I hope you guys have had a great September!
I can't quite believe it's almost the end of this year. 2018 has gone super quickly!
This month I've been getting back into some hobbies, mainly drawing and painting. I'm super excited as I've ordered gouache paints (which are a mixture of acrylics and watercolours), and I can't wait for them to arrive! I don't have much experience in painting; my medium is generally graphite. I'm really excited to start painting! I couldn't decide if I wanted to get acrylics or gouache, but I think gouache looks so pretty!
I've also wasted a lot of time this month by playing Sims. I haven't played in about a year, and then all of a sudden I got a desire to play the other day. I don't know if any of you guys play sims and if your experiences are the same, but I tend to binge play sim for a couple of days/weeks and then not play for moooonths. I've ordered two new expansion packs though, which probably wasn't the best idea. 🤣 Even though it's not super productive, I find Sims kind of inspiring? I see my Sims becoming authors and painters and think "Hey, I could be doing that". Don't let anyone tell you it's good for nothing. 😆
I've also been getting stuff ready for my university application. I also still haven't found a job, which is quite upsetting - I've been applying to places for the past two months! I'm thinking of going into tutoring this year though - I think it would be a great thing to do!
I'm also back to volunteering at my church's cafe. This past Saturday there were 150 students we had to serve. It was so exciting getting to meet new people! There are people from Chile, Morocco, New Zealand etc. It was quite eventful though as when I was opening a tin of beans, I cut my finger on the tin. I FAINT WITH BLOOD SO I WAS LIKE "OH NO". I didn't see anything so I thought I was okay...and then the blood appeared. I went over to one of the ladies I was working with and said "Um. Can you get me a plaster and help me? I faint with blood." Luckily I didn't faint though! I felt a bit shaky for the rest of the afternoon though haha!
Seraphina - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Emma - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Caraval - ⭐⭐ | The Explorer - ⭐⭐⭐.5 | If There's No Tomorrow - ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 | NLP - ⭐⭐⭐.5 | The Secret Deep - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Take the Key and Lock Her Up - ⭐⭐⭐.5
I actually thought I read less than 8 books this month, so I'm quite happy to see I read as much as I did. The past two months I've had a lot of "meh" reads, which is quite disappointing, as 2018 has been a really brilliant reading year. There were a couple of books I read this month that weren't so great, but there were also a couple of books that I LOVED - yay for balance?
I loved Seraphina! IT WAS SO AMAZING. <333 The characters, the writing, the world...it was all so perfect. <3
I read Emma - IT WAS ALSO AMAZING. It was my second time trying to read it...AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Emma was such a hilarious character. Her (mis)adventures in love and match-making were so entertaining to read about!
If There's No Tomorrow was heartbreaking. It spoke about really relevant topics, such as drunk driving. It was a sobering read but also light-hearted at times. I loveeed it.
I also really enjoyed The Secret Deep, way more than I thought I would! It was thrilling and gripping. There was suspense and mystery and took an unexpected turn. I hope there's a sequel!
Now...for the books I didn't enjoy as much. I was so excited when my reservation for Take the Key and Lock Her Up came in, as I LOVED the first two books. However, I was really disappointed with the final book. The main character didn't grow much over the trilogy and the writing was super repetitive over the three books. I also didn't really like the mental health aspect that was included in the book...I don't feel like it was handled properly.
NLP was a non-fiction book. It was good at summarising the usefulness of NLP, yet I didn't find it effective in describing the actual techniques in-depth.
I also read The Explorer, which was quite good. I thought I'd love it, as I loved the authors other two books. Something didn't sit right with this one, though. I think the characters were a bit too juvenile for me...I don't know, I just couldn't connect with it.
I also finally got around to Caraval, which I really didn't like. I only gave it 2 stars! I'M SO SAD. I REALLY WANTED TO LOVE IT. If you want to read my rant review (those are always fun), here it is: http://blogofabookaholic.blogspot.com/2018/09/caraval-by-stephanie-garber-i-dont-get.html
THEY'RE SO PRETTY. I can't wait to read these! I'm really excited for Death Cloud and Agent Without Licence - spy books are right up my alley! I'm also going to give the Young Sherlock series a go. It seems partially middle-grade, so hopefully it won't be too gory!
Which one of these should I read first?!
How was your month? Do you play Sims? What was the best book you read this month? Let's chat!