MONTHLY WRAP UP - October

 I feel a bit heavy with frustration due to the fact that this month of October I read half of my usual volume. I realize that what I read - 33 books - is more than some read in a year, for this amount, well it is my lowest in about three years. I had two heavy periods of bipolar depression during the month, so my interest in reading waned quite a bit. 

Meanwhile, I decided to work on my other hobbies as time permitted - adult coloring and diamond painting, I did not do much coloring as I would have liked, but did complete two pictures, which I will share below. I did a lot with diamond painting and am quite excited about that. 

For now, let's look at what I did read this past month.

Monthly # pages: 10,695
Books read this month: 33
Running total # pages: 201,474
Running total # books read: 579

The ratings are as follows:

Fatal Deception 10/31 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Forgotten 10/30 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
THE PERFECT LIAR 10/29 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Delayed Justice 10/28 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
His Disinclined Bride 10/27 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Girl Without a Name: Beautiful and heartbreaking World War 2 historical fiction 10/25 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Girl Who Never Came Home 10/23 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The One Before 10/21 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
My Only Child 10/20 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Stalker 10/20 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
His Pretend Amish Bride 10/19 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Light Shines on Promise Lodge 10/18 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Big Bad Cowboy 10/18 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cowboy Come Home 10/17 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This Fragile Heart 10/16 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Heart Goes On 10/15 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Her Rebel Heart 10/15 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Where Butterflies Go 10/14 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Crazy Stupid Bromance 10/12 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Murder on the Dance Floor: A completely gripping historical cozy mystery 10/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Light at Wyndcliff 10/9 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Saving Grace: A Psychological Thriller 10/8 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Girl She Wanted 10/7 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rescue You 10/6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Mirror Man 10/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Christmas at Fireside Cabins 10/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Under a Sky on Fire: A gripping and utterly heartbreaking WW2 historical novel 10/4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hot Six 10/4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Survivors 10/3 ⭐️⭐️
Undercover Bromance 10/3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Bromance Book Club 10/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Husband's Daughter 10/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If Every Day Was Christmas 10/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(all of the links above, as well as the book covers, link directly to Goodreads)

So, it was mostly a very good reading month, with the exception of  The Survivors by Jane Harper, which I gave two stars. My favorite reads were The Mirror Man by Jane Gilmarten, the historical fiction books, The Light Shines on Promise Lodge by Charlotte Hubbard, and The Girl Without a Name by Suzanne Kelman.

As mentioned, I began adult coloring (after a long hiatus of about two years). and these are what I colored.,

  

I also completed two jigsaw puzzles:

  

I also dug out something I bought a year ago, and it was a diamond painting. Once I started, I realized how much I loved it and completed these three this month:

I have a couple in progress now:

  

Lastly, I began live streaming and offering more content on my YouTube channel, Robin Loves Reading and All the Things - and please subscribe, lol.

So, although I did not read as much as I would have liked, I certainly was incredibly busy all month long.

Another nice treat is that I became a grandmother for the tenth time to Olivia Faye. Olivia, big brother (20 month-old Demitrius) and Mom live with us temporarily so a lot of time has also gone towards being Nana.

So, that is it. I am still working on my November TBR, and do hope to get more read this coming month. But, if not, I will definitely be reading my blog tour titles that have been previously scheduled.