September Wrap Up

Hello, bookworms. September is coming to its end, which means that it is time for a monthly wrap up. This is something new I'm starting and I will upload one of these every end of a month. I'm thinking that I will just write down my thoughts about the month and if anything special has happened.

September has been pretty stressful, but also a fun. As a reading month, September was not super successful. I'm not sure why I did not read that much, but sometimes that just happens. I don't want to force myself to read either. I want to have that urge to read. I've finished one book and started two others that I'm still currently reading. Hopefully, October will be a better reading month for me. I'm very excited to get into the more spooky reads and also too finally pick up Harry Potter.

The book I did read, Jane Eyre, was really good. I had to read it for school and I have an assignment about it. I still want to write a review for Jane Eyre. It will be nice to write a bit more freely about the book on my blog. The review takes some time though because I have so many different thoughts and I don't want the review to be muddled.

I have been watching a couple of movies this month. I started watching Halloween movies in August already and it continued this month. I really liked the new Carrie, based on Stephen King's novel. A TV series that I have been watching this month is Girlboss, on Netflix.

This month I created an autumn playlist on Spotify and also added some more songs to my chill playlist. I have been listening to 5SOS a lot, Imagine Dragons, Oh Wonder, and The Vamps. I can highly recommend the song "Drive" by Oh wonder and also "Chinese New Year" by SALES. If you want to check out my playlists, just search for "isabelle_eklund" on Spotify, but keep in mind that I change up the songs every now and then so if you find a favorite, you should probably save it.

As a conclusion, September was actually a great month. The only downside was that I did not read as much as I thought I would, but that's okay. I think it's time to welcome October now and try to make the most out of these next few weeks. Halloween is getting closer.

The Autumn Book Tag

Hello, bookworms. Fall is officially here and it's time to read some more autumnal books, which for me means thrillers and horrors, but also fantasy and historical fiction. Autumn is my second favorite season, only because Christmas (my favorite holiday) happens in winter. Since I love fall so much, I want to do a book tag about it. Hopefully, this will put you in the spirit of autumn as well.

• What is your favorite thing about autumn?

My favorite thing about autumn is the beautiful colors of red, orange and yellow. I also like that the weather is cooler, which makes the perfect sweater weather. It's also the perfect time for cozy blankets, warm drinks, and a really good book or a movie. I also like Halloween and pumpkins. As you may notice, I can't choose one favorite thing. 

• What book reminds you of your school days?

I'm still in school. But a book that reminds me of it is The Lord of the Flies because we read it in Enligsh 6 and I remember that many classmates disliked the idea of reading a book, and also the actual story in the book. I, on the other hand, loved it! I loved the story, the characters, and the fact that we got to read a book in school.

• What cover reminds you of autumn?

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks is the first cover I can think of. The picture on the cover shows the colors of fall, which I love. I haven't read the book yet, but this gorgeous cover is making me feel like I need to.

• What is your favorite horror or Halloween story?

I haven't read enough horror or Halloween books to have a favorite. This year, I'm hoping that will change.

• What is your favorite horror or Halloween film?

I can't choose one. I love so many. Some examples are The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, The Addams Family, and Edward Scissorhands. I love watching horror movies as well, but so far I don't have a favorite. 

• What fall book release are you looking forward to?

A fall release that I'm anticipating is Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco. I have only read the first book (Stalking Jack the Ripper), but I'll hopefully finish both the second and the third before this season is over.

• What autumn movie release are you anticipating?

I'm looking forward to The Hate U Give (October 5) movie, even though I haven't read the book yet, because it seems like such an amazing story. I'm also waiting for the new Halloween (October 19) movie. I'm a bit skeptic about it though because when they make new movies based on older classics, it usually ends up pretty crappy. I guess we'll see, I mean, I will still watch Halloween when it comes out.

• What are the three books you plan to read this autumn?

Three? My fall TBR consists of a lot more books than three. I'm for example planning on reading Harry Potter, It and The Halloween Tree. If you want to check out my full TBR, it's already posted here on the blog.

Autumn is lovely and I'm looking forward to all of the great books I'm going to pick up this season. There are so many great things that come with this time of the year. I loved answering these questions. Happy autumn!

Fall TBR

I like planning my TBRs by season because I have a different taste depending on what season it is. During summer I like reading contemporary with cute romance, but also some fantasy and general fiction. In fall I lean more towards the spooky reads, horror novels, thrillers, but also fantasy and sometimes a few classics.

I just have to say that creating this TBR was very difficult because I have so many books that I want to read and I don't even own most of them, even though I keep buying more and more books. But I think it's important to have many books to choose from since I'm such a mood reader. I need different choices and I think that I have created a great list. Let's get into my TBR!

• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

• Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

• Hunting Prince Dracula and Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

• The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson

• Coraline by Neil Gaiman

• The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

• Sleeping Beauties and IT by Stephen King

• A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

• Unwind by Neal Shusterman

• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

• The Call by Peadar O'Guilin

• Caraval by Stephanie Garber

• A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

These are the books I'm most excited about right now. Most of them have received really good ratings. Some of the books are continuations of series that I started earlier this year and others are completely new to me. The most important series to read this fall is definitely Harry Potter, a book series that I have been wanting to read for a while but haven't gotten to yet. Harry Potter is very well-known and loved and even though I wish it would have been a part of my childhood, I'm glad that this is the first time I get to read them.

How To: Get Ready For Fall

Fall is finally here. Some people like to hold on to the last signs of summer, but I have gladly accepted that the season has changed. The leaves are starting to turn into red, orange and yellow, the air is crispy and the weather is cold. I think that a lot of readers like fall because it is a great time to get warm and fuzzy. We all have different fall necessities. From my experience, readers love fall more than non-readers because of the great opportunity to read. When the weather is nice, you usually feel guilty if you are not outside. Sure, you can read outside, but you get fewer distractions and more comfiness by reading inside. I love to read in my bed or on the couch, alone, without distraction and with more focus. That is when I get the most reading done. To get back to the subject, today I am going to talk about how I get ready for fall, as a guide. 

• Switch out your closet

It's time to put those summer clothes away and bring out the sweaters, scarves, and coats. I love fall fashion and usually go for the cozy outfits. I have yet to do this because I'm a very warm person and I still need my T-shirts sometimes, even though I really want to only wear sweaters and cardigans now. The color scheme I tend to go for during this season is mustard yellow, dark red, grey, white, black, military green, beige and brown. 

• Make a fall TBR 

Books are a big part of my life so of course, a fall TBR would be something I would do to prepare for the season. I love reading thrillers, horror novels, fantasy books and anything that reminds me of fall. This year I'm going to finish The Remnant Chronicles, Jane Eyre, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children series, It, Harry Potter and much more. You will see my fall TBR in another post. I don't think that I will get to all of them though.

• Decorate your room 

I do this every year. I try not to overdo it, but I love fall and sometimes there are leaves everywhere and fairy lights and blankets, pillows and candles. This year I am going to try to keep it more simple, but still, make my room cozy. I like having the big surfaces white and then decorate with colors, like black, grey, beige, brown, green (plants) and gold or silver. For fall, I would love to have some more warm tones like brown in my room, but I don't want to spend too much money on redecorating it. I will try to use what I have and make it as cozy as I can. 

• Watch Halloween movies 

I have already started watching Halloween movies. I recently saw Halloweentown and I love how I got the fall vibes from it. My family does not celebrate Halloween that much. We decorate, watch some Halloween movies and give out candy to children that knock on our door to trick or treat, but that's about it. Maybe that is all you do on Halloween. I don't really know. For fall I like both the classic children's Halloween movies like The Addams Family, Hocus Pocus and Ghostbusters and the scary ones, like The Conjuring and Poltergeist. This year I will probably watch some more horror classics. I have yet to watch Halloween, The Exorcist, and Carrie, for example. 

• Make some tea, pumpkin spice latte, or whatever drink you prefer

I love tea. I don't like coffee or anything that tastes like it. I usually have my tea while I'm reading or watching a movie. When it's cold outside, my throat gets really dry and I usually cough a lot and then the tea is good because it warms. My favorite flavor right now is blackberry and I either stir some brown sugar in it or honey. I like hot chocolate as well, even though it makes me think of winter.

• Do some fall activities

Whether it's apple picking, going for a hike, visit a pumpkin patch or collecting leaves, fall activities really sets the mood. I don't have the opportunity to visit a pumpkin patch where I live, but there are always other things to do. I like collecting leaves that I can use for pictures on my Instagram. Otherwise, I don't do that much during fall, except for studying, reading and watching TV shows or movies. This year I want to try some new things. I will make another post about my fall bucket list and maybe that will give you some ideas on some fun things to do this season.

There are of course more things that you can do to get ready for fall. These are just some of them. Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I love how it's the perfect time to read books, because the weather is grey and rainy, at least where I live. The colors of the trees outside are beautiful, the clothes are comfy and Halloween is coming up.