Bookmark Lit Bulletin | October 2018

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days.

I’m back into my slow reading habits, as you learned in my post about playing catch-up from this month. I don’t know what it is, guys. I’m reading so much slower than usual, prioritize every other thing over reading, and hardly ever have the motivation to read. I’ve been binge-reading the Rose Gardner mystery series, which has been good and addicting at times, but I’m still just kind of slogging through everything otherwise. I was able to pull off a few reads in the latter half of the month (thank you, graphic novels and novellas) to catch up a little more.

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All of the books read this month:

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Breakdown:  1 bought  |  0 borrowed  | 6 free/gifted | 11 for review 

Review Copies – Physical

Shelf Queen box from Simon/Riveted – thank you!! The Cold is in Her Bones by van Arsdale, Sky Without Stars by Divine, Crown of Feathers by Preto, Girls with Sharp Sticks by Young, Slayer by White

Review Copies – Digital

  
  

From Netgalley: It Started with Christmas by Hale, This Lie Will Kill You by Pitcher,
The Matchmaker’s List by Lalli, The Corner of Holly and Ivy by Mason,
The Dating Game by Roache, The Accidental Beauty Queen by Wilson

Kindle Purchases

     

Bought with gift card balance: Rose Gardner series #5-9 by Swank,
Haunting the Deep by Mather

Purchased Physical Copies

Preordered: Snow in Love by de la Cruz, Friedman, West, and Stone
Target purchase: Christmas on Mistletoe Lane by Rains

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My recent personal / life update found in the last Lauren Lately HERE.

• [3 Oct] The Last Wish of Sasha Cade by Cheyanne Young ★★★½
• [10 Oct] China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan ★★★★
• [10 Oct] Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan ★★★★½
• [18 Oct] Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid ★★★★½
• [18 Oct] So Close to Being the Shit, Y'all Don't Even Know by Retta ★★★★½
• [18 Oct] My Lady's Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel by Kitty Curran, Larissa Zageris ★★★★
• [22 Oct] Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes ★★★★
• [22 Oct] The Geography of Letting Go by Jessica Brody ★★★
• [25 Oct] The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox
• [31 Oct] Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft by Tess Sharpe, Jessica Spotswood, Brandy Colbert, Zoraida Córdova, Andrea Cremer, Kate Hart, Emery Lord, Elizabeth May, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Lindsay Smith, Nova Ren Suma, Robin Talley, Shveta Thakrar, Brenna Yovanoff ★★★½

• [1 Oct] Bookmark Lit Bulletin | September 2018
• [2 Oct] Top Ten Tuesdays #203: Meeting Authors
• [4 Oct] Gimme the Books (5): Mystery/Thriller Edition
• [5 Oct] Media Recommendations: If You Liked This, Try That
• [8 Oct] A Day in the Life (10/5)
• [9 Oct] Top Ten Tuesdays #204: Longest Books
• [11 Oct] On My List (6)
• [12 Oct] Five Things Friday | Football
• [15 Oct] Lauren Lately | October 2018
• [16 Oct] Top Ten Tuesdays #205: Bookstores
• [17 Oct] On Playing Catch-Up
• [19 Oct] My Go-To Trader Joe’s Shopping List
• [23 Oct] Top Ten Tuesdays #206: Villains
• [24 Oct] Autumn Decorations and Adventures
• [26 Oct] No Spend November
• [29 Oct] November & December TBR – Finishing Challenges
• [30 Oct] Top Ten Tuesdays #207: Halloween

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October’s goal: Read 3-4 “seasonal” books ✔️
November’s goal: Work on challenges to finish the year strong

My idea of “seasonal” books is different than other peoples’, maybe, but I pulled it off. I wanted to read 3-4 books that I like to read in the fall. This typically includes spookier books (witches, paranormal stuff, general mysteries) and fantasy books. From a Halloween/fall perspective, I read THE WITCH OF WILLOW HALL for the blog tour and TOIL & TROUBLE anthology (via audio and egalley). As you can probably assume, they both involved some witchiness. I’m giving myself a pass here because I read some of the Rose Gardner series (mysteries) and LADY’S GUIDE (historical fiction/fantasy). These represent the mystery/thriller or “heavier” books I like to read this season. Close enough for me!

My goal for November is simple: work on completing my reading challenges. I can’t spend a lot of time thinking of other mini goals because let’s be honest – that “end of year TBR to finish my challenges” post showed me that I have to read nearly 20 books to finish my challenges (in November/December), which means I need to get going. I was able to jumpstart the process for the end of October, which allows me more time for holiday reading in December!

Some Adult Fiction on my TBR | I’ve been adding more and more adult fiction titles to my TBR… and actually reading them! It was weird to see so many under this category over the last two months. I thought I would highlight a number of adult fiction titles I’ve recently added.

Cover Battles | I saw some similar book covers a few years ago and finally got around to “battling” them. Which of the two covers is better? Which of the two books was better from a story perspective?

Tis the Season – Holiday Plans | Yes, my holiday post is going up earlier than ever before! I have just been ITCHING for Christmas this year. I’ve been waiting since September, I feel like. I decided to share my holiday plans, TBR, movie/show list, and all of the posts from previous years.

What I Wore This Week | I’ve been toying with this idea for a while but my clothing choices are kind of lame? I work five days a week so I usually (at this time of year) wear a sweater (plus maybe a scarf), work pants, and flats or boots. We’ll see when and if this one happens!

What’s Up Wednesday | I found a new link-up for the last Wednesday of the month that looks really fun. You basically share what you’re eating, enjoying, reminiscing on, looking forward to, etc. – kind of like a “Currently” post – in order to wrap up the month a little bit.

101 in 1001 Update | I haven’t shared anything about this since I posted it originally, so I’m doing an update post! It’ll show all the items I’ve checked off and everything that’s in progress, as well as some of the goals I hope to achieve sooner rather than later.

Check out my EOY TBR post (focus on challenge completion)! ?

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How was your reading in October?
What do you have up next in November?

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