Out of all months of 2019, September was probably the worst one when it comes to reading, and just generally staying on top of things. I don’t know if it was the intense summer reading or the number of books I chose to finally get to in September, but my brain decided to avoid reading at any cost.
As a result, I’ve only finished one book in the first half of the month. I began reading «Gardens of the Moon» on the 15th of September and started a bunch of other books in the hopes to be able to finish them by the end of this month.
WHAT HAPPENED IN SEPTEMBER
1 – I fell into the work-home-work routine.
Not the most pleasant part of September, but for the first half of it I was in this constant work-home-work routine, that took a great effort to actually break.
I hate when this happens. But as the work gets busier, it gets more difficult to find the energy and mental capacity to do something else after long working hours. Even reading becomes a chore. That’s when I know that I’m falling into a routine and need to do something to break free from it.
2 – We went for a weekend getaway and visited Safari Park.
To break the routine, me and my boyfriend decided to go on a small getaway. It actually helped! After the trip to the central part of Portugal, I (1) read a book in a day and (2) finally decided that reading wasn’t all that bad.
We stayed one night at a hotel in a small town close to the western coast of Portugal, sunbathed, had a delicious meal and visited the Safari Park. The park doesn’t have predators, so the safari itself was rather chilled. But it was fun to see different species in their “natural” environment. I was especially excited about giraffes and black&white tailed lemurs. There even was a lemur called Julien*. 😀
*Who doesn’t love Madagascar?!
3 – I completed 2 monthly goals (out of 3…).
| ✔ | 1 – PARTICIPATE IN THE READ-A-LONG OF «GARDENS OF THE MOON» HOSTED BY ELLIOT BROOKS! I did it! Even though I joined late, I managed to read almost all of it before deciding to DNF. In my previous post about the books I was reading, I said I was enjoying «Gardens of the Moon» more than I expected to. And that was true, until maybe 70-80% in. |
| ✔ | 2 – CONTINUE READING AND REVIEWING ARCS. Out of 5 books that I read in September, 3 were ARCs. Technically, I made some progressed and tried to prioritize ARCs over other books this month. But I don’t feel like I made progress if I’m being honest. Maybe it was because the books I read in September weren’t that great, or maybe because I still have some pending reviews I need to write. I will count this as “Achieved”, but I’d love to make more progress in October. |
| X | 3 – FINISH TRILOGIES. This I failed. I completed one trilogy – The Grishaverse, which I’m very happy about, especially considering that I started this trilogy in July, and didn’t let it be unfinished for a long time. However, my idea for this goal was to finish the trilogies that have been on my TBR for a very long time. And I didn’t read any of those books. |
MONTHLY READING STATS
Somehow I managed to read 5 books this month. That is surprising, considering that I only finished one book during the first half of the month and then tried to power through as many books as possible during the last 15 days.
«Saving Fable» was by far the best book of the month. Highly recommend to anyone looking for new middle grade books.
Out of 5 books – 3 were ARCs, 1 middle grade, 1 Adult and 3 YA.
SEPTEMBER TOP TEN TUESDAY POSTS
SEPTEMBER BOOK REVIEWS
How was your September? What books have you read?
Let me know in the comments below!
Connect with me on GoodReads | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
WhimsyPages 
I’m SO sorry this month wasn’t what you expected, honey, I hope October is amazing & full of reading ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aaah, it wasn’t THAT bad 🙂 but thank you!!! I’m really excited about October tbh, like super excited to spooky reads and many MANY halloween sweets, ahaha 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I couldn’t agree more, I’m so glad September is over! And I’m so excited about October.
Was the park you went to Badoca Park? I feel you though, I went to the lisbon zoo last month and though obv there are no natural habitats there, it was a really fun day and I loved seeing all those animals.
I read a lot, but it was mostly rereads (the throne of glass series), a few comics and a really long and really good Stephen King book (under the dome).
LikeLiked by 1 person
October has started very well! I’m feeling so much more organized and productive. I hope it’s treating you well too ❤
Yes! Badoca Park 🙂 It was our first time there, and I loved it. Although the amount of DUST during the safari… oh, my. I needed an immediate shower aftwerwards 😀 My hair was filthy, my glasses were all stained and I don't even want to think about the amount of dust I inhaled during that 30-40 minutes ride 😀
I love Lisbon zoo! The last time we went, we chased the peacock all over the park so he'd open his tail for a picture. Ahaha, poor thing. He finally did, and we managed to snap some beautiful photos.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I keep seeing Kingdom of Souls around and it sounds very interesting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope you’ll love it! I had to DNF at about 50%… just couldn’t make myself read it anymore 😦
LikeLike
Your small getaway sounds nice. Loved seeing the pictures from the Safari Park. We have one around here, but haven’t had the chance to check it out yet. Nice job finishing five books! I had a rough reading month in September. It was 19 days in and I had only read one book, I felt so bad about it. I really want to read American Royals!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, September wasn’t the best. I only read one book (American Royals) by Sep 15th… lol. And then had to push myself into reading something else. «American Royals» is very much like Gossip Girl and The Royals TV Shows! It’s a lot of fun, I hope you’ll love it when you get to it 🙂
October will be a much better month! I can already feel it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m sorry to hear that your September wasn’t the greatest! I know what you mean by work, home, work, home routine. That’s my life for the most part. It’s not very often that I deviate from it. That trip to the Safari Park looked like it was SO much fun! I love the close up photo of the ostrich! So freakin’ cute! 😀
5 books isn’t bad… I haven’t counted how many I’ve read yet but I think I read 7 this past month. I feel like I had so much on my mind that my reading has suffered!
Here’s to a spooky, fun October! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love blog and reading mostly because it “breaks” the routine, but sometimes I let it become a part of the routine and everything gets so much more difficult to accomplish, if you know what I mean 🙂 Ahaha, my bf seemed to love that ostrich (actually, I think it’s an emu). When I was choosing the photos for this blog posts, there were like 10 of the bird! *facepalm* and 0 of me! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh I know exactly what you mean! I end up doing the same things every day, then blogging and reading become part of that routine!
That’s cute! 😀 Oh haha, I actually wouldn’t know the difference 😐
HA! That’s hilarious! You’ll have to tell him next time, please refrain from taking so many photos of the birds! 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope October treats you well!
I’m sorry that this month wasn’t what you wanted.
The safari looked like so much.
– Emma 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, hun! I can tell you already that October has started so much better! I’m back into reading and blogging, and don’t feel very overwhelmed by the work (even though we’ve been crazy busy!)
Here’s to a happy (and spooky!) October! 🙂
LikeLike
Lol at the lemur named Julien. Sounds like a fun trip.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They had to name one Julien 😀 And the intro song before the Lemur presentation was the Madagaskar song. These people… 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you were still able to enjoy some books throughout the month. It’s deifnitely not easy to find the energy or motivation to do things when work/school keeps us super busy. Hope you get to read great books in October! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I already finished my first Stephen King book this month – «Cell», and we also watched the movie adaptation. (I LOVED the way the movie ended!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
WOWSERS, it’s incredible that you managed to fit in so many books at the end of the month – good on you! ALSO SURELY SOMEONE NAMED THAT LEMUR JULIEN ON PURPOSE, I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT’S A COINCIDENCE!! 😱 I hope you have a better reading month in October (although tbh 5 books is already an achievement IMO hahaha 😂)
💛 Ngoc
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahaha, Thank you hun ❤ And sorry for the late reply. October has been very productive but also so SO busy! I'm finally catching up on all the posts and comments in the blogosphere.
LikeLike
I’m sad to hear September was your worst reading month!! I hope October will be better and kinder for you ^^
september was okay for me. To be quite honest, I don’t even remember what I’ve read!! hahaha But I did lots of stuff, so I’m happy about that. so far, October has been harsh on me, unfortunately. I haven’t had much time to read, or even desire to, because I have a million things to fix, accounts to create, classes to change, contracts to sign, … basically, lots of Erasmus and adult tasks I don’t really enjoy taking care of. )): My classes have started this week and I’m already full of homework and essays! But hopefully by the end of the month, I’ll get used to the routine and everything will be fixed!
By the way, I really wanna read American Royals!! The cover really brings my attention to it o:
Happy readings ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
October has been so much better tbh! I’m sure that once you settle in, get used to classes, make friends, you’ll have some spare time for reading as well 🙂 Erasmus is a very unique experience, I hope the positives outweigh the negatives and you learn a lot of new things! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for your words! I think it’s looking better already, I just had a rough time settling in ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person