Wrap Up|| October.

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Was it just me or did October seem like it dragged on forever? This year it also didn’t feel very “Halloweenie” to me either, which totally sucked. I love the month of October (and Halloween), but this month felt so different for some reason. I’m actually glad that it’s finally coming to an end. 😦 I hope the next couple of months don’t feel the same, because I love the holiday season. Happier news, I reached 1300 followers on the blog, which is exciting! 😀 As this post goes up, I’m a little over 1300 now. Totally cool! Thank you for following my blog and liking my posts.

As far as books/reading goes, I actually read a lot this month. I was able to read ten books, which is a lot for me! I think I normally read between 4-6 books a month, so ten is amazing! I even mostly stayed true to my Halloweenie TBR, which is rare for me to stick to any kind of TBR list. I only read one book that wasn’t actually on my TBR, but it was still good for Halloween. I didn’t get to read all the books on my list, but I already knew that wasn’t wasn’t going to happen because I made a pretty big and ambitious list for the month of October.

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Here are the books that I read in October. You can find a full list of these books and the other books I read this year over here. All will be linked to Goodreads below and I will also link to individual blog posts for them if I did a review.

Physically Read Books:
These are the books that I read myself (not audiobooks) throughout the month of October.

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Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage – 3 out of 5 stars.
I liked Baby Teeth. It was really creepy, but I thought the ending kind of sucked. It got really boring toward the end and wasn’t what I expected. Overall, it was still a pretty good book though.

The No-Good Nine by John Bemelmans Marciano – 4 out of 5 stars – Review.
I really enjoyed The No-Good Nine. I thought the adventure aspect was a lot of fun even with some things being a little out there. For a kid though, I think they’ll get a kick out of it. I liked that there were a lot of funny moments and the cast of characters made the story even better.

I Will Find You by Joe Kenda – 5 out of 5 stars –  Review.
I Will Find You is creepy, scary, and it’s one of the most realist books that you’ll ever read.  If you love true crime, this book is definitely for you. There’s a lot of triggers and gory things in this book, so proceed with caution. 

Children to the Slaughter by A.I. Nasser – 4 out of 5 stars.
Children to the Slaughter was so CREEPY! I really enjoyed it a lot and I went and bought the sequel. Children to the Slaughter is free on Kindle and the sequel was only $2.99. I can’t wait to read it.

Sadie by Courtney Summer – 2 out of 5 stars.
Sadie…I don’t understand the hype for this book. I finally finished it over the weekend and I found the majority of the book to be boring. It had some interesting parts and the big picture and themes in the book are sad and so real. But the story itself, I was bored. I also hated the ending and it felt unfinished. It was just okay for me.

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My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier – 3 out of 5 stars.
There were a lot of times where I wanted to DNF My Sister Rosa. Most of the book was boring, to be honest. I had a hard time really wanting to read it, but I also wanted to know what was up with Rosa…which honestly, there really wasn’t that much going on with her for the majority of the book. It was little things, but nothing I felt was too crazy. It started to get a little more interesting toward the end though and there were a couple twists I didn’t see coming.

Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich – 4 out of 5 stars. – Review.
I really loved Dear Evan Hansen and the characters. I found myself sucked right into the story from the beginning. There were a few times where it did slow down for me, but it didn’t take away from the story or my enjoyment of it. I thought it was really relatable, especially the characters. I never seen the musical, but I still really liked the novel version.

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco – 4 out of 5 stars.
I thought that The Girl from the Well was pretty creepy and I actually enjoyed it so much. I don’t know why it took me so long to pick it up. I swear I’ve added it to my Halloweenie TBR for like three years now, haha. There was one thing about the book that bugged me though, which was the character Okiku would count everything and it was annoying to me. The random counting thrown into the middle of the story/dialogue bugged me. I am really excited to read the sequel!

Hocus Pocus & The All-New Sequel by A.W. Jantha – 4 out of 5 stars.
The original story was great. It was actually pretty much word for word/scene for scene of the actual movie. I loved that, because it was like the movie was playing in my head as I read it. There were a few things in the story that was added to setup the sequel. Now what did I think of the sequel? The sequel story was good. It of course didn’t top the original, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I also liked that all the characters from the first story make appearances throughout the sequel and that was great.

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach – 3 out of 5 stars.
Penpal was the book that wasn’t on my Halloweenie TBR, but it still stuck to the Halloween theme I had going for the majority of the books I had on my list for this month. Penpal was so creepy and at the end I’m like “HOLY CRAP, what did I read?!”. It was a pretty good book, but there were some times that I was bored. It was pretty shocking when it wasn’t at one of the boring parts of the story though. Definitely freaked me out a little bit and worth the read.

What books did you read in October? Have you read any of the books I read? Feel free to link me to your wrap up posts if you have one!

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Tonight I’m supposed to go out with my older sister to take my niece and nephew trick-or-treating. I’m not entirely sure what their costumes are for this year, so it’ll be cool to finally see them. I have an idea of what they are, but I haven’t seen them put together. After trick-or-treating with them, I’ll spend the rest of the night watching Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown. I haven’t watched them yet this month, which is crazy! I usually would have watched them both by now. See? October this year just seems so different. My cats even knocked over all of my Halloween decorations and I didn’t even have it in me to put them back up. I usually post a ton of Halloween themed pictures on Instagram and I don’t think I even did that. I might have posted a couple throughout the month, but that’s it. I did wear my Hogwarts Halloween shirt (it has a cape too!) today, the glasses i wore today are black frame and round like Harry Potter’s, and I have a wand in my purse, so at least there’s that. 😛 Are you dressing up this year?

In case you missed it;
Book Haul|| October.
Travel|| Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyhalloween

Book Haul|| October.

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Hey!

I have quite a big book haul this month, because I received a bunch of Winter 2019 ARCs and I also bought a few books. I didn’t get the chance to take pictures of the books that I got, so book covers from Goodreads again this month. You can check out all the books I own over here. There’s also links on that page to pages for my kindle books and my physical books (pages needs updated since it’s been a couple months though). I’ll probably do an October book haul post on my Bookstagram (foreverbookish_) account since it’s been awhile since I’ve posted a photo over there that wasn’t just only in my stories. Anyway, here are the books that I got this month. All titles are linked to Goodreads.

Physical Books I Bought:

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Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera
After the Fire by Will Hill
People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins

After reading my ARC of Shadow of the Fox and loving it so much, I had to buy a copy for my future bookshelves (almost all of my books are packed away 😦 ). I love Adam Silvera’s and Becky Albertalli’s books, so when they did a book together, I knew I would be buying What If It’s Us as soon as it was released. Patrick Ness praised After the Fire, so I had to buy it. I love Patrick Ness, so if he loves a book…then I must read it! It also sounds rally good and I’ve seen a lot of other people really like it too. I’ve read a few Ellen Hopkins books and they have been pretty good. I read the description of her new book People Kill People and it sounds like something I’ll be really into reading. It’s also about guns/gun violence and that’s a real thing happening so much these days.

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Books from Publishers/Authors:

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This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kheryn Calldender
The Lonely Dead by April Henry
The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena
A Soldier and A Liar by Caitlin Lochner

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Comics Will Break Your Heart by Faith Erin Hicks
Famous In A Small Town by Emma Mills
All We Could Have Been by Te Carter
Mist, Metal, and Ash by Gwendolyn Clare

I was sent an ARC of This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story from Epic Reads and I am super stoked to read it. I also received a package from Fierce Reads of Winter 2019 ARCs, which is really exciting and I’m looking forward to them. Above are the six ARCs that were in my Winter package.

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The Wicked King by Holly Black
The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton

I seen The Wicked King up on Netgalley, but it was one of those “wish for it” ones. I decided to take that chance anyway and I was approved. If I wasn’t at work when I got the email, I probably would have screamed. I am so stoked! I plan to reread The Cruel Prince and then read The Lost Sisters before starting The Wicked King. I am looking to reread at the end of November or early December since The Wicked King releases early January. I was also approved on Netgalley for The Perfect Girlfriend. I thought it sounded really good and I want to read more thrillers/psychological thrillers.

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E-Books:

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The Lost Sisters by Holly Black
Teen Frankenstein by Chandler Baker
Katerina by James Frey
A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan

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The Dark Heart by Joakim Palmkvist, Agens Broome
Shadow’s Embrace by A.I. Nasser
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

I tried the audiobook for Strange the Dreamer, but I couldn’t really get into it and decided not to continue with the book. Since I seen the e-book on sale for $2.99 and decided to buy it. Maybe I’ll like it better if I read it myself. I also don’t remember if I even got that far into it. These other books are books that I’ve been really looking forward to reading. I am actually currently reading Penpal right now and almost halfway through it. It’s pretty creepy so far.

What books did you get in October? Have you read any of the ones that I got? Feel free to link me to your book haul post if you have one!

October wrap up is coming in the next day or two. I am hoping to finish Penpal today, so that I can include it in my wrap up post. I am really excited about this month of reading because I actually read a lot.

In case you missed it;
Travel|| Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum.
Thoughts|| Dear Evan Hansen.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyhalloween

Travel|| Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum.

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Hey!

Andy and I decided to go check out the lighthouse in Jupiter on Saturday, which was a really fun time. Continue reading to see some of the pictures that I took while we were there.

I didn’t really get any pictures of the museum/inside the museum. I wasn’t sure if you were allowed to take pictures in there or not, so I decided not to. The museum was actually a World War II naval housing building that they turned into a museum. It had different things in the museum from World War II and information about the area. It was really neat and interesting.

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This is the Tindall Pioneer house. It was built in 1892! Again, I didn’t take pictures inside the house because I wasn’t sure if you were supposed to or not. It was really neat inside though. They recreated the rooms.

This was the outhouse next to the Tindall House. I really liked the moon carved into the door, which is why I took a picture. LOL. We also came across this bell while we continued on the path to the lighthouse. I wish I would have gotten more pictures of things along the way to the lighthouse, but I was more enjoying everything I was seeing than taking pictures. Once the lighthouse came into view though, that was an entirely different story. HAHA. I couldn’t help but take so many pictures of it.

Above is a sign in front of the lighthouse with a little information about it. I thought it was really neat.

And here’s part of the lighthouse! I’ll have a few other pictures of the lighthouse below, but this is a small glimpse of it as we are walking up.

and almost died. 😛 They weren’t lying when they said the climb was strenuous. My legs were killing me the next day and still are. I am glad that I did though, because the views were pretty amazing around the lighthouse.

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Here are some more pictures of the lighthouse! I read online that it wasn’t originally painted red. It was seriously so beautiful though and pretty tall. It was 34 stairs to the base of the lighthouse and then 105 stairs to climb inside of the lighthouse.

These last two are hands down my favorite pictures that I took. I wanted a picture of the plants, but also with the lighthouse in the background. I think they came out pretty perfect.

Here’s a picture of Andy with the lighthouse in the background. The red brick path was neat too. I wish I took a picture of it. You can donate to them/buy a brick and get your name or any message written on one of the bricks. So the entire walk up to the lighthouse were different names and messages.

This is a random picture I took on the stairs of the lighthouse. First picture is looking up and the second picture is looking down. I really love how these pictures came out.

Next weekend we are hoping to go check out the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach. I am so stoked for that! I seen a few pictures of it and it looks amazing. I feel like it might be an all day thing, because it looked like there were a ton of things to see and do there.

In case you  missed it;
Thoughts|| Dear Evan Hansen.
Photo A Day|| October 11-17.
Random|| Picture Update.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyhalloween

Thoughts|| Dear Evan Hansen.

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Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
4 out of 5 stars.

Goodreads Description: When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family’s grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend. Suddenly, Evan isn’t invisible anymore–even to the girl of his dreams. And Connor Murphy’s parents, with their beautiful home on the other side of town, have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his closest friend. As Evan gets pulled deeper into their swirl of anger, regret, and confusion, he knows that what he’s doing can’t be right, but if he’s helping people, how wrong can it be? No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. And a website. He’s confident. He’s a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. Until everything is in danger of unraveling and he comes face to face with his greatest obstacle: himself. A simple lie leads to complicated truths in this big-hearted coming-of-age story of grief, authenticity and the struggle to belong in an age of instant connectivity and profound isolation.


I was sent an ARC copy of Dear Evan Hansen from The Novl in exchange for an honest review. It was released earlier this month, so it is currently out now. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up Dear Evan Hansen, because I never seen the musical or really heard much about it until I seen the book floating around the blogosphere and bookstagram. I am really glad I picked it up, because I actually enjoyed it a lot. It would be interesting to see the musical now that I have read it in book form.

Dear Evan Hansen is a really relatable story and deals with a lot of heavy things that a lot of people are experiencing every day; anxiety, depression, suicide. After Connor Murphy’s death, Evan gets mixed up in a lie that he never meant to tell. As events unfold, it’s harder and harder for him to get out of it or come clean. I really liked that the characters themselves were really relatable as well. It was easy for me to connect with Evan in particular, because I struggle with social anxiety myself. I really liked the characters in this book and I felt like they really made the story. I also liked that there are parts in the book where you get Connor’s point of view as well. His story was just as important as what was happening to Evan.

I loved the writing style and the communication between characters. While this book deals with some pretty important and heavy things, there were still happy moments and laugh out loud moments. Some of the interaction with Evan and Jared in particular were pretty laugh out loud. There were also times where I felt so much anxiety for Evan. The feels are real with this book. I think a lot of people will relate to it and the characters. I can see why so many people love the musical so much.

Even though I haven’t seen the musical or listened to the soundtrack, I am happy that I was still able to experience the Dear Evan Hansen story in novel form. Overall, I really loved the book and the characters. I found myself sucked right into the story from the beginning. There were a few times where it did slow down for me, but it didn’t take away from the story or my enjoyment of it. I highly recommend reading this book whether you seen the musical or not. It’s out now, so you should definitely go check it out!

In case you missed it;
Photo A Day|| October 11-17.
Random|| Picture Update.
Blog Tour/Thoughts|| The No-Good Nine.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyhalloween

Photo A Day|| October 11-17.

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Hey!

I’ve been taking part in monthly photo a day challenges on my Instagram account (heyyitsashley) and I’ve been having a lot of fun with them (when I don’t fall behind on pictures). I figured I would also cross post them to my blog as well. I think for the purpose of blogging, I will post 3-6 per blog post that I do throughout the month. That way I am not spamming my blog with a photo a day post every single day. You can follow me on Instagram (linked above) if you want to see them daily though! Some of these pictures will be taken with my Nikon cameras (CoolPix & D3400). There will also be some taken with my iPhone X.

October 11th-17th

There’s only five pictures, because I actually skipped a couple days this week. I skipped “baby blue” and “chocolate”. I didn’t have any old pictures that fit the category and I didn’t have any inspiration or things to take pictures of that fit them either for new pictures.

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Instagram Caption: i am obsessed with the way the grass is growing through the cracks of the cement.🖤 || photo a day • black.
Camera: iPhone X


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Instagram Caption: “appreciate this moment. stop and look around you. be thankful for all you have and where you are because this time next year, nothing will be the same.” ♡ || photo a day • fave colour.
Camera: Nikon D3400


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Instagram Caption: 🍄🍄🍄 || photo a day • natural.
Camera: Nikon D3400


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Instagram Caption: throwback from when i was in lake placid in july. i was obsessed with how pretty these were. 🌾💕 || photo a day • baby pink.
Camera: Nikon D3400


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Instagram Caption: “don’t leave my light on, you’ll burn out the bulb and then i’ll have to buy another; it’s not like we can’t talk to each other.” 🎵🖤 || photo a day • light.
Camera: iPhone X

In case you missed it;
Random|| Picture Update.
Photo A Day|| October 6-10.
Blog Tour/Thoughts|| The No-Good Nine.

I hope you have a great day and weekend!

ashleyhalloween

Random|| Picture Update.

pictureupdate

Hey!

I haven’t done one of these photo dumps in awhile, so I figured now would be a good time to do one. Feel free to add my on Instagram (heyyitsashley) if you want to see them as I post them. Some of these pictures haven’t been posted there yet, but will eventually make there way over there. I love posting my pictures on here, which I ended up having to upgrade my blog to a personal plan because I was running out of storage space for photos. It looks like I might have to end up upgrading again to a premium plan, because I’m getting to a point that I’ll probably be out of space (AGAIN) by the middle of next year? I guess we’ll see what happens. Anyway! Onto some pictures that I’ve been taking over the last couple of months and different things I’ve done that I never updated about. I think I’ll start off with the newest things/pictures first.

Now that Andy has weekends off from work, we’re actually able to do stuff! This weekend we decided to go walk around Target and the Spirit Halloween store. I actually left Target not getting anything for myself, crazy! I usually walk out buying things I never needed and spending way too much money. The Spirit Halloween store had a bunch of different Hocus Pocus costumes and accessories. I was living for this sign they had. We also decided to grab Taco Bell for lunch and eat it at the park. It was actually really nice since we were under the trees in the shade.

More food pictures. Andy’s birthday was on October 9th, so we decided to go to our favorite restaurant for dinner. They seriously have the best pizza ever! I decided to try something else from their menu though and got the baked ravioli. It was so good! I need to go back this week for more.

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Another weekend we all (my entire family) went to go eat at Joe’s Grill. It’s literally right at the end of our street, so we can walk there. They sell amazing pulled pork and mac & cheese. They have a lot of food on their menu, but I always get the pulled pork and mac & cheese. I always forget to take pictures of the food, but it’s so good!

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The weekend before Andy’s birthday we decided to go visit his parents. I mentioned that in my last post, I believe. It was a pretty fun time. I took this picture at a rest area that we stopped at before getting to his parents. I really love it.

These are just some random pictures that I took while there. Top left is his parents’ dog Digby. Top right is just a picture of my shoes and the grass. I have this weird obsession with taking pictures like this, I don’t know why. I have a ton and I do it all the time. 😛 Bottom left is my dog Dax exploring their backyard. We don’t have a fence yard, so whenever he goes to visit he gets to run around without a leash. Bottom right is a picture of Dax and Digby together, which I shared in my last photo a day post.

Andy and I decided one weekend to walk around Anne Kolb Nature Center park, so I could find things to take pictures of. We didn’t stay too long, because it was so hot outside, but I didn’t get a ton of nice pictures. Left is the observation tower, which you can go up. Right is one of the walking trails. Below are a bunch more pictures that I took at Anne Kolb.

These six pictures are all taken from the top of the observation tower. I took the stairs to the top, but took the elevator down because it was seriously so hot outside, HAHA. I love all these pictures that I was able to take though.

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I was pretty happy with every single one of these pictures that I took. This is another part of Anne Kolb. There’s different parts to the park/nature center. This is an area where you can actually go fishing at. The last picture is this really cool butterfly that I seen. It’s called an atala butterfly. I love that it looks like it’s glowing with those blue dots on it. I wish it had it’s wings opened, because they are even prettier with their wings spread.

And now this is where I just post a bunch of random pictures and a ton of my furbabies, haha. 😛

I was trying to get the girls into the Halloween spirit. Honestly, I wanted them to sit next to the pumpkin and look at the camera. They didn’t want to do that. I even tried to offer them toys, but nope. 😛 These were the best I could do.

Sleepy kitties! Left picture (October), I started to give October treats every day, so she’s starting to come out more. She’s usually a loner and never really likes attention much. We have a room that we call the “cat room”, because that’s where we keep the litter boxes, their cat tree, and it’s warm so they all like to chill in there. 98% of the time she is in there. Now that I’ve been giving her a lot of treats, she’s been coming out of the room more and hanging out in other areas of the house. She’s even sleeping more in our bedroom at night! Right picture (Leaf), that’s Leaf’s favorite blanket. she LOVED it since she was a really tiny kitten. It somehow ended up lost for months and months. Finally found it in the hubby’s trunk of the car and as soon as we got it out and washed it, Leaf was in love again and obviously super stoked to have her blanket back. Below is a picture of her when she was a tiny kitten with her blank versus now.

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And some other random Leaf pictures. Left picture, she was being so weird and wouldn’t stop looking into the lamp, lol. Eventually I had to turn it off, because it’s a really bright light and I didn’t want her to hurt her eyes, because she seriously wouldn’t stop. Right picture, was Leaf trying to lick my eye, haha. She’s such a strange cat, but I love her to death.

The boys! ColbyJack (left) and Dax (right). We celebrated Colby’s fifth birthday recently. I can’t believe he’s already five. He refused to put the birthday hat on as he does every year. I think only two years I’ve actually been able to get it on him, haha. And my pup. he’s forever the cutest.

These last two pictures are just some random pictures I took outside of my house. That’s all for this post! I hope you enjoyed seeing all my pictures. I’ll have my next set of photo a day pictures in the next day or two. I’ll catch up with you guys later this week as well.

In case you missed it;
Photo A Day|| October 6-10.
Blog Tour/Thoughts|| The No-Good Nine.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyhalloween

Photo A Day|| October 6-10.

photoaday1

Hey!

I’ve been taking part in monthly photo a day challenges on my Instagram account (heyyitsashley) and I’ve been having a lot of fun with them (when I don’t fall behind on pictures). I figured I would also cross post them to my blog as well. I think for the purpose of blogging, I will post 3-6 per blog post that I do throughout the month. That way I am not spamming my blog with a photo a day post every single day. You can follow me on Instagram (linked above) if you want to see them daily though! Some of these pictures will be taken with my Nikon cameras (CoolPix & D3400). There will also be some taken with my iPhone X.

October 6th-10th

Instagram Caption: best buds ♡ || photo a day • purple.
Camera: iPhone

We went to visit Andy’s parents over the weekend and we took our pup Dax with us. His favorite thing was looking out the window. He’s in the back of the picture looking out the window and Digby (his parents’ dog) is in front looking out the window too.


Instagram Caption: b u t t e r f l y 🦋🧡 || photo a day • orange.
Camera: Nikon CoolPix


Instagram Caption: whatever forever ♡ || photo a day • aqua.
Camera: Nikon D3400

I love this bracelet so much. I am happy that I had it made. “whatever forever” is from one of my favorite songs. It’s from a song called Rock Bottom by Modern Baseball, which I am obsessed with. “I’ve got so much to do, but it’s okay cause whatever, forever.” I live my life by this a lot, lol.


Instagram Caption: ⛵️🏢🌊🖤 || photo a day • grey.
Camera: Nikon D3400


Instagram Caption: 👻💀 || photo a day • white.
Camera: Nikon D3400

In case you missed it;
Blog Tour/Thoughts|| The No-Good Nine.
WWW Wednesday #55.
Thoughts|| I Will Find You.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyhalloween

Blog Tour/Thoughts|| The No-Good Nine.

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Hey!

Welcome to my stop on the No-Good Nine blog tour! I am super stoked to be a part of this blog tour. I love a good middle grade book and one about Christmas at that! 😛 Continue reading to see my review for this book, more about the book, and a little about the author.

The No-Good Nine

The No-Good Nine by John Bemelmans Marciano
4 out of 5 stars.

They’re mad, they’re bad, and they’re about to ruin Christmas!”

Book Description: No kids get coal in their stocking these days. Do you know why? It’s thanks to The No-Good Nine! Pittsburgh, 1931. When Peter awakens on Christmas morning to find his stocking full of coal, he is outraged. After he finds the Naughty List, which contains the names of some other children who received no gifts, he decides they should band together and journey to Santa’s workshop to plead their case, as well as play with the toys intended for the Nice children. The ragtag band of misfits sets out on a series of wild misadventures as they travel by train, truck, dog sled, and boat, encountering thieves and bootleggers, in order to reach the renowned Toy Factory only to accidentally burn it down. More slapstick capers follow before the No-Good Nine extricate themselves and set out to find their next great adventure.


I was sent a copy of The No-Good Nine by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Release date: October 16, 2018.

I had a lot of fun reading The No-Good Nine. It’s a middle grade book, but it was still a lot of fun to read even as an adult. There was a funny cast of characters like the Liar, the Brat, the Cruel, and so many more! The No-Good Nine go on a crazy adventure to get to the North Pole to confront Santa about being on the naughty list and receiving coal for Christmas and to play with all the toys that are meant for the nice kids.

There so are many crazy things that happen along the way, which make it all the more fun to read. There were a few things that happened that I questioned, but would most likely be overlooked by a middle grader, since this book is mostly intended for that audience. They didn’t take away from the story or anything, so it was still pretty great. There were so many laugh out loud moments and I flew through it pretty quickly. It’s perfect to read around Christmas time.

Overall, I really enjoyed The No-Good Nine. I thought the adventure aspect was a lot of fun even with some things being a little out there. For a kid though, I think they’ll get a kick out of it. I liked that there were a lot of funny moments and the cast of characters made the story even better. I plan to pass this book along to my nephew, because I think he would really get like it. It’s releasing on October 16th (next week), so be on the look out for it!


john bemelmans

 

About the Author:

John Bemelmans Marciano collaborated with Sophie Blackall on the middle-grade novel The Nine Lives of Alexander Baddenfield as well as on the Witches of Benevento series. Continuing his grandfather’s legacy, John wrote and illustrated Madeline at the White House, Madeline and the Old House in ParisMadeline and the Cats of Rome, and Madeline Says Merci.

 

 

In case you  missed it;
WWW Wednesday #55.
Thoughts|| I Will Find You.
Photo A Day|| October 1-5.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

 

 

 

WWW Wednesday #55.

wwwwednesdayflower

WWW Wednesday is a weekly MEME hosted by Taking on a World of Words. Simply answer the following questions. 🙂

The three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

*Goodreads linked below.


Hey!

I had a pretty good reading week for the first week of October. I was actually able to finish three books. It makes me hopeful that I might be able to actually read a lot of the books that I had on my TBR for this month. Here are the books that I’ve been reading and ones that I hope to read really soon.

Currently Reading:

childrentotheslaughtersadie

Children to the Slaughter by A.I. Nasser
Sadie by Courtney Summers

I am reading Children to the Slaughter and that’s part of my Halloweenie TBR. It’s pretty interesting so far. I had Sadie on hold for a bit, because I had some ARCs that I wanted to get read and reviewed, but I will hopefully be picking it back up this week to finish it ASAP.


Recently Finished:

babyteethThe No-Good Nineiwillfindyou

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
The No-Good Nine by John Bemelmans Marciano
I Will Find You by Joe Kenda

I liked Baby Teeth. It was really creepy, but I thought the ending kind of sucked. It got really boring toward the end and wasn’t what I expected. It was still good though. I enjoyed The No-Good Nine, it was pretty good for being a middle grade book. I do like some middle grade stuff though. They’re always fun to read. I’ll have a review up for it tomorrow. I Will Find You was pretty amazing. If you’re a true crime fan, you’ll really enjoy it. I posted a review for it a couple days ago and it’ll be linked at the end of this post if you want to check it out.


Reading Next:

thewaroutsidedearevanmysisterrosasixofcrows

The War Outside by Monica Hesse
Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Honestly, I have no idea what I am going to read next. I have so many options to choose from. I have a couple ARCs I need to read (first two books above) and a couple books from my library that I need to read (last two books above) before they get returned. With the majority of my books packed away, I’ve had to rely on the library for even the books that I own. My Sister Rosa is for my Halloweenie TBR and Six of Crows I’ve been on hold for MONTHS at my library and it finally got checked out to me. I don’t know why Six of Crows was one of the books that I packed away when I knew I wanted to read it this year. At least I finally got it from my library though. It could be any of these four that I read next (or maybe something totally different), but I’m really not too. Guess we’ll see what happens by next Wednesday!

What are you currently reading? Recently finished? Reading next? Have you read any of these books? Feel free to link me to your posts, so I can check them out!

I hope to find some time later this week to catch up with all of your posts and comments. It’s been a pretty busy weekend and week so far for me. I also haven’t been feeling good, so I haven’t been up to doing too much. I always catch up though, so I’m not too worried about that. 🙂

In case you missed it;
Thoughts|| I Will Find You.
Photo A Day|| October 1-5.
Book Haul|| September.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyhalloween

Thoughts|| I Will Find You.

iwillfindyou

I Will Find You: Solving Killer Cases from My Life Fighting Crime by Joe Kenda
5 out of 5 stars.

Goodreads Description: Detective Lt. Joe Kenda, star of Homicide Hunter, shares his deepest, darkest, and never before revealed case files from his 19 years as a homicide detective. Are you horrified yet fascinated by abhorrent murders? Do you crave to know the gory details of these crimes, and do you seek comfort in the solving of the most gruesome? In I WILL FIND YOU, the star of Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda shares his deepest, darkest, and never-before-revealed case files from his two decades as a homicide detective and reminds us that crimes like these are very real and can happen even in our own backyards. Gruesome, macabre, and complex cases. Joe Kenda investigated 387 murder cases during his 23 years with the Colorado Springs Police Department and solved almost all of them. And he is ready to detail the cases that are too gruesome to air on television, cases that still haunt him, and the few cases where the killer got away. These cases are horrifyingly real, and the detail is so mesmerizing you won’t be able to look away. The tales in I WILL FIND YOU will shock you like the best horror stories-divulging insights into the actions, motivations, and proclivities of nature’s most dangerous species. Don’t mind the blood.


I received I Will Find You from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. It’s out in stores now. 

Well my, my, my…it’s not a surprise that I am a sucker for true crime. I love reading true crime stories and books. I love watching true crime TV shows and documentaries on TV/Netflix. I love listening to true crime podcasts. Detective Lt. Joe Kenda happens to be one of my favorites and I love watching his show “Homicide Hunter” on the Investigation Discovery channel. When I seen I Will Find You up on Netgalley, there was no way I was going to pass it up.

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On Joe Kenda’s TV show he talks about all the different cases he’s worked on during his career as a homicide detective. In his book I Will Find You, he talks about the cases that are too gruesome to even air on TV. In his book, Joe Kenda also talks about crime scenes and what he does to determine the who, what, where, when, and how the victim died along with the motive and find out who the killer is. He also talks about life as a homicide hunter and how he became one. I also love that he talkes about himself and his family. I loved learning about other sides to him aside from just his homicide hunter days. Even his family members pop in from time to time to recount a story.

I Will Find You is creepy, scary, and it’s one of the most realist books that you’ll ever read.  If you love true crime, this book is definitely for you. The world is a scary place (it seems so even more these days) and humans are the scariest of all. Joe Kenda talks about how animals kill each other for need (hunger & danger, basically to survive), but some humans kill just to kill. That’s really terrifying to think about and it’s true. In this book you’ll see different reasons and scenarios why humans kill, which none of them are ever justifiable. Then there are some humans that kill just because they like killing.

“Even today, humans are the most ruthless, aggressive, and dangerous of species.”

There’s a lot of triggers and gory things in this book, so proceed with caution. There were even a few things that freaked me out and I don’t get freaked out by these things easily. I mean, I can watch a TV show about a murder, see the reenactments, bloody bodies, and still eat my dinner like I was just watching a normal TV show. 😛 Even though this book is quite serious, I like that Joe Kenda throws in a little humor too. You kind of have to have a dark sense of humor though. I love Joe Kenda’s personality on TV and as he comes across in his book and because of that, this book was easy to read and hard to put down in a writing stand point. The subject matter isn’t always easy to read, but it’s written in a way that it’s hard to put down.

Like I said earlier, it is the realist book you will ever read. It has it’s good moments and a couple happy stories, but a lot of it is not. This isn’t like the TV show “CSI”, this is real life. It’s terrifying and shocking. As dark as I Will Find You is, I thought it was a very good book and really eye opening. I think after having read this book, I will be looking over my shoulder a hell of a lot more than I already do. I will leave you with this quote from the very beginning of the book, because it’s 100% true about this book and you should be prepared if you plan to pick this one up.

“If you have an interest in the truth, you are reading the right book. If you don’t think you can handle the darkest aspects of human nature, then you might want to put this book down, because it will get real in a hurry.”

In case you missed it;
Photo A Day|| October 1-5.
Book Haul|| September.
Unofficial Halloweenie TBR.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyhalloween

 

Photo A Day|| October 1-5.

photoaday1

Hey!

I haven’t done this post in awhile, because I took a break from the photo challenges on Instagram for a few months. I decided to attempt the October challenge, because the topics are mostly colors. In case you forgot what my photo a day challenge posts are; I’ve been taking part in monthly photo a day challenges on my Instagram account (heyyitsashley) and I’ve been having a lot of fun with them (when I don’t fall behind on pictures). I figured I would also cross post them to my blog as well. I think for the purpose of blogging, I will post 3-6 per blog post that I do throughout the month. That way I am not spamming my blog with a photo a day post every single day. You can follow me on Instagram (linked above) if you want to see them daily though! Some of these pictures will be taken with my Nikon cameras (CoolPix & D3400). There will also be some taken with my iPhone X.

October 1st-5th

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Instagram Caption: 💛🖤 || photo a day • yellow.
Camera: Nikon D3400


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Instagram Caption: 🍍💕 || photo a day • pink.
Camera: iPhone X


Instagram Caption: 💙💙 || photo a day • blue.
Camera: Nikon D3400


Instagram Caption: 🌵🌵💚 || photo a day • green.
Camera: Nikon D3400


Instagram Caption: ❤️❤️ || photo a day • red.
Camera: Nikon D3400

It’s also been awhile since I’ve done a regular picture/life update post, so I will be doing one of those at some point next week (hopefully), so be on the look out for that. I also hope to have a couple reviews coming next week as well. The hubby and I are off to visit his parents for the weekend after work, so that should be fun. Since they live about 2.5-3 hours away, it’ll hopefully give me a little bit of time to catch up on reading. I am currently in the middle of four books….UGHH, I hate doing this. My main focus is on two of them though, The No-Good Nine and Baby Teeth. The other two I will finish after these two.

In case you missed it;
Book Haul|| September.
Unofficial Halloweenie TBR.
Wrap Up || September.

I hope you have a great day and weekend!

ashleyhalloween

Book Haul|| September.

bookhaulyellow

Hey!

I am a couple days late in posting my September book haul and I didn’t have any time to take pictures of my own books, sadly. I got some pretty awesome deals on the few books that I got and I received a couple ARCs as well. I think I actually did pretty good with the e-books too. I usually get a ton of them, but this time I only got five. I tend to go overboard with them, but not this time. I’m going to jump right into the books that I got in September. You can check out all the books I own over here. There’s also links on that page to pages for my kindle books and my physical books.

Books I Bought:

anatomicalshapedonedirtcheapthestormrunner

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett
Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Lemon
The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes

I seen The Anatomical Shape of a Heart for only $4 on Amazon, so I decided to get a copy. Plus Jenn Bennett! I loved Alex, Approximately so much and I want to read all of her books.  I was able to get a hardcover of Done Dirt Cheap for only $2.65 on Amazon, so I didn’t want to pass that up. I guess you can say I got it dirt cheap? 😛 I also got The Storm Runner, because it’s a Rick Riordan Presents book and I will read anything he suggests, haha. I will most likely be preordering all of the “Rick Riordan Presents” books soon that I haven’t already. I seen his site updated with more awesome sounding mythology books that I can’t wait to get my hands on.


Books from Publishers/Authors:

lightyearsthenogoodnine

Light Years by Kass Morgan
The No-Good Nine by John Bemelmans Marciano

I was sent an ARC of Light Years from The Novl. It sounds really interesting. I’ve never read a book from Kass Morgan, but I know she wrote The 100 and so many people seem to love that series and the TV show. I’m a part of the blog tour for the No-Good Nine this month, which I am actually really stoked for because it’s a Christmas themed book and I love Christmas. It’s a middle grade book, but I also am a sucker for some middle grade stuff. I’ve read about 30 pages so far and it’s interesting. It seems like it’ll be fun and I’m sure I’ll be able to pass the book along to my nephew after I read it. I think it will be something he’ll like and maybe it will get him away from the Xbox for a little while? Haha.


E-Books:

theseafarerskisswolfsongbrokenbeautifulheartsweweremothersfuryborn

The Seafarer’s Kiss by Julia Ember
Wolfsong by TJ Klune
Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia
We Were Mothers by Katie Sise
Furyborn by Claire Legrand

I’ve been really trying to limit the books that I buy this year (especially new releases – I still have so many older books I haven’t read yet), so I was stoked to finally see Furyborn on sale in September. I’ve been dying to get my hands on that one.

That’s my September book haul! 🙂 Have you read any of the books that I got in September? What books did you get? Let me know and feel free to link me to your haul posts if you have one.

I posted my Halloween themed TBR (linked below) of the spooky books that I hope to have time to read this month. I always like coming up with a Halloweenie TBR even if I don’t always stick to it or get to all of the books. Maybe there will be some spooky books that catch your eye!

In case you missed it;
Unofficial Halloweenie TBR.
Wrap Up || September.
Thoughts|| Shadow of the Fox.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyhalloween

Unofficial Halloweenie TBR.

halloweentbr2

BOOOOOO!

It’s finally October and I LOVE OCTOBER and anything Halloween, Fall, and SPOOKY! I usually make this huge Halloween Themed TBR for the month of October, but I’m not really sure how it’s going to work out for this year as I have so many ARCs that I really need to read and give priority to. I still hope to fit some spooky reads in. I’m also not sure how well this will work out for me, because almost all of my books are currently packed away. I’m limited to what I can read as far as spooky/Halloweenie goes. I have to stick to what is on my Kindle and what my library has available. With that being said, here are some Halloween/spooky vibe books that I hope to have time for this month. I’m calling this my “Unofficial Halloweenie TBR”…and you’ll see why as you continue to read.

ghost

Halloweenie TBR:

hocuspocusthegirlfromthewellhauntingsunshinegirlmysisterrosababyteeth

Hocus Pocus and the All-New Sequel by A.W. Jantha
The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie
My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

andthetreescreptincranechildrentotheslaughterwelcometothedarkhouseteenfrankenstein

And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich
Crane by Stacey Rourke
Children To The Slaughter by A.I. Nasser
Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Teen Frankenstein by  Chandler Baker

I’ve had a few of these one past October TBRs, but I never got around to reading them. I’ve also had quite a few of these on my Kindle for so long now and it would be nice to finally read them. I am super stoked for the Hocus Pocus book and that one will be for sure read in October. I make it a point to watch Hocus Pocus at least once every single year. I have never missed a year yet and I’m curious about this sequel. It’s actually one of the only books that I didn’t pack away because I knew I needed to keep it out to read in October. 😛 And below are some of the ARCs that I plan to read this month that I need to give priority to.

By the way, these Hocus Pocus Funko Pops are EVERYTHING!

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ghost

ARCs/Non-Halloweenie TBR:

iwillfindyouthewaroutsidedearevanthenogoodnine

I Will Find You by Joe Kenda
The War Outside by Monica Hesse
Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
The No-Good Nine by John Bemelmans Marciano

I Will Find You is actually a pretty good spooky vibe book for Halloween as well since it’s true crime and about murder cases. I’m part of the blog tour for The No-Good Nine for this month, so that one definitely is number one priority right now. The No-Good Nine is a Christmas book and I keep getting “I Miss You” by Blink-182 in my head because of Halloween and Christmas. “We can live like Jack and Sally if we want, where you can always find me, and we’ll have Halloween on Christmas, and in the night we’ll wish this never ends”. 😛 I am super stoked for it though!

Have you read any of the books on my October TBR? What do you plan to read in October? Let me know and feel free to link me to your posts if you have one!

I am crossing my fingers that I actually get to read a lot of these books. I do have holds at my library that I’ve been on hold forever for, so those might take a little priority over the Halloweenie TBR as well if they become available since I’ve been on hold for so long with them, ughhhh. SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME! I’m not making any promises and this TBR list is a little long (I need options!), but I have my fingers crossed. If anything, at least this is a good Halloweenie recommendation list for you guys if you’re looking for spooky reads for the month of October! 😛

I’ll have my September book haul posted tomorrow and I’ll catch up on your blog posts and comments hopefully today. If I don’t have time today, then tomorrow. 🙂

In case you missed it;
Wrap Up || September.
Thoughts|| Shadow of the Fox.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyhalloween