Hey everyone! Today I want to share with you the books I read this month and my reading plans for next month.

October Wrap Up!

This month I read four whole books! Ha, I know it’s not as many as others read, or even as many as I normally read, but I have been busy! (More on that in Wednesday’s upcoming post.) Luckily I enjoyed the books that I did read! Here are the books I read this month.

Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan

So this book is about Julia, a thief/spy with the magical ability to “vanish” by being unseen, whose cover is being a maid in a house full of strange house guests. Julia, pretending to be Ella, is unsure what she is looking for during her mysterious but well paying job, and she works to uncover whatever information her client is looking for so she can get out of the house with the strange guests that may be somehow connected to the murders around the city. During this entire time she must also work to keep her magic hidden as she lives in a world where witches are hunted and drowned.

I gave Julia Vanishes four out of five stars. This book went in a completely different direction than I expected and had such a wild ending. While reading it, I will admit that I kept thinking “Well this is just a little too far-fetched” but it really worked out in the end. I didn’t realize going into it that there would be a sequel (actually it’s a trilogy) so I’m interested to see what happens to Julia next.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I almost forgot Divergent! Since I read most of this book last month and I wrote a book vs movie comparison (which you can read here) I think I just assumed that I had read this already but only realized that I didn’t when I checked last month’s wrap up.

So if you don’t know already Divergent is set in an apocalyptic Chicago where the members of society live in one of 5 factions where loyalty to their faction is stressed as their main goal. Tris, the main character, is actually divergent, so she doesn’t fit into one faction as clearly as the others do who are not divergent. She struggles to find a place for herself in this society and faces being potentially cast out of her faction if she cannot prove herself a loyal and worthy member of her faction.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. I remember reading this book years and years ago but when I recently got around to watching the movie I decided to reread this one to try and remember how this one really went and what was being influenced by the movie. It was as much fun as I remember and as captivating as the first time I read it. I don’t remember reading the second book although I’m pretty sure I at least started it and I know I didn’t even get to the third one so I’m excited to see where the rest of the series go (although I haven’t heard good things…).

Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart

The next book I read was Hannah Hart’s Buffering! I wrote a full review here so I won’t talk too long about it but Buffering is Hannah’s autobiography, full of stories she hasn’t shared before relating to her sexual orientation, how mental illness has worked to claim on of her family members and how it  has affected her throughout her entire life, and the intense aftermath of her YouTube channel success for her My Drunk Kitchen series.

I gave this book 5 stars out of 5. It was beautifully written and it is honestly my favorite YouTube book (closely followed by Felicia Day’s You’re Never Weird on the Internet). Meeting Hannah for the second time was amazing too. I am so happy that she went on tour for her book and spent some time with her fans.

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

 

I finally finished it! I finally finished Empire of Storms. I honestly don’t know why it took me so long to read this book. I got it shortly after it was released but I didn’t rush into it nor did I read it particularly quickly. I won’t include a summary on this book because it’s the 5th book of the series and I don’t want to spoil anything but the Throne of Glass series follows a renowned assassin who works to rebel against the king that has previously imprisoned her. Let me know if you want a separate book review on this one!

I gave this book 5 stars out of 5. I really, really, really loved this one. As a “part time writer” myself I like to write/plan series with clever hints of what will come and I find it so satisfying when everything falls into place. This is the book that does that for the series, both novels and the 4 novellas so it caused me great writing envy to see it all come together so perfectly!

Fun fact! This is the first book I bought in the series. The others I got at the local library because I was worried I wouldn’t like the series thinking they were too “young” for me. Turns out I loved the series and regret this choice now so I’m going to be searching thrift stores/secondhand bookstores for the other books in the series to complete my collection!

My November TBR

I have very few books planned for my TBR for November. This is because I am studying for the GMAT exam, the test I have to take before I can apply to grad schools for my MBA. I also will be participating in NaNoWriMo (more on that here) so I will be writing more than reading this month. I have read 64 books towards my goal of 75 books so it’s likely that I will do a ton of reading in December. Here are the books I have on my TBR though:

• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (did not read that much)
• La Sombra del Viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (did not read any more but I need to finish this one at some point x4)
• Loving and Leaving Washington by John Yochelson (brought this book home to read as my vacation book but changed at last minute, must finish!)
• The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth (I need to reread 2 and read 3)
• Cress by Marissa Meyer (halfway done!)

---

So that’s my October wrap up and November TBR! Let me know what you’ve been reading lately. I’m always looking for suggestions. 🙂

Thanks for reading!