October 2011 Recap & a quick update

If you read my September Recap you'll know that things have been a bit chaotic around here recently and that I've not been online as much as I usually would be.  Well I thought I'd give you a quick update about what has been going on since then.  Luckily my landlord has managed to rent a flat for me to live in until the work is done on my house - it's great to be out of the B&B and have my own space again that's for sure!  They still haven't started the work that needs doing - in fact the last I heard they probably won't even get started until January and I probably won't be able to move back home until February or March next year EEEK!  I don't currently have a TV or internet set up at the flat so I'm still not online as much as usual but I am getting plenty of reading done (I've got to look at the positive side).  So it looks like the saga will be continuing for quite a while but at least things have moved forward a little (even if not as much as I hoped).

It's not all been bad though, I did have Kirsty (from The Overflowing Library) come and stay for a few days last week which was a lot of fun.  There were some very random occurrences - like us embarrassing ourselves in front of Dame Kelly Holmes (who was doing a demonstration of her new exercise equipment in my local supermarket) and a very strange dancing womble in the middle of Charing Cross train station!  We also had a blast meeting up with some of our blogging friends for an event at Foyles with Cassandra Clare but I'll tell you all about that in my write up next week. 

So how has your October been?  I hope you've all had a great month and read some fantastic books!

Here is the list of books I read & or reviewed in October: (The links will take you to my reviews)

1. Rip Tide - Kat Falls (read in September, reviewed in October)
2. Darker Still - Leanna Renee Hieber (read in September, reviewed in October)
3. Blood Rights - Kristen Painter (read in September, reviewed in October)
4. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern (read in September, reviewed in October)
5. The Other Countess - Eve Edwards (read in September, reviewed in October)
6. The Search for WondLa - Tony DiTerlizzi (read in September, reviewed in October)
7. Alien Tango - Gini Koch (read in September, reviewed in October)
8. A Long, Long Sleep - Anna Sheehan (read in September, reviewed in October)
9. Bound to Shadows - Keri Arthur (read in September, reviewed in October)
10. One Grave at a Time - Jeaniene Frost (read in September, reviewed in October)
11. My Love Lies Bleeding - Alyxandra Harvey (book released as Hearts at Stake in the US)
12. Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
13. Vampire Academy Graphic Novel - Richelle Mead
14. Touch of Frost - Jennifer Estep
15. Alien in the Family - Gini Koch
16. The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson
17. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
18. Avenger's Angel - Heather Killough-Walden (review coming soon)
19. City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
20. Mistress by Marriage - Maggie Robinson (review coming soon)
21. Forgive My Fins - Tera Lynn Childs (review coming soon)
22. Midwinterblood - Marcus Sedgwick (review coming soon)
23. A Kiss at Midnight - Eloisa James (review coming soon)
24. The Iron Duke - Meljean Brook (review coming soon)
25. Glow - Amy Kathleen Ryan (review coming soon)
26. City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare (review coming soon)
27. Haunted - Anthology
28. Crushed Sugar - Kimber An (novella) (review coming soon)
29. Twice Bitten - Chloe Neill (review coming soon)
30. The Demon's Surrender - Sarah Rees Brennan (review coming soon)

October Guest Reviews:

1. The Deeping Secrets - Victor Watson (reviewed by Kirsty from The Overflowing Library)
2. Doc Mortis - Barry Hutchison (reviewed by 12 year old Kain)

October Books of the Month:

(Choices are made from books reviewed this month)

I read some absolutely fantastic books this month so had trouble narrowing it down to just 2 favourites, in fact there were 6 books that I loved so they're all on the list for my October favourites!

My top YA reads in October:

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber (read my review here)

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan (read my review here)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (read my review here)

My top adult reads in October:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (read my review here)

One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost (read my review here)
Alien in the Family by Gini Koch (read my review here)

Challenge Updates:

So these are the challenges I've decided to sign up for in 2011 (I may well end up adding others as the year goes on but we'll see what happens)

2011 100+ Reading Challenge - Read 100/100 COMPLETE

2011 Horror & Urban Fantasy Challenge - Read 24/24 COMPLETE 

2011 Support Your Local Library Challenge - Read 13/25

2011 Debut Author Challenge - Read 12/12 COMPLETE

2011 British Books Challenge - Read 47/50

2011 New Author Challenge - Read 50/50 COMPLETE

NAC Mini Challenge - Steampunk (Feb 2011) - Read 2/5 COMPLETE (This challenge was to read up to 5 steampunk books in February, I knew I wouldn't have time to read 5 so I'm happy with my total of 2)

NAC Mini Challenge - TBR Newbies (April & May 2011) - READ 6/6 COMPLETE (I actually managed to read 8 books for this challenge but only the first 6 count)