The Month in Books: September 2020

Another day, another destiny! 

Wait, that’s not it. What I meant to say was — 

Another month, another wrap-up! Can you believe that we’re already in the last quarter of the year? But honestly, September was one of the few months of 2020 that seemed to last forever. It was an eventful month for me in a lot of ways. For one, I started online school, and my stress levels haven’t just hit the ceiling, they’ve rocketed to the moon and back 😱😭😂 And I’m still getting the hang of fitting in blogging into the mix, so bear with me if you don’t see as much content from me in October!

But I’ll save any further ramblings for the actual post. So without further ado, let’s get into September’s monthly wrap-up!

Books Read

I didn’t get to read as much as I would’ve liked to this month, but regardless, September was a fantastic month in terms of rating!

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• Spin the Dawn, by Elizabeth Lim. YA fantasy at its best!! Sizzling romance, Chinese-inspired world, court intrigue, strong female protagonist — what more could you ask for from a book? Plus, behold and feast your eyes upon the beauty of that cover. ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ¾
• Stitches, by David Small. An unsettling blend of the imaginary and a horrifying reality that seems simplistic at surface level but is innately complex with great psychological depth. Visual and poetic — required reading that sucks me in like this is rare. ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑
• The Flatshare, by Beth O’Leary. Equal parts laugh-out-loud funny and heartbreaking, an ultra-sweet romance perfect for all fans of contemporary novels. I loved the little notes Tiffy and Leon exchanged — gave me all the epistolary vibes — and the two main characters each had such real personalities that were made for each other. ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ½

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• The Shadows Between Us, by Tricia Levenseller. Political intrigue, morally gray main characters, enemies-to-lovers romance, standalone YA fantasy… this book was just a compilation of all the things I love. Write me more of theseeeeee. ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ½
• The Silence of Bones, by June Hur. I find it hard to imagine anyone not liking a single aspect of this brilliant story, whether it’s the three-dimensional characters or the mystery or the Korean culture or Inspector Han or — yeah, you’re all probably tired of me yelling about this book and how good it was at this point, so I’ll stop right there. (For today.) ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑
• Vaclav & Lena, by Haley Tanner. A very interesting required reading item. A touching and poignant story with dark and realistic undertones, and a lovely writing style. And the listening experience was a great introduction to the world of audiobooks. ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ¼

Movies & Musicals

Fame: The Musical. The Shows Must Go On is back! I loved the story of this one and, being the character lover that I am, I enjoyed myself immensely getting to know all the individual characters. The production, on the other hand, was quite… interesting. The performances all seemed a bit too… exaggerated for my taste. But it was still a highly entertaining show, and emotional, too. You don’t even want to know what my face looked like after “In LA.”

You can tell it was a busy month — I didn’t even get to rewatch Hamilton 😨 I’m planning to cancel my Disney+ subscription at the end of October, so hopefully I get to catch up on a couple of items on my watchlist!

Blogging Highlights!

Time to share some of my favorite blog posts of the month! Key word being some — I couldn’t possibly include all of the amazing posts from around the community from September, so I had to narrow it down to a couple. Love you all and appreciate all of you so, so much ❤️

• Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books and May @ Forever and Everly announce the winners of the Fourth Annual Book Blogger Awards — congratulations to everyone who won!! Love this community 💕
• Cielo @ Bellerose Reads gives us a comprehensive guide to ARCs, including what they are, how to request them, and personal tips from her own blogging experience!
• Aayushi @ My Bookish Banter shares an insanely helpful post featuring several tips to give your WordPress blog a free makeover
• Kristin @ Kristin Kraves Books shares some fantastic fall book recommendations to get you into the spirit of the new season
• Eleanor @ Wishing Upon a Star writes a discussion about Asian-American representation in the media that I cosign with all my heart
• Aria @ Book Nook Bits talks about all the reasons she loves to read, fully articulating everything I’ve never had the right words to express
• On that note, Scarlett @ Fairest Dreamer of Them All shares her thoughts on why the world should read — the next time someone looks at me judgmentally for being a bookworm, I’m just going to direct them right to this post 😂
• Sofii @ A Book. A Thought. shares her top five books with morally gray characters
• Sara @ Words With Wings talks about the five things that make her fall in love with a book
• Xandra @ Starry Sky Books celebrates her two-year blogiversary (congratulations! 🥳) with a thoughtful discussion about spoilers
• Tangie @ Mrs. T’s Corner writes a beautiful post about hypocrisy, wickedness, and how we must not remain complicit in acts of evil

And before we move onto the next section, one very special announcement: I reached 100 followers this month! I can’t believe that over 100 people decided my random bookish ramblings were worth their time 🥺 I just want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for supporting my blog, starting friendly conversations in the comments section, and appreciating my work 💖 And of course, infinite thanks to God in Heaven above for everything. He is the how and why for everything in my life.

Books to Read

I’m going to give myself a bit of a free pass for October. School is stressful enough — I don’t want to stress out about reading, too 😌 So this is just going to be a possibility list, what I might or might not get to in October!

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• Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens. Oops… I still haven’t finished this yet. It’s really interesting and entertaining and all, but it takes a lot of effort to actually sit down with it, you know? Wish me luck with this one. (CURRENTLY READING)
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi. My one library loan this month (as of writing this post)! I don’t reach for nonfiction titles easily, but I’ve honestly heard the best things about this book. I think it’s going to be worth going out of my comfort zone.
• Soothsayer, by Kathryn Amurra. My first review copy ever — thanks so much to the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!!! The blurb honestly sounds like everything I love in historical fiction. So excited to get started!
• Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo. This is it, folks. This is it!!! The most hyped book of the century!!! Yes!!!!

Verse of the Month

And now for my favorite Verse of the Day from September! You can sign up for YouVersion’s Verse of the Day right here!

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Exodus 14:14 NIV

This verse comforts me so much, especially when it comes to mind in the middle of a particularly exhausting day. He is God. He loves you. He died for you. He is fighting for you, every single moment of every single day of your life. That’s more than enough.

That’s it for September’s wrap! How about you? How was your September? Did you have any stand-out reads? Any tips for stress/time management? 😫

Oh, and if you’d be interested in a special post as a thank-you for 100 followers, please feel free to drop any and all suggestions in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, as always, and I hope you have a beautiful October, everyone!