Bookwyrm Breakdown: October 2022

In a nutshell: October was terribly eventful, especially in the last week of the month. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but it’s been a mix of emotions.

Blogging, however, has been quite a few wins!

October Musings

• [2 Oct] Bookwyrm Breakdown: Reading Pretty Much Exited the Chat
• [8 Oct] The Empress of Time by Kylie Lee Baker ★★★★
• [11 Oct] Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim ★★★½
• [21 Oct] Dragonfly Eyes by Cao Wenxuan ★★★★

Books Hoarded

• The Gatekeeper’s Staff by Antoine Bandele – I’ve had this one on my radar since it was released in 2021, and the audiobook was available for review, but I didn’t have the time to do so. Maybe I’ll finally get around to reading it? We’ll see.
• The Shiver Series by Maggie Stiefvater – Way back in the day, when Shiver came out, and I read books sitting in Barnes & Noble while my mom was shopping (because I hated shopping), I was absolutely engrossed with the book and finished it all in one day. But I also forgot everything except for what happens at the end until nearly an entire decade later, so imagine my excitement when I found out the long lost title, and it was on sale.

Books Devoured

Sometime in October, my romance reading era came about, and I just seem to be teetering back and forth between a few romances before going back to my fantasy ways. Occasionally, I’ll pop in a graphic novel or two, or maybe a middle-grade, and then the cycle repeats. This probably means I should diversify my reading genres a lot more, but old habits currently die hard.

I do seem to have broken free from the slump-like hold that grabbed me by the scruff of my neck a bit in September, though I still seem to be struggling just a little bit. I’m keeping my head above the reading water levels.

• Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim – This was maybe my most anticipated book of the year, and while I enjoyed Sophie Kim’s debut overall, it sadly wasn’t my absolute favorite. But I’m still looking forward to the rest of the trilogy!
• The Empress of Time by Kylie Lee Baker – It’s strange for me to admit because this hardly happens, but I think I liked this more than the first book?
• Secrets of Camp Whatever Vol. 1-2 by Chris Grine
• Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lai
• Faking with Benefits by Lily Gold – It was fun, the podcast scripts were absolutely unhinged, and I loved them, but a miss at the end of the night.
• Gouda Friends by Cathy Yardley – Cathy Yardley is quickly becoming a favorite of mine (at the very least, if not a favorite, then I’d read most of her books), especially with the way she writes friend groups. But also puns. I love them, and I’m currently reading the next book in the Ponto Beach Reunion series, Ex Appeal.
• The Forever Night Stand and Falling for the Enemy by Katie Golding

Did I change the GIF from Spongebob to one from Tom & Jerry? Yes, absolutely (the expression at the end is absolutely accurate, though).

EVERYONE SHUT THE FRONT DOOR THERE’S A PERCY JACKSON SIXTH BOOK COMING NEXT YEAR also, does this boy even get a break? (Rick Riordan, what do you mean Percy saved the world twice and still needs recommendation letters from the gods to attend college? Meanwhile, I’d just faceplant into the bottom of the ocean in his shoes. Although I will admit if he needs a letter from Ares, it would be amusing.)

Anyways, let’s dive into what I’ve watched:

• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – I know I haven’t watched all the Marvel movies and basically given up keeping track of whatever order to watch I’m probably just skipping around, but my heart is so full after watching this.
• Red Riding Hood – I don’t know, honestly. I think I wanted to sleep more? It wasn’t bad, but it was pretty bland.
• Snow White and the Huntsman – When the trailer for this first came out, I was super excited to see this since it sounded amazing and dark. (Also fairytales!) This had a good concept, but it didn’t have the greatest execution, unfortunately. (Charlize Theron’s acting was chef’s kiss, though.)
• Mr. Bad – I started watching this shortly after Love Between Fairy and Devil because the concept sounds like a load of fun, but something must not be clicking since I’ve abandoned it currently. I’m only two episodes in, though, so we’ll see if that changes!

And then we’ll talk about some songs on my playlist that I can think of from the top of my head while I’m writing this post:

• Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights is out! Don’t murder me in my sleep because the vibe of the album isn’t really my jam. But I do like Anti-Hero, Vigilante Shit, and Bejeweled the most, and I wouldn’t skip a song from the album if it started playing during a random shuffle. Midnights is one of those where I feel like I have to be in a particular mood, and it’s just not my mood currently.
• LE SSERAFIM released their 2nd mini album, Antifragile, and it’s one where I hated the title song at first, but it was catchy and slowly grew on me over time compared to their debut. My favorite song would be No Celestial, though.
• Lee Chae Yeon’s debut Hush Rush was absolutely amazing, and I’m excited for what she releases next! She’s best known for being a member of the project group IZ*ONE.

I also seem to be getting into my Mandopop and J-Pop era again, maybe?

The Breakdown

What catastrophes have the universe handed us throughout the month? Let’s find out. 🧐

I feel like, at some point in October, I reached true burnout (at least the tip of the iceberg), which is probably very noticeable with how getting up each day is just difficult. Even though I sleep an optimal amount everyone says you should (7-8 hours) nearly every night, I don’t feel like I’m energized unless I sleep 9-11 hours. And then I’m tired at 6 pm, which I don’t think it’s because I’m heading toward my 30s in half a decade, considering this was my cycle in college when I was a stressed little ball.

Just earlier this week, I woke up 5 minutes before I had to get up for work when I usually give myself at least 30 minutes to an hour in the morning (depending on if I’m going into the office or not), which probably sums up how I’m doing lately very accurately. (I promise I’m not slacking and not always like this, lol.)

I’ve also been besties with my allergy meds because it’s always the turn of the weather and temperatures swinging around like a wild pendulum that gets me every season, but especially going from autumn to winter. T_T

Life might have been on the downturn a little bit, but blogging has actually been pretty kind to me, and October 2022 may be my best month for the past few years!

One of my posts reached 2K views in a year! You might be able to guess the post, which also broke a few other fun personal blog records that I like to keep track of for my own enjoyment. If I’m going to look at my blogging stats, I’m going to try to have fun with it.
I broke last year’s pageviews according to WordPress statistics! (A few of my friends were pretty mad that I didn’t self-promo the last day of 2021 because I was a mere 54 views from breaking 2020’s number, but hey, this should make up for that, yes? Please please please.)
I reached 3K views for the month of October, so we must memorialize this moment because it’ll probably never happen again, but a girl can dream.

Am I extra for using trophies? Yes, but I rarely talk about statistics, and I’m actually pretty proud of myself for reaching those milestones considering I usually fall in the average. (My 2022 stats transparency post that’s currently cooking in the blogging oven is likely going to be a wild time to write.)

Let’s talk: How was your October? What do you look forward to in November?