Well, wasn’t that an exciting month? I thought so. I really enjoyed September, a bunch of things happened which I can’t wait to tell you all about and it means I’m one month closer to finishing uni AND that it’s totally, basically Christmas now. Raise your hand if you’re a Christmas-a-holic like me *everyone raises their hands*, good, good.

Reading wise in September I had an . . . interesting month. I started off with such great ambitions but then I read only five (ish) books. Which is both disappointing and not. Whilst I wish I could keep at a nice 10 books a month average (I’m a very ambitious person) I knew I’d never be able to do that whilst studying. AND THE SLUMP MONSTER HIT ME. Gah.

I have almost completely forgotten to note down anything in the blogging community that happened this month that I enjoyed so a rap on the knuckles for me there. Excitingly, though, Casey @ adoptabookaus and myself are officially hosting a read-along each month for the subscription box, The Dragon’s Hoard. If you guys haven’t heard of this yet then I highly recommend checking it out as it’s seriously fabulous. I will link my unboxing for this month in the “what I blogged about” section near the bottom. The link to the group is just to the right if you so move your gaze that way and scroll up just a smudge, but you can also click HERE to be redirected to the Goodreads group, too. Each month we’re reading the previous month’s book so everyone can join in! Reading starts around the 15th of each month.

As always, the links to my challenges for the year are listed below if you so wish to peruse, but, as always, I shall summarise my progress towards the end of this wrap-up as well. As I’m a Book Depository affiliate any link you click on to buy a book helps me out as I get a small commission from the BD for your purchase – so please do use those links if you fancy grabbing a copy of one of these books! Buckle up kiddos, let’s get started.

• Progress for RMTBR challenge
• Progress for Fairy-Tale Retelling challenge
• Progress for the 2016 Pop Sugar Challenge

---

The Snow Globe
by Jenna Nelson 

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Author: Jenna Nelson
Published: September 2015
Publisher: Purple Arcana Publishing
Pages: 434 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

I really enjoyed this book! I read this as part of the both the #ReadThemAllThon and #RYBSAT round 9. It’s a fantasy book that follows a girl who lives in 19th century London but discovers a whole other world inside of a snow globe. And there’s magic and brooding characters. And quite possibly a dragon or two. If you like fantasy, trust me on this one. I’m just praying that book two is going to appear soon!

The Challenge Count:

RMTBR challenge points award: 0
Fairy-Tale Retelling: 0
Pop Sugar: N/A

My review

// GOODREADS //

---

 The Darkest Minds
by Alexandra Bracken

Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopia, Young Adult
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Published: December 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
Pages: 488 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

I loved this book on so many different levels. It is hands down one of the best dystopians I’ve read and I can’t wait to continue the series. I intend to buy the complete set in the nice covers (this one is a bit icky, no?). There’s a reason this series is famous, guys, you absolutely should read it if you love your dystopians! Kids with individual abilities from a disease? YES PLEASE.

The Challenge Count:

RMTBR challenge points award: 1
Fairy-Tale Retelling: 0
Pop Sugar: N/A

My review

// GOODREADS //

---

Recreated
by Colleen Houck 

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy (Mythology)
Author: Colleen Houck
Published: August 2016
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Pages: 406 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

You may or may not be aware of my addiction to Colleen Houck’s series. Her Tiger’s Curse series is my favourite series of all time, it’s so fantastic. I’ve been really enjoying this new story too and this book certainly hit you with all the feels. I’m so desperate to get my hands on book three now because I need to know what happens next!!

The Challenge Count:

RMTBR challenge points award: 0
Fairy-Tale Retelling: 0
Pop Sugar: N/A

Review to come

// GOODREADS //

---

The Tales of Beedle the Bard
by J. K. Rowling 

Genre: Short Stories, Middle-Grade, Fantasy
Author: J. K. Rowling
Published: December 2008
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 109 {hardback}

Will read more by this author? IS THAT A QUESTION?

Of course I loved this. One does not dislike the queen of Harry Potter. I loved this little collection of magical fairytales and thought it was absolutely brilliant. It was just what I needed to float me through the midst of my slump. If you haven’t read this one yet then make sure you get onto it soon!

The Challenge Count:

RMTBR challenge points award: 1
Fairy-Tale Retelling: 1
Pop Sugar: A Book You Can Finish in a Day

My review

// GOODREADS //

---

 The Just City
by Jo Walton

Genre: Sci-Fi, Philosophy
Author: Jo Walton
Published: Corsair
Publisher: January 2015
Pages: 368 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

This book was so clever. As part of the August edition of the Dragon’s Hoard subscription box, I read this for the Goodreads group and absolutely loved it. Definitely add this one to your TBR because it’s a mad sci-fi story filled with so many things you thought you’d never see in a book.

The Challenge Count:

RMTBR challenge points award: 0
Fairy-Tale Retelling: 0
Pop Sugar: N/A

Review to come

// GOODREADS //

---

 What else did I blog about this month?

• I listed a variety of ten different things several times for Top Ten Tuesday:
  • Shamefully Incomplete
  • The Best of YA
• I wished upon a star for Wishlist Wednesday:
  • The Walls of Byzantium by James Heneage
  • Witchstruck by Victoria Lamb
  • Renegade by J. A. Souders
  • Fates by Lanie Bross
• I sat by the window patiently for Waiting on Wednesday:
  • Spindle by Shonna Slayton
  • Nemesis by Anna Banks
  • Snow Summer by Kit Peel
  • Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst
• I reviewed some books:
  • Eon by Alison Goodman
  • The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling
  • The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
  • Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes
  • The Snow Globe by Jenna Nelson
  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
  • Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
• My monthly feature this month was about sub-Saharan Africa
• I talked about why we shouldn’t judge books by their covers
• I did a couple of book tags:
  • The Versatile Blogger Award
  • The NY Times Book Tag
  • The Aussie Book Tag
• I lent a helping hand and talked about How to Define Fantasy
• I unboxed the September edition of The Dragon’s Hoard Box
• I unboxed the August edition of The YA Chronicles
• I participated in the #RYBSAT Round 9 read-a-thon and here’s my wrap-up
• I participated in the #ReadThemAllThon and here’s my wrap-up
• I did my August book haul and there was a huge amount of books

---

The Statistics

Genres Read:

Pages Read:

Total: 1,805

Progress Towards Goodreads’ Challenge:

99%, or, 69/70 books

The end is nigh!

Overall progress of RMTBR challenge:

Points accrued in September: 2
Number of books read in September that counted: 2
Total points: 35
Mini challenges completed: 2/10

The Fairy-Tale Retelling Challenge:

Retellings Read: 1
Level Achieved: Goose Girl

Overall progress for Pop Sugar Reading Challenge:

30/40

---

What about me?

September felt like a very busy month for myself. I’m really getting into the thick of if for uni so I’m finding I have less time to do some blogging things at the moment. It’s incredibly frustrating. I cannot wait for summer to come! This is my last semester of uni forever so I’m really looking forward to just getting through this last and final stretch and then enjoying some down time.

But not too much much down time! You may have seen in my post the other day that I’m moving to Florida for a bit next year! I’ve been accepted into a program to work at the Disney World theme park in Orlando and I’m over the moon about it. So I’m currently going through the process of booking flights and all that jazz in preparation for that adventure. You can read more about that here. I also became a Book Depository affiliate this month so as I mentioned before I’d appreciate any support you guys can give by buying books from the BD via one of my links!

I have become obsessed with a candle shop, Burning Pages Candles, as it’s an Australian bookish candle store which means I can actually afford the shipping! I found out about it through The Dragon’s Hoard box and have since bought myself their candle called The Darkling.

I decided to up the Instagram game this month and bought some props. And omg that was fun. I’ve always wanted to have an excuse to raid a $2 store and this month was my month TO SHINE. So yes, I went to town on buying cheap, useless things that can surely serve no other purpose than to compliment book covers. I also tore apart a falling-apart copy of Jane Eyre that I had so I could have pages to use as props too. I nearly wept. There’s something distinctively evil about tearing a book apart. Sort of like purposefully crushing someone’s Easter Eggs, or something.

I did fall into a teeny tiny slump towards the end of the month, however. That means that I’m taking about 10 years to read Empire of Storms, which is devastating. I just want to consume it in one reading but I refuse to force myself to read it if I’m not in a reading mood. However! I’m totally back out of the slump now which is fabulous. But, and 10 points to you if you noticed, I’ve dropped off blogging just a titch. I’ve been super busy these last few weeks between uni, work, and trying to sort out everything for America (honestly, the paperwork). So hang tight and bear with because if not in October, I shall be coming back with a blogging RAMPAGE in November. In which I’m also participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time! *excited boogying*

I’ve decided I’m going to change book buying tactics slightly. Whilst I’ve all but given up on trying to control how much I buy, I’ve decided I ‘m going to buy more from either Australian online retailers or physical bookstores. I had a few issues with online orders this month and I can’t be bothered with all the fuss when it comes to pre-orders. Plus it’s much more fun actually going to bookstores, don’t you think? I also had a lovely little trip out to a friend’s farm for the long weekend for Perth and it was glorious. You can see the rustic Australian outback where I was chilling out in THIS post if you so wish. There’s nothing quite like a little getaway. But I think that’s about it for me for September!

Movies I watched:

• Bridget Jones’ Baby, 2016: 8/10 stars
  This was quite literally, just about better than the originals. If you’re a Bridget Jones fan (and why wouldn’t you be?) then I highly recommend, no, I implore you to go and see this because you will laugh your socks off.
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, 2016: 7/10 stars
  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. As a last minute decision I decided to go and see it with a friend even though I hadn’t read the book yet. And I’m glad that I did because I’m very almost done with the book now and I don’t think I’d’ve enjoyed it as much if I’d read it first. Such a good film though!

TV series I watched:

• Call the Midwife
  I’m still making my way through this one! I’m literally the slowest person at watching TV series. I’m loving this to pieces though and am about half way through season four.
• War and Peace
  To be exact, I’ve only watched one episode of this, however, I’M IN LOVE. I’m so glad I recorded this series because it’s brilliant so far.
• Miranda
  I finally watched some more of this! And it was brilliant, obviously.

And there we have it! If you’re interested to see what I might be reading in October (and we all know how well I stick to my TBRs (I don’t)) then check out this post I did on Instagram. I can’t wait to see what October brings!

---

Tick! September done! 

What was your favourite book that you read in September? 

---

~~ Kirstie ~~

Follow @ozbooksnail