Beauty and the Bookshelf: Recap: August and September to October

I had technical difficulties when I tried to post my August book haul, so that recap is late! (But better late than never, right?) And I'm quite proud of myself because I read quite a few books over the past couple months!

August

Books Read

-The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (reread)
-A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
-The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick
-Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
-Trouble Is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly
-Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (reread)
-Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (reread)
-Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (reread)

Reviews

-The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes: Excellent story idea with great twists.
-The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick: Totally not what I had expected.
-Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman: Really, really good!
-Trouble Is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly: I wasn't a fan of this.
-Never Never by Brianna R. Shrum: I heart this.

Favorite Book Read

I'm not going to go include rereads, but I'm going to go with Vengeance Road. I was just really pleasantly surprised by this one. The writing was great, I was a fan of the characters, and the story was totally engrossing.

Book Haul

I got some treats in August...and also went to a sale Goodwill. Whoops! Good for them, not so good for my bookshelf space.

Weekly Posts

I shared my top ten auto-buy authors and posted the syllabus and required reading for Villainy 101!

I waited on a freaking gorgeous cover and a book inspired by Wuthering Heights.

Other Posts

I debuted a new feature: The Ninety Second Novel! I'll be utilizing YouTube to review books--in ninety seconds or less--that I've read too early to post a review on my blog. I had a discussion on spoilers, since they're such a big problem. And I also shared my process for posting pictures to Instagram!

Events

I went to TWO signings in August! The first was one I had been anticipating for months, because Hilary T. Smith was going to be there (along with local authors Sharon Huss Roat and Stephanie Oakes). I loved Wild Awake, and I was so excited to finally meet her! (And no book club this month because I went to the signing instead.)

The second signing I went to featured a few local authors, but I went just for Lisa Schroeder (who's an Oregon author), who's always the nicest.

September

Books Read

-Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
-Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman
-The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
-The Pirate Code by Heidi Schulz
-Wendy Darling: Stars by Colleen Oakes
-How to Outfox Your Friends When You Don't Have a Clue by Jess Keating

Reviews

-Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas: I hated this book and I loved this book.
-The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich: Creepy and told in a very interesting way.
-Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman: Way too many points of view, and not my kind of writing.
-The Pirate Code by Heidi Schulz: A swashbuckling and fantastic sequel!

Favorite Book Read

I was actually a fan of almost everything I read this month (except for Legacy of Kings), which is pretty cool! But alas, I can only pick one Book of the Month. And obviously it's Queen of Shadows because how could I not pick my babies?

Book Haul

This month's haul was smaller, but it had some good ones!

Weekly Posts

I talked about some characters I didn't click with and ten series I still need to finish. I pondered what characters I might dress up as for Halloween this year. Then I shared what books I hope to read this fall and gave book recommendations to fans of Code Name Verity.

I waited on a case of cover love, a fluffy contemporary, a sequel to a well-written novel with excellent characters, a book with an intriguing title, and the newest book from an author known for her cute contemporaries.

Other Posts

The blog tour for Brianna R. Shrum's Never Never (which I hearted) stopped by, and I posted about an online auction site with collectible books!

Events

I had to miss book club again this month, but it was for a very good reason. You see, I live in Washington, and Washington has Forks. And Forks has vampires (and, nearby, werewolves). Every year, Forks hosts a big Twilight celebration, and since this year marks the tenth anniversary of Twilight, Stephenie Meyer did a signing!

Booboo Stewart was there too (aka Seth Clearwater)!

And I saw Katie (who cosplays as Victoria for the Olympic Coven group) there, and who I recognized as a model for Appraising Pages (which I also was) and from Instagram. I didn't want to go say hi while she was hanging with the group, but she came up to me because she recognized my AP Twilight shirt!

And last but not least, after driving over three hours to get there (and let's not forget over three hours to get home) and waiting in line for, oh, six hours, I met Stephenie Meyer for the second time and now have ten books signed by her, with two being personalized.

Fangirl moment? I think yes! And after so many hours of signing she was still so nice!

October

Books to Read

I'm still super behind on my Goodreads goal, but I've been getting more read. Plus, I have like a million books I'm reading for school. That should help my overall count!

New Releases

Here are the three October releases I'm anticipating most, not including ones I've already got since this post was done (How to Outfox Your Friends When You Don't Have a Clue), books I've already read/am reading (Wendy Darling: Stars, Ice Like Fire, The Masked Truth), and ones I didn't know about (Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer).