like YOU are any better, huh! *judging you*)

//A READER’S LIFE//

🖤 Having to take a break from blogging was bad enough and then came along that dreaded READING SLUMP. WHY DID GOD HAVE TO PLAGUE ME WITH THIS TOO???

But since I had to deal with this horrible affliction, it was only fitting that I give you my tips on how to overcome it. And you can read all about it and benefit from my post titled – Beware the SLUMP //Treating the most-feared READER’S disease//

🖤 I also talked about some of the weird habits I have developed ever since I started reading. And hey I warn you that some of them are QUITE weird and hella extreme but hey, to quote Oscar Wilde,

Moderation is fatal. Nothing succeeds like excess. 😉

 

//DISCUSSIONS//

🖤 Lastly, having read a sort of a heated debate about whether it is better to read challenging novels or entertaining ones, I decided to do a post about it by the title – Challenging or Entertaining – Which Ones Should You Be Reading?

I came to the conclusion that you cannot just decide which ones are ‘‘better’‘ as easily. There are many factors that come into play while choosing a book to read and that choice is really quite personal. That being said, I still do believe that a healthy combination of both should be a general aim while trying to expand your horizons.

ALL DOLLED UP Award

Beautiful blogs NEED to be appreciated.

A LOT of effort goes into making a website look aesthetically pleasing. And I created this award to make sure that these bloggers know that their effort has not gone unnoticed. Now, I usually do a separate post about it but from this month on, I am going to include it in my monthly wrap-ups.

So, I thought HARD & TRUE about this month’s award and THE ONLY ANSWER THAT CAME TO MIND WAS our very own, super talented MARIE and her cute-as-a-button blog DRIZZLE AND HURRICANE BOOKS ❤

I mean HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THE FUCKING AESTHETIC OF HER BLOG??? Downright G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. So here you are hon, THE ULTIMATE APPRECIATION for your blog’s NEVER-ENDING BEAUTY!!

Just a token of appreciation. Hope you liked it.

AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE

(Since I didn’t have the time to make a separate post about my favorite posts in the second half of the month, I am just going to include them in here.)

🖤 Lashaan from Bookidote is here to teach you THE ART OF ABANDONING BOOKS and you better listen to him because most of us readers absolutely SUCK at DNFing. Thus we end up wasting a whole lot of time in reading even the books that belong more in a garbage can than our precious little hands! (Kidding..I could NEVER do that! )

🖤 Having completed 5 YEARS OF BLOGGING, Marie talks about what to expect when you embark on this thrilling journey. She is here to spill the truth so go and read her absolutely fantastic post titled – 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BOOK-BLOGGING

🖤 Our favorite – The Orangutan Librarian – goes about her business, writing the most AMAZING posts. EVERY TIME. And her recent one – IN DEFENCE OF CLASSICS, AGAIN – is no different. I FUCKING LOVE IT. So go and check it out.

🖤 Kelly from A Book In The Wall brings you probably one of the most important posts you will read this year. HOW TO TAKE OFF THOSE GOD-AWFUL STICKERS FROM YOUR BOOKS.

🖤 If I had known about her website sooner, I’d have done an even better job at coming back from my break. But since now I know about it, YOU SHOULD READ Elizabeth from Redgal Musings’ awesome post titled – HOW TO CREATIVELY END A HIATUS WELL

BOOKS I WANT TO READ

JANE EYRE LAID BARE by Charlotte Bronte & Eve Sinclair

SUITE FRANCAISE by Irène Némirovsky

THE BIRTH OF VENUS by Sarah Dunant

THE LITTLE FRIEND by Donna Tart

JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte

THE SLAP by Christos Tsiolkas

Phew…It was QUITE A MONTH, HUH!! Still, I enjoyed September. I always do.

AND WHAT ABOUT YOUUU???

How was your September? Any complaints? 
What books are on YOUR TBR? What was your favorite read this month?

TELL MEE ALLL ABOUT IT! ❤

THE WITHERING WELL// October Wrap-up

October felt like a Tolkien book – ENTHRALLING, INTERESTING, a bit fatiguing AND MAGICAL – ALL AT THE SAME TIME. ”I felt sort of stretched, like butter spread on too much bread.”

BUT…HEYY!!! A bit of stretching never hurt anyone 😉

THE WITHERING WELL //September Wrap-up//

 

I made AMAZING new friends. I read GORGEOUS books. I ACTUALLY HAD FUN WHILE WRITING MY BLOG POSTS. I bought new heels ;p *BLACK*

GUESS I CAN CONFIDENTLY SAY THAT SEPTEMBER WAS A BLASTTTTT!!!