
I don’t know how it’s possible for a month to feel both short and long at the same time but October accomplished it.

I managed to read nine books in October which I’m actually pretty proud of considering everything that was going on. Overall they were high quality books too which I was really thankful for. I’d still love to get back to reading fifteen books a month but if I’m going to be in the single digits I would at least like to read mostly good things. Here are the ones that were four or five stars:
- A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo
- By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery
- Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor
- When the Stars Lead to You by Ronni Davis
- The Prom by Saundra Mitchell
- Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer







Despite spending half the month in the hospital with my son and him having his seventh heart surgery I still managed to have a post go up every single day – I’m so effing proud of myself! It was not easy and I got incredibly stressed on way more than one occasion but it was really important to me and worth it in the end. I haven’t been able to go two full months with a posting streak yet but I feel like November might be the month I finally do it.
I didn’t have any concrete goals regarding my blog for October but I knew that I wanted to do better. My heart knows that stats aren’t everything but unfortunately that doesn’t stop my brain from obsessing about them. On paper, September, at the time, was my second best month but it didn’t feel like it. I almost felt like giving up on this whole blogging thing and I can’t entirely explain why. Discouragement and burnout were hitting hard. But no more.
October was better in every sense of the word – I broke personal records with my stats (I had over 2,600 views and broke 500 WordPress followers!!), I felt more confident about everything, I was excited to write posts, I co-hosted my first blog event. It was just a better month. And I’m determined to project that energy into the rest of the year and finish strong!
My three most popular posts from October were The Book Snob Tag, Let’s Talk About the New Hunger Games Prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and Force Me to Read Any Book You Want! If you missed out on any of my other posts from the month, I’ve linked them all down below for easy browsing!
Reviews
- By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery
- Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor
- The Library of Lost Things by Laura Taylor Namey
- A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo
- When the Stars Lead to You by Ronni Davis
- A Thousand Fires by Shannon Price
- Day Zero by Kelly deVos
- Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer
Waiting on Wednesdays
Shattering Stigmas
- Hindsight is 20/20: How I Missed All the Signs by J.L. Tate
- A Day in My Life (As a Person with Borderline Personality Disorder) by Wendy from What the Log
- Author Interview with Candace Ganger
- The War Within by Tamara Basic
- A Personal Essay by Dana from Devour Books with Dana
- Review: By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery
- Author Interview with Ronni Davis
- Up All Night for Suicide Prevention by Lindsey Turnbull
- On Perfectionism as a Debut Author by Zack Smedley
- Jamie at Books and Ladders’ Review of Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes
- Handholds for in the Dark by Heidi
- Autism and How It Intersects My Chronic Depression and Anxiety Disorder by Mina from Bookish Enby
- Ted Revolutionizes the Toaster by Anonymous
- How My Mental Illness Effects Me as a Reader and a Blogger by Amber from The Book Bratz
- Accepting Help by Shon from Books and Bugs
- Taylor Swift and My Recovery from Self-Harm
- Shattering Stigmas 5.0 Wrap Up
Miscellaneous
- Monthly Wrap Up: September 2019
- Inspired by The Bootlace Magician by Cassie Beasley
- October Book of the Month


My son, Elliott, had his seventh heart surgery on the tenth. It was unexpected, we thought it wouldn’t be happening until the Spring, and it was risky, but it was the only thing that would help him. It ended up going better than anybody expected and we were able to come home on the seventeenth! His immune system has been reset though and he can’t get a flu shot until six weeks after surgery so we’re pretty much housebound for the time being. If he were to get sick it would be a really bad situation.

Being home has been great but it hasn’t come without its own stresses. We’ve been working on settling back into our routine after a month of hospital life and I think we’re slowly getting there. I went through a period of depression – being stuck in the apartment is rough and though I’m glad we aren’t in the hospital a lot of my friends are there so I’ve been a bit lonely.

Halloween was so much fun! We couldn’t take Elliott to any events or trick-or-treating so we went to my mom’s house. Elliott dressed up as a dragon and he was the cutest! I made candy and toy filled ghosts and pumpkins out of tissue paper and we hid them around the house for him to find. He also painted a pumpkin and we read books. I think he had a great night and it was the perfect end to the month!
How was your October? What was your favorite book you read? Do you like my inclusion of gifs for the first time ever? Let me know in the comments and let’s chat!

Elliott is the cutest and strongest dragon ever, no competition. I’m insanely impressed that you managed to read 9 books and blog while dealing with all of this *virtual standing ovation*
LikeLiked by 1 person
He really is! There was a huge tail on the end and it was so cute waving back and forth as he toddled around. And thank you so much!
LikeLike
So glad that Elliott’s heart surgery went well, and that’s amazing you achieved so much with all that going on! That’s a great looking selection of books – especially the cover for The Constellation of Roses.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! It didn’t feel like I got much done but then when I looked at the big picture I was astounded! Taking care of him is my top priority but reading and blogging is a big self-care thing for me. And isn’t the cover for A Constellation of Roses so pretty?? I love it!
LikeLike
It sounds like your October was pretty good all things considered! I’m glad your son is doing all right now, and I hope that he gets the chance to recover and your lives start to settle down. The gifs were so entertaining, you should definitely keep using them in wrap ups and any other posts you think they’re fun in! After all, blogging should be fun 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It really did! I was expecting it to be a crappy month but I was pleasantly surprised. And thank you! He’s recovering so well and he’s surprising us all. I’m glad you like the gifs! I’ll probably throw them in from time to time. I agree that blogging sould definitely be fun and gifs help make it so!
LikeLiked by 1 person
“I don’t know how it’s possible for a month to feel both short and long at the same time but October accomplished it.” REAL
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was just the craziest month!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have been lurking around your blog for a while now.I have to say there is a reason why your blog is taking off: You write really good, diverse content. ♥
I recently just came out of a blogging slump because blogging with a small child is hard. However, you just blew my mind with accomplishing what you did with your blog considering what you went through with your son. You’re one strong momma!
I’m so glad you had a good October. You definitely deserve it!
Oh, and if you’ve ever been to my site then you know I love gifs. So I vote to keep using them. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my goodness, Whitney, thank you so much for your kind words! Your comment has made my day! I’m so glad you’ve been able to come out of your blogging slump – I hate those. And yes! I think gifs will be sticking around. They’re just too fun!
LikeLike