Quarterly Wrap-Up // July-September 2019

Happy October, bookworms! The past three months have been interesting. It feels like lots of time has passed but also no time at all. Thankfully I have had good friends and good books to keep me company, and I'm finally starting to find somewhat of a daily routine now that I have finished university.

Life Things

The first major life thing I ought to mention is that I graduated! The ceremony was in July but that feels like a lifetime away now. I'm really happy to be on the other side of uni but finding a routine has proven somewhat difficult, especially after quitting my retail job in June. However, I am now doing some work experneince for a company I really like and it has been very rewarding! The work is freelance, so I'm still mostly in charge of creating a daily routine for myself, but it has given me an extra burst of motivation in my job searching.

One thing I haven't been doing lately is writing. I write for work and for this blog, of course, but I haven't actually written creative fiction since submitting my last university assessment. I've been prioritising finding a job, but I also want writing to be a job for me one day too. I've found it difficult to convince myself that it is worthwhile right now, but I know this is just my lizard brain coming up with excuses. Once I pick up a pen again I know I will get back into it, and I'm hoping with NaNo around the corner I will complete a full draft of one of the many WIP novels I'm currently working on.

However, the creative well isn't totally going unused! I spent a lot of this summer drawing more, as you can tell from the increased activity on my Art Instagram. I'm participating in Inktober this month, so I'm hoping I can keep up my artistic streak and draw more cute things.

There were also lots of great events this summer that I attended with my friends. July featured Alice Oseman's Heartstopper Volume 2 book launch and Penguin Platform's Pride Book Club event, as well as my favourite annual bookish event: YALC. Surprisingly very few books were purchased, so I think my self-restraint is improving (barely, though). I also visited my family, saw the Manga Exhibition at the British Museum, visited a friend and had lunch near Hyde Park, and drove some friends to Birdworld where we got to pet lots of good soft birds, and even a couple of goats! All in all, it's been a chaotic but very enjoyable few months.

Reading Wrap Up

The last few months have featured many excellent books. My absolute favourites novels were Sadie and Darius the Great Is Not Okay because of how much they stuck with me, and my favourite graphic novels were Heartstopper Volume 2 and The Adventure Zone Volume 2 because I adore both series' and all of the characters.

Most of my July to September reads were 4 or 5 stars for me, so I am a happy bookworm. I'm trying to power through my TBR (which is difficult when I keep adding to it) and I've been prioritising books that I know I'll enjoy. I'm hoping if I keep doing this, the good reads will keep coming for the rest of the year.

Post Wrap Up

• 💗Latest Love // My 3 Favourite Anime
• 🔖Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag 2019
• 💭Bookshelf Tour!
• 💭10 Reasons Why Fantasy is My Favourite Genre
• 📘Book Review of Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi
• 📘Book Review of Darius the Great Is Not Okay
• 🔖The Lover Book Tag
• 💭Wonderful Books I Want to Read This Autumn
• 📘Book Review of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
• 📘Book Review of SLAY by Brittney Morris

What have you been reading lately? Have you found any new favourites? Have you read any of the books I read or are any of them on your TBR? Tell me your thoughts!