Monthly/Weekly Wrap Up/What’s On My Plate September/October
30 September 2025
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, Books Bones & Buffy, Fantasy, Monthly/Weekly Wrap Up, reading, September/October, What's on my Plate
I’m trying to post a wrap up for the end of each month, mainly to help me to keep track of my reading and at the same time look at what I’m intending to read during the month ahead (inspired by Books Bones and Buffy’s What’s on My Plate.
This month’s wrap up post will be a bit messy again like last month’s because I’m combining it with my weekly wrap up.
Weekly Update
I’ve been absent from the blog for the past two weeks for a couple of reasons (nothing to do with reading slumps or being stressed with blogging and reviewing). We’ve had family visiting, I’ve had an issue with my hip replacement which I won’t go into here (but has been stressful) and I’ve started some more language lessons so two of my evenings are now taken up with school and then of course homework!
I’ve been pushing on with my reading though and although I now need to post quite a few reviews in quick succession I’m pleased to be a little ahead with some of my review books.
Since my last weekly wrap up I’ve read:
- Cinder House by Freya Marske
- Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber
- House of Splinters by Laura Purcell
- The Last Witch by CJ Cooke
and I’m now reading Ring the Bells by C. K. McDonnell.
Next Week’s reads
Complete Ring the Bells and then pick up either The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Cañas or Murder Most Haunted by Emma Mason.
Reviews Posted:
None in the past week.
Outstanding Reviews
- Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry
- The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
- Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
- This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara
- No Women Were Harmed by Heather Mottershead
- The Naked Light by Bridget Collilns
- Cinder House by Freya Marske
- The Cold House by AG Slatter
- Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber
- House of Splinters by Laura Purcell
- The Last Witch by CJ Cooke
My Monthly Wrap Up:
Books read in September:
- No Women Were Harmed by Heather Mottershead
- The Faerie Morgana by Louisa Morgan
- The Naked Light by Bridget Collilns
- Cinder House by Freya Marske
- The Cold House by AG Slatter
- Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber
- House of Splinters by Laura Purcell
- The Last Witch by CJ Cooke
I’ve had a good reading month with 8 books and a good dent already in my October review books.
Here’s what I’m hoping to read in October:
- Cinder House by Freya Marske (already read)
- Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber (already read)
- The Cold House by A.G. Slatter (already read)
- House of Splinters by Laura Purcell (already read)
- Ring the Bells by CK McDonnell (currently reading)
- The Last Witch by C.J. Cooke (already read)
- The Possession of Alba Dias by Isabel Cañas
- Murder Most Haunted by Emma Mason
- King Sorrow by Joe Hill
- The Last Death of the Year by Sophie Hannah
- The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow

Lets just be honest – I’m not doing well so far – I need to give my head a big wobble.
Bookforager‘s Picture Prompt book bingo.
and the text version:
PICTURE PROMPT BOOK BINGO 2025 (TEXT VERSION)
| 1. A prehistoric flint knapped stone knife | 2. A lighthouse | 4. An archery target with three arrows in it | |
| 5. A very large mechanical telescope | 7. A stag | ||
| 9 |
|||
| 15. A stylized sun with a human face |
Today, I’m not ticking off a prompt.
The prompts I’ve crossed off so far:
No. 16 – A Roman helmet – and I’m using This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara.
No. 3 – an apple on a leafy branch – Hemlock and Silver by T Kingfisther
No.10 – A Sheaf of Wheat – The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst –
No. 11 – An Old Mechanical Typewriter – The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno Garcia
No.8 – The ruins of a temple-like structure – I’m using Daughter of Chaos by A S Webb
No. 12 – A cluster of four mushrooms – I’m using Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
No. 13 – A fringed umbrella/parasol – I’m using A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull
No.14 – A chemistry set-up of bottles and tubes – I’m using Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis
No.9 – A Crab – I’m using The Devils by Joe Abercrombie – if you’ve read this already you’ll be able to guess why. There are some very unusual creatures in this story.
No.6 – A Human Skull – I’m using The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North – because this is about a serial killer and there are definite human remains included in this one.
Number of books read this year: 71
Monthly Wrap Up/What’s On My Plate September/October
1 October 2024
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, book-blog, Books, Monthly Wrap Up, reading, September/October, What's on my Plate
I’m trying to post a wrap up for the end of each month, mainly to help me to keep track of my reading and at the same time look at what I’m intending to read during the month ahead (inspired by Books Bones and Buffy’s What’s on My Plate.
In this post I shall be looking at the reading I completed for September and what I’m hoping to read during October. I hit a bit of a shady patch this month and didn’t quite finish all my planned books – and looking at October, well, I seem to have turned into a raging maniac requesting ALL the books and literally I don’t know what I was thinking. Well, I do. I just wanted them all, they all looked so lovely and they were calling to me. Anyway. This month I have two review books that I’ve not managed to complete but I’m still aiming to pick them up when I have a quieter month (November/December). I have two reviews to catch up with at the moment and then onwards to my October books.
Here’s what I read during September:
- Fortitude’s Prize by Ceril N Domace (SPFBOX)
- The First Assignment by Billy Kramer (SPFBOX)
- River of Crows by NP Thompson (SPFBOX)
- This Girl’s a Killer by Emma C Wells
- So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
- Lucy Undying by Kiersten White
- Touched by Magic by Celine Jeanjean (SPFBOX)
- Smile and Be A Villain by Yves Donlon (SPFBOX)
- Gorse by Sam K Horton
- The Ravening by Daniel Church
- The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier – review to follow
- The Wilding by Ian McDonald – review to follow
This month I had nine review books and five SPFBO books. I have two review books to complete, I started both but put them down temporarily as I don’t think I was in the right headspace. So, twelve books all together.
What I’m hoping to read during October(with links to Goodreads) (although I realise this is a tall order and probably unlikely – but I can roll some books over to November).
- The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister
- The Coven by Harper L. Woods
- The House at Watch Hill by Karen Marie Moning
- Candle & Crow by Kevin Hearne
- The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak
- The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke
- Run by Blake Crouch
- Cold Snap by Lindy Ryan
- Hear Him Calling by Carly Reagon
- Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris
- The Fury of the Gods by John Gwynne
- Here One Minute by Alex Lake
- The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H. G. Parry
- The Queen by Nick Cutter
- Magic by Sarah Pinborough
I also have a couple of books sent to me directly by the authors and three potential SPFBOX Semi Finalists. So, realistically, there’s no way I’m going to complete them all. But, in my defence some of these were requests that came in late. Oh, who am I kidding – there are some great books on here so I couldn’t resist. And, just look how lovely they all look:

This month I read no Backlist Books -boo (I am still reading The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie – which is very good but I simply keep forgetting to listen to the audio version).
Bookforager‘s Picture Prompt book bingo

This month I’m ticking off the ‘clouds’ prompt from my Picture Prompt bingo card.
I’m using Fortitude’s Prize by Ceril N Domace – a story that predominantly takes place in the sky so seems quite appropriate.
PICTURE PROMPT BOOK BINGO 2024 (TEXT VERSION)
| A microscope | A partially unrolled scroll and a pen | ||
| A beehive (with four bees flying around it) |
So far this year I’ve read a total of 94 books.
How did you get on during September?
















































