Honestly, when I went into Goodreads to refresh my memory I was actually surprised to see that I have only read, or completed, two books since August and they were both in the same few days in the last week. There are a few reasons for this. Mainly, I have been busy, unable to concentrate, in a reading slump and got a little stuck on a book that I was re-reading. I genuinely want to re-read that book, but it was so hard to concentrate, though I did manage to get through a chunk of it one Sunday when I forced myself to sit down, calm down and focus on something that wasn't a screen. Or reality.

It wasn't just that one book either because in the last four days I wasn't able to finish a new one either, despite the fact I really wanted to before the end of September.

Unfortunately, September kicked off with a crisis which took up a lot of my time and attention. I've also been working on job applications and trying to start up some volunteering as well as had some work related things on. It was hard to actually find an appropriate time to listen to any audio books lately so I wasn't getting any reading in that way either. Additionally I became obsessed with watching The Handmaids Tale, which was easier to do when I was feeling tired than read a book. All this explains why this blog has been so quiet the last few weeks, with general posts and no book reviews.

Here is a summary of what I did manage in September.

Books Read in September

The Grove of Eagles by Winston Graham; They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera; The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman; Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney

E-books: 0

E-Audiobooks: 1 (They Both Die at the End)

Re-reads: 1 (The Grove of Eagles)

Books started but not finished: 2 (The Grove of Eagles; Beautiful Where Are You)

I won't be choosing a favourite and least favourite this time around. I only actually finished two books and they were both brilliant. I obviously enjoy the re-read as it's my fourth read and it's more to do with me and the way my life has been in the last few weeks that I didn't finish. The same with Sally Rooney's book; I really wanted to get through it and it wasn't that I didn't find the book interesting, I just couldn't focus and had other things to get done. You can plan all you like, but stuff happens.

October might be similarly slow. I have a job interview coming up so I need to prepare for it and if it goes well, that's going to limit my time, depending on how soon it starts and the days and times. If it goes badly I will still be distracted, mulling everything over and continuing to apply for jobs. I'm also focusing on the volunteering so that will be another restriction my time. Added to that, I intend to take part in Inktober and so will be drawing instead, and preparing for Nanowrimo in November so I might be talking about writing more than reading.

None of these things are particularly bad, with the exception of maybe brooding about a potential failure. Not trying to be negative just realistic. Mainly all these distractions merely mean that I am focusing on other priorities and hobbies. I will hopefully be finishing those two books I've started and I have another new one lined up as well.

A final note. I have almost finished my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I just need to finish one more book. Technically I already finished the challenge because I didn't include three. One because it was an audio and I realised when it finished I had completely stopped listening, more than once, and had no idea what had actually happened. Another because it was extremely short and I hated it so much I didn't want it on the challenge. Another was a teenage favourite re-read which I suddenly found multiple flaws with and so also chose to exclude. Some of my books on the challenge were very short so I decided it evens out. Officially, I still need to complete one more book and then I am done with the challenge for 2021.

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