September Wrap Up & October TBR 2021 // Back to office routine

Gather round everyone, it’s time for another wrap up!

September was a much better month compared to August- cases declined, restrictions are lifted, and slowly things go back to as normal as it could be. My family finally completed their vaccinations this month, so it’s also a huge relief! There were some bad news too but overall, I would say it was a better month than expected.

1. THE ORDER OF THE PURE MOON REFLECTED IN WATER by Zen Cho // 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5
2. THE GIRL AND THE GHOST by Hanna Alkaf // 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5
3. THE POPPY WAR by RF Kuang // 🌟🌟🌟.5
4. THE DRAGON REPUBLIC by RF Kuang // 🌟🌟🌟🌟
5. THE DREADFUL TALE OF PROSPER REDDING by Alexandra Bracken // 🌟🌟🌟

I managed to read 4 books and 1 novella this month, 2 of them being on my priority TBR. THE ORDER OF THE PURE MOON REFLECTED IN WATER is a novella that I really loved- everything was perfect from the dialogue, setting in the protectorate Malaysia, as well as the themes. THE GIRL AND THE GHOST is another book by Malaysian author and one of the picks for September books by diversitea book club. The story was adorable, heartwarming, and really close to my heart. Plus, Hanna Alkaf was such an eloquent and amazing writer; she quickly become one of my favorites!

Anyways, I finally read THE POPPY WAR!!! It was as complex and ambitious as I expected, however I didn’t expect the story to be so dark 😬 Like yes, I do see it being mentioned everywhere but I am still shocked by the graphic nature of the book- it truly portrays war at its worst and the toll it takes on the people involved. I immediately read THE DRAGON REPUBLIC but I want to take a break before reading THE BURNING GOD so it won’t affect me really hard. Last but not least, this month I finally got to read THE DREADFUL TALE OF PROSPER REDDING! It was as atmospheric as I expected, but the story wasn’t as engaging that despite it being a short book, it took me days to read it.

It’s the halloween season, which means it’s the perfect excuse to read all the spooky, cozy, atmospheric books as much as I want!

1. AN ENCHANTMENT OF RAVENS by Margaret Rogerson
2. THE GHOST BRIDE by Yangsze Choo
3. UPROOTED by Naomi Novik

• Kat is back and Novels and Waffles is moving to Bibliosmile.com!
• Shealea @ Shut Up Shealea is back with her Spring Cleaning event! Go to her blog to check out and join the even for extra ✨ motivation ✨ for decluttering
• Flavia @ Flavia the Bibliophile reviewed In the Ravenous Dark by A.M Strickland
• Emme @ A Literary Latte shared 5 books she wished she could read for the first time
• Nyx @ Drizzle and Hurricane listed 10 guilty pleasures YA books
• Saima @ Stories with Saima shared 6 things she learned after 6 months of blogging
• Simone @ Simone and Her Books shared 10 romance with only one bed
• Riza @ Pages and Coffee Cups reviewed 5 non fiction books she recently read

The decline in case numbers means more days working from office rather than at home. During the height of the cases, I had to do 1 WFO per week but now I’m currently at 3 WFO, with rumors that it will be 5 WFO in October. It’s not surprising tbh, especially since a lot of schools and universities are already conducting offline learning. While it’s scary (the reports for school cluster doesn’t look good), I bet it’s a relief for a lot of people especially parents.

Work has been… okay. It’s nice to see people at the office and it definitely did some good for me, however the work itself was quite exhausting 😅 I had huge deadlines which I *think* I passed well, but they took quite the amount of energy and focus. I’ve moved back to my place and spent the weekends there, waking up at 11 or so to catch up on sleep and while it sounds crazy, it makes me feel so much better so there’s that 😂

Since work has been really busy, I barely had time to do anything else. I am so behind on my reviews and I feel like the posts I wrote this month were not as the same quality of usual (it feels lifeless? or is it just me while writing hahaha) which reflects on the engagement I received. I have some exciting Spooktober posts lined up for every friday in October so I hope you guys will be looking forward to that! 🎃 As always, there will be some recommendations as well as an urban legend-focused post~~

I didn’t watch anything in September so I’m going to lump it together with my August Screen Rambles. However, I did finally finished Reply 1988 series as it’s license to my country’s Netflix expires this September 30. I had 3 episodes left and while I didn’t cry at 18 and 19, the last episode was a tearfest 😭💔 Even typing this is making me cry and despite not going to rewatch it anymore (it’s comforting yes but it messed up with my emotions too much haha), it will always be on my top-recommendation k-drama!

I felt like I spent my July and August wrap up focusing on GOT7, SKZ, and NCT too much that I totally forgot to recommend other songs I’ve been loving! My favorite these past few months is certainly KEY & Taeyeon’s Hate That… Their voice just blends so well and it reminds me of Ciara’s I Bet. There’s also this surpise release of Wildest Dreams from a certain Ms. Swift 💗💗💗 Other songs are LOONA’s Paint the Town, ATEEZ’s Answer, Hyunjun Hur’s Vo!d, the whole TXT’s Chaos Chapter: FREEZE, NCT 127 Lemonade, and SKZ’s Sorry I Love You.

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• In Deeper Waters by FT Lukens // Magic + fun times + healthy family dynamics
• 4 Reasons I want to read these books before 2021 ends
• Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
• #Goodreadance2021 Sign Up Post – The Joy of Spring Cleaning in September 🍃
• 5 Atmospheric Books to Read in October for All Moods

How was September for you? Do you have any plans for Halloween?