September 2019 Wrap Up | I’m so glad this month is over!

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.

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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?!

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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.

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Out of 5 books – 3 were ARCs, 1 middle grade, 1 Adult and 3 YA.

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SEPTEMBER TOP TEN TUESDAY POSTS

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SEPTEMBER BOOK REVIEWS

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How was your September? What books have you read?
Let me know in the comments below!

Alex @WhimsyPages | Connect with me on GoodReads | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook