Have you ever been in a reading slump, where you would rather do anything else other than read? August and September hit me with the biggest slump of my life and it was totally distressing!

Nothing worked to get me out of it, not even forcing myself to read... btw, don't force yourself to read, it just makes it worse. There really was nothing I could do but to wait it out.

SEPTEMBER

This is the reason I only managed to read two books in September... Luckily, Unrequited seemed to pull me out the slump and I was able to regain my momentum.

The Upside Of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
Find my full review here: https://mrpinkink.wordpress.com/2019/09/21/pinkreads-book-review-034-the-upside-of-unrequited-by-becky-albertalli/

My Brother's Name Is Jessica by John Boyne
Find my full review here: https://mrpinkink.wordpress.com/2019/10/04/what-the-fuss-is-all-about-my-brothers-name-is-jessica-by-john-boyne-book-review-035/

OCTOBER

Dark Alchemy: Magical Tales From Masters Of Modern Fantasy
This anthology is a plethora of Fantasy stories from the worlds greatest Fantasy writers and I was really excited to read it; however, I found it so completely boring that I put it aside for over a year before I decided to DNF it.

Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu
“Trust nothing, suspect everything. If you want to figure out the truth, you shouldn't just be standing here, trying to get me to talk. Go out and see color for yourself.”

Seriously? Who doesn't know the billionaire crime-fighter Batman and his nemesis, the Joker?!? I think every little boy growing up either wanted to be Superman or Batman; some little girls, too. Me? I wanted to be Harley Quinn, lol.

Of course, everybody wants to know how Batman became Batman and this series of books are supposedly origin stories which got me excited to find out what a teenage Bruce Wayne was like.

Even though this story has all the classic elements that make Batman, Batman - uber-expensive technology and gadgetry, super-fast prototype cars, his sense of justice, even crushing on the wrong girl (a la villain) - there is actually no Batman in this book about Batman!

To say that I was disappointed with this story is a major understatement...

I've only read one other Marie Lu book, Warcross, and I love her writing style; clear, concise, imaginative and free-flowing. Her style is clearly evident here, too, which was comforting and familiar, bringing Gotham to life in all its glory.

This book is fast-paced and action-packed with a solid plot and storyline; twists and turns, secrets within secrets, there's even the perfect amount of romance. If you can somehow forget that this book is about Batman, however unlikely, this book is a really good read; however, for me, this story fell far short of all expectations.

Rating: 3/5

Romanov by Nadine Brandes
Find my full review here: https://mrpinkink.wordpress.com/2019/10/30/mixing-history-with-fantasy-romanov-by-nadine-brandes-book-review-36/

Battlemage by Taran Matharu
Battlemage is the third and final book of the main Summoner Series and it ties everything together quite nicely; I would have liked the series to continue, though...

Good news is, there's a prequel to this awesome story and I hope to read it during November.

Rating: 4/5

The Summoner's Handbook by Taran Matharu
This is the perfect companion book to this series!

Not only is it based on one of the main components of the story but Taran has added James Baker's story in the form of a diary, complete with drawings of demons, spells, treatises on the peoples, etc. A total must-have if you love this series like I do.

Rating 5/5

Movie-Making News: The Stories Behind the Magic & Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: Movie Magic by Jody Revenson, J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World: Movie Magic Volume Two: Curious Creatures by Ramin Zahed & Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Beasts Poster Book by Scholastic Inc.
These companion books are all super cute, good to have and totally worth the money!

My favourite has to be The Stories Behind The Magic because it has been created to be a newspaper clipping bind up; full of newspaper clippings, grainy black and white photos and old time newsprint, this book is packed with character profiles and behind the scenes goodness! Rating: 5/5

The 2 Movie Magic books are so beautiful, with colour photos, illustrations, and insets that you can supposedly pull out; except, and this is what makes the entire concept almost worthless, that you cannot remove any of the insets without ripping the page its been stuck to... Rating: 4/5 for both

The Poster book is exactly that, a book full of A4 sized posters that you can pull out and display. Beautiful images of the beast and of the main characters printed on good quality stiff paper or cardboard. Rating: 5/5

#PinkReads Pick Of The Month

Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee

Where do I even begin to describe how much I adored this book? I mean, seriously, what's there not to love?

It seems I've been living under a rock for decades with my obscure belief that LGBT stories were few and far between... I have, however, realized the error of my ways and have started to rectify the situation and educate myself a little better.

Ever since the controversy over My Brother's Name Is Jessica (find my full review here) I have a much more critical eye on these stories...

Kathryn Ormsbee covers a variety of issues in this lovely young adult contemporary, from YouTube fame to unexpected pregnancy and Buddist philosophy; from asexuality, bisexuality to a M/M romance; from sibling rivalry, unconventional families and Russian Literature to best friends and romance.

The characters are exquisitely crafted and have taken up residence in my heart; the book is beautifully written and well structured, in a style that just flows; evenly paced, well thought out - easily a book you could read in a day.

Also, this book is categorized as "own-voice" since the author identifies as demisexual.

I highly recommend this very cute, very accurate story!

Rating: 4/5

Which books did you read last month? I'm always looking to add good books to my TBR so please let me know in the comments. Much love, until next time...

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