This wrap-up might be two weeks late but I can at the very least promise you that I did a solid amount of reading. I felt on top of the world at the end of October, quite sure that I had read at least 971 books in the month, but was a little crushed to see it was just eight. But you know what? Eight will do me fine.

Hello everyone! How are we all today, I hope well is the answer. October was good month, I liked October – particularly the way it ended with a lot of chocolate (thank you, Hallowe’en). But let’s start this off by having a look at what’s happening in the book world – don’t want you missing out on those sales!

Angus & Robertson Bookworld is an Australian company that offers free shipping for all orders over $60AUD for orders within Australia/New Zealand. Right now if you order from their gift guide you’ll go in the draw to win $1000 worth of bookish, Christmassy stuff! You can also check out their best books of 2017 so far!

Over at Booktopia you can enjoy flat rate shipping on all orders to AU/NZ (although they frequently have free shipping deals) and 25% off Top 100 best sellers each week!

Wordery has all your Christmas needs sorted – from suggestions to free shipping, you name it! Find the right book for that special someone or top up on Christmas stories for kids!

Enjoy an amazing range of books at great prices with The Book Depository. As always, there is free international shipping! You can currently get an extra 10% off best sellers and check out their gift giving guide this Christmas! Not to mention their great array of beautiful books on sale.

And now, let’s look at what I read!

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Inkheart
by Cornelia Funke 

Genre: Children’s Fiction, Fantasy
Author: Cornelia Funke
Published: September 2003
Publisher: Chicken House Ltd
Pages: 543 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

I finally finished this book, which had originally been high up on my TBR for September but ah well. I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this and was so surprised by how much of it I’d forgotten. Inkheart is such a unique and fun book, surely it’s just a staple in everyone’s bookish diet by now.

My review

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Crooked Kingdom
by Leigh Bardugo

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Published: September 2016
Publisher: Orion’s Children
Pages: 536 {paperback}

I buddy read this book with Amanda @ Cover2CoverMom and we totally smashed through this conclusion to the Six of Crows duology. SO. ENJOYABLE. I loved being back with this gang of characters again and finding out the resolution to all the problems left up in the air from book one. Ah, it was good.

My review

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Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
by J.K. Rowling 

Genre: Children’s Fiction, Fantasy
Author: J.K. Rowling
Published: November 2015 [audiobook]
Publisher: Pottermore [audiobook]
Audiobook Length: 19 hours
Page Count Equivalent: 607 {UK hardback}

Will I continue the series? YES

Obviously, this was a re-read for me. This year I’ve been slowly re-reading the Harry Potter books via audiobook and this was awesomesauce. I thought I had a pretty good memory of what happened in the sixth book but I didn’t, and it was so lovely to dive back into this story again.

My review

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 The Red Ribbon
by Lucy Adlington

Genre: Historical Fiction [WWII]
Author: Lucy Adlington
Published: September 2017
Publisher: Hotkey Press
Pages: 292 {paperback}

I received this for review from Allen & Unwin so a thanks to them but also a WOW-OMG-THIS-WAS-AMAZING to Adlington because damn, this book was good. It’s historical fiction and one of the best WWII concentration camp narratives I’ve read. Highly, highly, highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend.

My review

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 Borderline
by Mishell Baker

Genre: Fantasy
Author: Mishell Baker
Published: March 2016
Publisher: Saga Press
Pages: 400 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

This was the October pick of the month for mine and Casey @ Adoptabookaus‘s book club, the Squabbling Dragons. If you don’t know what the Squabbling Dragon’s book club is about you can check it out here! This was a fabulous read that completely eclipsed all my expectations about it. I can’t recommend this one enough for both its enjoyability and diverse representation.

Review to come

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 Doctor Who: The Three Doctors
by Terrance Dicks

Genre: Sci-Fi, Doctor Who
Author: Terrance Dicks
Published: November 1975
Publisher: BBC Books
Pages: 192 {paperback}

I’m really pleased that I finally read this because I can’t say I had heaps of motivation to pick it up. I bought this on someone’s recommendation and it’s honestly a lot of fun. It’s not the best Doctor Who book I’ve ever read but considering I’m not familiar at all with the first three doctors (who star in this) I so, so, so enjoyed the story!

My review

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 The Darkest Part of the Forest
by Holly Black

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBT+
Author: Holly Black
Published: January 2015
Publisher: Indigo
Pages: 324 {paperback}

This had been chilling on my bookshelf for some time and OH. MY. GOD: I LOVED IT. This book was practically written for me – seriously! The fae involvement and the characters and the plot twists just were amazing. I’m so excited to read more of Black’s books now.

Review to come

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone
by Laini Taylor 

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal [angels, monsters]
Author: Laini Taylor
Published: September 2011
Publisher: Hodder
Pages: 420 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

I think I’m finally catching up with the world and all the books I should have read by now. This was incredible; admittedly it didn’t quite have the ending I was expecting but I’m so, so, so excited to continue on the series it’s not even funny. Taylor is an amazing author.

Review to come

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 What else did I blog about this month?

• I wrote some book reviews:
  • The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
  • The Neverland Wars by Audrey Greathouse
  • Doctor Who: The Three Doctors by Terrance Dicks
  • The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington
  • Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
  • Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
  • Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
  • The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
• I completed some book tags:
  • This is My Truth Now
  • You’re Not Good Enough
• I celebrated by 2nd anniversary here at Upside-Down Books!
• I discussed ARCs: how to get them & how to not lose hope
• I vented my anger that PicMonkey now costs money & what to use instead
• I discussed Instagram props & how to get by without them for beginners
• I did my September Wrap-Up
• I did my September Book Haul

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The Statistics

Genres Read:

I feel like I’ve noticed a trend over the past couple of months that fantasy keeps winning the majority in the genres section, and Young Adult isn’t the biggest anymore! Oh no, does that mean I’m growing up? QUICK – somebody fetch Peter Pan.

Pages Read:

Total: 3,314

I am mightily impressed with those page counts. I read so much this month, I must be a reading god. There is no other answer – three thousand pages, dayum.

Progress Towards Goodreads Challenge:

95%, or, 38/40 books

I do admit that I thought I would have reached 40 by now and have been able to up my goal but I’m not there just yet. We have to appreciate that when I came back from America in July my book count was at seven, so I’ve still done a damn good job. So close to achieving it!

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What about me?

October was a pretty good month for me. I finally got a job (man what a tough job market) so brace yourselves for future book hauls because I’M EARNING AGAIN, YEEHAWW. Ahem. But yes, I had a great month and even met some lovely new people which is always nice – and also a good excuse to blame them for taking up my reading time this month (November).

I’ve been really getting into writing my third draft of the book that I’m working on. This has been a project going on for years and years now and I’m so excited to be at a point that I’m really liking what I’m writing. Although it sure is trying at some times.

I feel like I’ve really got back into the swing of my blogging routine and was pumping out the discussion posts last month which was awesome fun. Admittedly, I haven’t done as good a job in November so far but I have my reasons. It’s just been so nice to lose myself in everything and I’ve been having a whale of a time over on YouTube. Once again, if you’re new here, I do run a BookTube channel which you can check out here – I make different bookish content over there so it’s worth having a look!

October was particularly exciting because I started to receive physical ARCs from publishers for the first time. The first week, it was terribly overwhelming and I was leaping for joy, but by the fourth week (now), I’m beginning to panic a little because of the huge and growing pile of books I have to read. Pray for me, my TBR is starting to blackmail me.

I participated in the fourth round of the Alphabethon (which I co-host so COME JOIN) and it was so much fun. I can’t wait for the next round to really smash out some reading then. I’m so hooked on read-a-thons at the moment it’s not even funny. AND, I’m making excellent progress with my Christmas themed cross stitch: a detail I am sure you are pleased to know.

Movies I Watched:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2007: 10/10 stars
We finally finished re-watching the Harry Potters so the next few movies are just those. I love the Order of the Phoenix – the book is so good, all the feels and all the yesness.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, 2009: 9/10 stars
Also amazing. Duh. One star less just because I’m obsessed with the others more than this – probably because EVERYTHING IS NOW SAD AND WHY AND OW MY FEELS. Also Alan Rickman *heart eyes* – JUDGE ME NOT.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One, 2010: 9/10 stars
I’m deducting one star here, as always, because campingcampingcampingcamping but also 9 stars because of when Harry dances with Hermione and the whole world collectively melted into a puddle of I-WANT-A-FRIEND-LIKE-THAT. Man, that scene gets me every time.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two, 2011: 10/10 stars
And with that, my childhood was murdered once again. There’s nothing quite as painful as finishing rewatching or rereading this series. Nothing. *cries forever*

Thor: Ragnarok, 2017: 8/10 stars
THIS WAS AMAZING. Oh my good giddy aunt did I enjoy it. Hemsworth is worth ten hundred stars alone but CAN WE PUT MORE KIWIS INTO FILMS PLEASE? (That’s what we call New Zealand people for those of you out there now concerned that I have a thing for hairy fruit). So much fun, so funny and kudos to the director for painting the spaceships in the Australian Aboriginal flag colours!

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, 2003: 7/10 stars
A random watch but one I enjoyed no less. There was a section for this film at Universal Studios in Florida and I had never seen any adaptation of this. It was actually far better than I expected and I super duper recommend giving it a go!

TV Series I Watched:

Victoria, season one, 2016
This is so good and I’m obsessed. You should see me furiously clicking my knitting needles together as I watch the drama unfold on the screen. I can’t get enough.

Downton Abbey, season five, 2010
Will I ever finish watching Downton Abbey? Probably not. I just seem to be perpetually stuck watching season 5 slower than a dead snail. It’s damn good though.

Trollhunters, season one, 2016
What? We all know I’m a child. It’s actually quite good, okay – look, just go back to your reading and leave me to watch my kid’s programs.

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Tick! October done! 

What was your favourite book that you read in October? 

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~~ Kirstie ~~

Follow @ozbooksnail