General Books / Monthly Wrap-Up

October 2020 Monthly Wrap Up!

Dini @ dinipandareads21 Comments

Well, it’s now the second to last month of 2020 and I don’t know whether to be relieved or cringe at how much there’s still left to do in both my personal and work life, as well as when it comes to reading all the books! Time’s definitely flying although the latter part of October did seem to slow to a crawl (at least for me), and some days ended up feeling like weeks. I bet that’s definitely not going to happen this month though especially with everything that’s on my agenda and it’s low-key giving me some pretty intense anxiety. Welp! 😫 But anyway, let’s stick to the books, right?

In October, I managed to read 17 books. It’s not bad considering my reading slowed down considerably at the end of the month! It was a heavy fantasy month, with sprinklings of contemporary and a dollop or two of historical fiction. I actually didn’t DNF a book in October (yay!) and for the most part, I really enjoyed a lot of my reads although I had no five stars this month! So without further ado… Let’s take a look at what I got through!

Book covers are linked to Goodreads and the text is linked to my reviews if available!

4.5 panda stars


The Puppetmaster’s Apprentice
Legends Rise (Venators #3)

4 panda stars



Teach Me (There’s Something about Marysburg #1)
A Bachelor’s Pledge
Children (The Ten Worlds #1)
Beneath Black Sails (Beneath Black Sails #1)
Love Offline
The Highland Laird (Lords of the Highlands #8)

3.5 panda stars


A Royal Christmas Quandry
Sisters of the Moon
I Hope You’re Listening
Winter, White and Wicked
The Magic Ingredient

3 panda stars


Loathe they Neighbor (Roommate Romps #1)
Fahrenheit 451
Inside Voices

2.75 panda stars


Against Dark Tides

Thinking about what my favourite was this month is a bit tough, but I’m gonna have to go with Legends Rise! The Venators series continues to reel me in with the lush world building and the amazing character development. I am so invested in the story and I can’t wait to see what happens next! Bring on book four please 😂

Just like last month, I want to focus more on the many ARCs I’ve fallen behind on. I’m quite proud to say that I’ve managed to stay well away from NetGalley and have only add one or two new ARCs this month, and I was also approached by publishers/authors for those! But I really want to work on improving my rating as much as possible so I don’t feel ashamed anymore 😂 Let’s see how it goes — I’m quite determined though and I’ve really slowed down on the blog tours as well for the remaining two months!

As I mentioned in my previous wrap up, I want to include more community posts that I loved. Sadly, I didn’t manage to read that many posts this month because work has been draining and I got a little bit behind on the blog hopping. However, I did read a few that I really enjoyed! Obviously not a good start to sharing my favourite posts by all you lovely and talented people, but hopefully next month is better!

  • Jennifer @ My Book Joy wrote a post full of ideas for when you’ve run dry on post inspiration! I’ve definitely bookmarked it for future use 😉
  • Beth @ Books Nest asks whether social media has turned us all into competitive readers.
  • Tilly @ The Biblioshelf does a super fun post on what Lord of the Rings characters would be doing if they had modern day occupations! This is part four of a series and you should definitely check out all of her posts–the occupation choices are so spot on (imho) 😂
  • Krysta @ Pages Unbound talks about how the pandemic has affected her blogging and asks if we’ve noticed any changes. Have you?
  • Julie @ One Book More posted an author spotlight with Colleen Cowley, and the interview piqued my interest about her Clandestine Magic series! I was delighted to find that the series is available on Kindle Unlimited (and I have the first book sitting on my Kindle shelf now)!

That’s a wrap folks! How was your October?
Two months left in 2020 and I have no doubt it’s going to speed by! I hope we all have a more positive end to the year so that we have great things to look forward to in 2021~! Have a fab November 🥰

21 thoughts on “October 2020 Monthly Wrap Up!”

  2. Seventeen books definitely seems like a respectable number 😂 glad you liked some of my ideas! Now I have to remember to take my own advice too lol. Hope the non-book bits of your life don’t beat you down too much, stay strong and take breaks if you need them 🤗💌

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  4. Nive reading month! I added the Venators series to my TBR. It sounds really good! And I’m glad you like The Highland Laird – what a great romance!! Sa-woon! lol Thanks for the shout out – I can’t wait to see what you think of Cowley’s series! 🙂

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    • Thanks! I hope you enjoy the Venators series 😍 I enjoyed the first book but each book after that has gotten so, so much better! And lol The Highland Laird was definitely swoon-tastic 😂 I just finished book six of that series (coz I wanted to read Robert’s story) and it was great too! Have a great November!

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  11. I need your discipline to stick to just the ARCs that I need to catch up on! Or at least mostly the ARCs that I need to catch up on! I’m the absolute worst at that! But I think now that I have a kindle again, maybe I can do that. For every library book I read, maybe I’ll do two ARCs or something. What’s your secret?

    Great job Dini! This is amazing ❤

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  12. 17 books is so good. I didn’t even do this post because I didn’t read much at all last month… I’m hoping to start getting back into my groove now that the election is over. It was high stress and I’m doing a middle grade readathon and those are great light reads!

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  13. Sorry to hear about your anxiety! At least you got a lot of books read! 17 is amazing. I haven’t had that many in quite a while–2020 has not been a great reading year for me. I hope that November is treating you well.

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