October Wrap-Up.

October looked like it was going to be a bad month for reading for me to begin with. I seemed to be getting through books at a snail rate and always had too much to do, even during my week off. However, things improved towards the end of the month and I'm pleased I managed five reads!

1. 'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas. This book, focussing on the very important #BlackLivesMatter movement, is very deserving of it's record-breaking time at the top spot of the NY Times Bestsellers List. It's powerful, emotional, and necessary, but also funny and eye-opening. The characters are charming and the story builds well. I do think that it is a little over-hyped and too long, but it's a fantastic read. 4/5 Stars.
2. 'The Elite' by Kiera Cass. This book was such a disappointment to me, and yet I expected it to be. I'd been putting it off for that very reason. It felt like 300 odd pages of filler material, mostly taken up by the MC's constant whining and moping about the love triangle she was now stuck in. I'm still drawn into the world enough to want to see this through to the end. Hopefully Cass actually uses the finale to further and resolve the plot. 2.5/5 Stars.
3. 'Lies We Tell Ourselves' by Robin Talley. This is the best book I've read in a long while, and certainly one of my top reads of the year. I'd never really put much thought into the period between segregation and integration in American history, but I will never forget reading the harrowing first chapter of this book. Ever. This book is everything that a diverse YA should be, and has some fantastic LGBT+ representation too. 5/5 Stars.
4. 'The Woman In Black & Other Ghost Stories' by Susan Hill. Another great read but for a totally different reason, I've been looking forward to finding time to read more ghost stories by Susan Hill. Halloween eve was perfect! I'd read 'The Woman In Black' before, and found that these other short stories are just as atmospheric and chilling. I love Hill's creativity and originality and came out of these spooked. 5/5 Stars.
5. 'Lot No. 249' by Arthur Conan Doyle. Feeling a thirst for a little more horror before the night was up, I decided to read this fifty page long short story. I've never read a paranormal story with an Egyptian mummy before and this was the first ever one to be written. Doyle had a great sense of humour which shines through in his complex and energetic characters and while the sentences were a little too convoluted, I loved this read! 4.5/5 Stars.

Now it's time to see how I did with my challenges this month!

This month I have read one book for the Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge, bringing my yearly total so far to twenty two. My read was:

- The Elite

This month I have read one book for the 2017 New Releases Challenge, bringing my yearly total so far to ten. My read was:

- The Hate U Give

This month I have read one books for the LGBTQIA Challenge, bringing my yearly total to ten. My read was:

- Lies We Tell Ourselves

This month I have read two books for the Diverse Reads Challenge, bringing my yearly total to thirty one. My reads were:

- The Hate U Give

- Lies We Tell Ourselves

And here's my update on this quarter's Bookish Bingo card, courtesy of Pretty Deadly Blog!

Mental Health: Our Numbered Days; Neil Hilborn
Different Culture: I Am Malala; Patricia McCormick & Malala Yousfazai
Illustrations: The Little Red Wolf; Amélie Fléchais
Black Cover: The Hate U Give; Angie Thomas
Person On The Cover: The Elite; Kiera Cass
Magic In The Real World: The Girl From Everywhere; Heidi Heilig
American History: Lies We Tell Ourselves; Robin Talley
Horror: Lot No. 249; Arthur Conan Doyle
Yellow Cover: The Geek Feminist Revolution; Kameron Hurley
Required Reading: The Return Of Sherlock Holmes; Arthur Conan Doyle
Poetry Or Verse: O Frabjous Day!; Lewis Carroll
Paranormal: The Woman In Black & Other Ghost Stories; Susan Hill