September Reveries – I’m a graduate!

 

Yes I am! But before I get into that, I just want to say wow. This year has flown by so fast! And I haven’t read nearly as many books as I’d planned.

September began in a rush for me, since I was rushing to get everything in order before my thesis presentation. I can now assure you it went great! My mom also arrived around that time and stayed for a few weeks with us. She had plans for remodeling the house so I spent most of this month using my phone to take photos of granite and lamp options instead of books.

It’s still been pretty satisfying but I have a feeling October will bring even better things.

 

Book reviews

• A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab ★★★★

Okay, just one book review, but I think for the first time ever, I feel alright with that. My goal is to finish the Shades of Magic series in october, and now that renovations are finishing up, I’m hoping it’ll be doable.

 

Discussions

• Fantasy book adaptations: Animated or Live Action?
• What makes me pick up a book

 

College

4 years is not only how long this blog has been going, but also how long I’ve been in college. I was 18 when I started both, and I couldn’t be happier that one has stuck, while I finally get to say good riddance to the other.

My parents captured the moment they told us our thesis had gotten a 10. The pic is grainy but the emotion is there.

 

 

However, the official graduation ceremony is in January, so no fancy gown yet. Stay tuned though!

 

The book fair

I told you last month that I’d participate in my city’s international book fair. It’s pretty much the only ‘business’-related thing I’ve done in September.

At the moment I’m working on an online writing course but it’s not ready yet.

The book fair lasted five days, but I only participated in two. One day, I hung out at a booth with a partner indie bookstore to promote my writing workshops.

 

And two days later I participated in a panel with other young writers to talk about the YA literature environment.

 

 

I was so nervous I couldn’t even drink water because my hands were shaking so bad. But, it went well. I got to know a new author we invited from Venezuela called Alejandro Sequera (the guy right next to me). He recently published his book Mi Viaje sin Ti (My Journey Without You).

 

The community

Despite having been relatively busy, I did have time to at least check Bloglovin’ more regularly and visit blogs! That’s something I really missed and used to have little time for.

 

Reading

• Laura discusses the importance of a good sidekick and what, in fact makes a character one.
• Marie and Nyx mention their favorite YA characters. It was fun to see the different categories and be able to add a few books to the ever growing to-read list.
• Kelly also makes a case for rereading books. I’m so for rereading. I don’t do it as much as I’d like but I do enjoy rereading some of my comfort reads once in a while.

Blogging

• Jennilyn talks about why one-star ratings are so rare among book bloggers. Her post is quite relatable. I like that she’s not saying there should be less negative ratings or anything.
• At Fadwa’s blog, Ashleigh from Wild Heart Reads, shares her thoughts on exclusivity and bookstagram. It’s important to acknowledge privilege in our community and work harder to solve the issue.
• And at Inside my Library Mind, the blogger discusses the frustration of international bloggers. Like I said in her post, I love these conversations because they allow bloggers like us to feel less alone in our struggles. And everyone has different experiences so I never get tired of these posts.

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I hope you had a great month! Is there a book you have decided you simply must read in October? Which is it?

 

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