I’m slightly terrified by the fact that it’s already November but I’m also extremely excited because that means this time next month it’ll be entirely socially acceptable to be singing Christmas carols. I also had a great month because I hardly bought any books (actually, I bought none) so clearly October was a success.

Although, that being said, I had a very slow reading month. I started off in a reading slump and reading a huge book so it was slow going. Plus I was extremely busy because this was the last stretch of uni for me (forever) so I’ve been chained to my desk writing assignments. It’s no joke been a gruelling month but I’m pleased with the amount that I’ve read – in November I’m going to try and read 15 books. I’m an ambitious person like that.

It was quite the exciting month here at Upside-Down Books, too. I hit 400 followers this month which is super exciting, and I also turned one! Over on Instagram, I hit the 450 mark and I’m over 400 on Twitter, too. It seems to be the lucky number! I would like to apologise for the fact that I didn’t write a Past to Paper for this month, however. Sorry if anyone was looking forward to that – I just ran out of time and they take so much time to write! I promise I’ll make it extra interesting this month.

ALSO. I’m sort of not breathing over the new Funko pops to come out. Seriously – it’s a whole bunch of BRAND SPANKING NEW Harry Potter figures. I NEED THEM.

I also bought some awesome things from various shops this month! I bought three candles from Burning Pages Candles – Bag End, Winter is Coming, and Sherlock – and I love them all! So much love for that shop. I also bought some bookmarks from Beyond the Pages which I’m sure you’ll see me feature on Instagram over time.

Progress for RMTBR challenge

Progress for Fairy-Tale Retelling challenge

Progress for the 2016 Pop Sugar Challenge

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Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

by Ransom Riggs

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Sci-Fi [Paranormal]
Author: Ransom Riggs
Published: June 2011
Publisher: Quirk Books
Pages: 352 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

I really enjoyed this! When the movie came out I decided I needed to try and read the book first so I went and bought the complete series. It was so much fun and I loved it so much. I will absolutely be continuing the series because I just have to know what happens next. I loved how unique all the children’s peculiarities were!

The Challenge Count:

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

My review

// GOODREADS //

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Empire of Storms

by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: High Fantasy
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Published: September 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Pages: 704 {hardback}

Will I continue the series? YES

This actually took me a really long time to read. This book was when I fell into a reading slump. I’m finding that every time a new book in series comes out it always during a busy part of the year for me and I just slog through it. But, as always, I ADORED THIS. The ending though, what a cliff hanger. The adventures and magic in this book were to die for. I also don’t know if this really counts as YA anymore . . . it certainly feels more adult. I can’t wait for the next book. I neeeeed it.

The Challenge Count:

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

Review to come

// GOODREADS //

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 Strings

by David Estes

Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi [Dystopia], Retelling [Pinocchio]
Author: David Estes
Published: February 2016
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Pages: 336 {paperback}

Will I read more books by Estes? YES

Wow. This was a brilliant retelling of Pinocchio. I always thought that Pinocchio would be the hardest fairytale to do a retelling of – it’s quite specific in what makes up the story. But yep, Estes has done it. If you’re look for a great fairy-tale retelling then look no further. This will blow your mind.

The Challenge Count:

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

Review to come

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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 Blood for Blood

by Ryan Graudin

Genre: Young Adult, Alternate Historical Fiction [WWII], Sci-Fi
Author: Ryan Graudin
Published: October 2016
Publisher: Orion Children’s Books
Pages: 496 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? IT ENDED. NOW WHAT.

I died. This book was phenomenal. It’s now my new favourite series and I cannot stop thinking about it. If I had time, I would 100% be sitting down and reading the whole thing again. I’ve never been more upset over a book, either – I have been furiously messaging Graudin to express this, too (she apologises). If you haven’t read this series then what even are you doing with you life.

The Challenge Count:

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

My review

// GOODREADS //

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 La Ragazza di Bube

by Carlo Cassola

Genre: Historical Fiction
Author: Carlo Cassola
Published: 1960
Publisher: Mondadori
Pages: 219 {paperback}

Will I read more by Cassola? NO

Hm. I studied this book for uni and I so I finished it recently. It was just eh. I found the plot uninspiring, the characters shallow, and overall it was just a bit disappointing. Obviously, I did read this in Italian so I’m sure there’s lots of things like language style which were lost on me.

The Challenge Count:

RMTBR challenge points award: 0
Fairy-Tale Retelling: 1
Pop Sugar: A Classic From the 20th Century

Review to come

// GOODREADS //

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 What else did I blog about this month?

• I tried to stick to the rules for Top Ten Tuesday but didn’t:
  • A Scary TBR
  • Back in the Day
  • All by Myself
  • Villains
• I resisted buying books for Wishlist Wednesday:
  • Marked by Sarah Fine
  • The Gates of Rome by Con Iggulden
  • The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
  • Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
• I looked longingly to the future for Waiting on Wednesday:
  • We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun & Susan Mullen
  • If the Magic Fits by Sarah Maupin Schmid
  • Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes
  • Frost by M. P. Kozlowsky
• I reviewed some books:
  • Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children [5/5]
  • The Just City [4/5]
  • Recreated by Colleen Houck [4.5/5]
• I participated in some book tags:
  • The Halloween Book Tag
  • The Goodreads Book Tag
  • The Sims Book Tag
• I hauled some books for my October book haul
• I hauled some books for my September book haul
• I celebrated my first Blogoversary
• I talked about some of my favourite mother figures in literature
• I unboxed the September edition of The YA Chronicles
• I unboxed a special edition of Lit-Cube
• I talked about what I’m writing for NaNoWriMo 2016
• I made an exciting announcement

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The Statistics

Genres Read:

Pages Read:

Total: 2,107

Progress Towards Goodreads’ Challenge:

106%, or, 74/70 books

That’s right! I finished my challenge! Go me!

Overall progress of RMTBR challenge:

Points accrued in October: 0
Number of books read in October that counted: 0
Total points: 35
Mini challenges completed: 2/10

The Fairy-Tale Retelling Challenge:

Retellings Read: 2
Level Achieved: Goose Girl

Overall progress for Pop Sugar Reading Challenge:

31/40

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What about me?

Firstly, let’s talk about the most important thing that happened last month: I had a Turkish Delight milkshake. Good lord it was amazing. I saw it on a menu when I went out to lunch with my Dad and I’ve finally found my drink. This is it. Nothing will ever be as good as this again but I do not think I will find a Turkish Delight milkshake anywhere else.

Nextly, I’ve finished uni! I’ve just handed in my last assessment, yesterday, so now I’m free as a bird. I literally have nothing but work until I leave for America in January. It’s as heavenly as it sounds and I intend to do nothing but read and watch everything and lounge around like a queen.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is on this month! I’ve never participated in it before because it usually clashes with exams but this year I can do it! So far it’s going well and I’ve been keeping up with the word count. I’m actually thoroughly enjoying writing my book (you can read about that here) but I’m just waiting for me to fall behind. It’s got to happen at some point.

And then Jojo Moyes tweeted me. I mean, it’s not like it was huge but she actually replied to a tweet and a fell off my chair because HELLO, MOYES? It was a very exciting moment.

@ozbooksnail Hope you enjoy it!

— Jojo Moyes (@jojomoyes) October 12, 2016

And when I finished reading Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin I tweeted her expressing how she had destroyed my soul and I was not okay and she sent me back this:

@ozbooksnail pic.twitter.com/3FVo8mCp87

— Ryan Graudin (@ryangraudin) October 26, 2016

I died again. She also pointed me towards a support group for the book (one exists) so I could collapse from feels at other people’s feet. So, good luck if you haven’t read that yet!

I also became an affiliate for all three companies of The Book Depository, Booktopia and Angus & Robertson Bookworld so I’d much appreciate it if you use my links to buy books because I will get paid a small commission by the company which goes a long way!

Movies
I saw a few movies this month, some good, some not as good.

The Space Between Us, 2016: 6/10 stars
This was an Italian film that I saw because I won tickets to the Italian film festival. Whilst it was quite an enjoyable watch, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting and the plot fizzled a little towards the end.

Bebo’s Girl (La Ragazza di Bube), 1964: 5/10 stars
Another Italian film! This one I watched in class after we finished the book. It was great fun to watch it with all my peers, but at the end of the day I still found the movie quite flat.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, 2016: 7/10 stars
I really enjoyed this – and when I watched it I hadn’t read the ending of the book yet. I actually think, despite it being an incredibly different ending to that of the book it worked really well and I enjoyed it for what it was.

Bridget Jones’s Baby, 2016: 8/10 stars
This was just as good as the previous two films and I cannot recommend it enough. I laughed so hard.

TV Shows
I didn’t watch much TV this month, truth be told. That’s this month’s job.

Call the Midwife, Series 4
I’m still slowly making my through this series and thoroughly enjoying it! Hopefully I can get caught up now that uni is out!

Miranda, Series 2 & 3
I’m slowly catching up with this one too. I actually have every intention tonight to power through the remainder because good god I love this series.

If you would like to know what books I’ll be reading in November then I refer you to either the list I recently made or the photo I recently took.

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Tick! October done! 

What was your favourite book that you read in October? 

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~~ Kirstie ~~

Follow @ozbooksnail