Hi friends,
Today is Sunday, time to look back in the rearview mirror and talk about my week in and out of the blog. As usual I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted for years by Kimberly @caffeinatedreviewer .
As I didn’t post last Sunday (too busy having fun) I’ll cram two weeks in one today and I will give you my September wrap-up
In my private life
We are officially back on lockdown!
Beginning tomorrow as our hospital are reaching their maximum capacity!
Belgium holds the sad record of maximum amount of infected people by 100.000 inhabitants.
Why our country? I don’t know. Probably because we are a small country with a huge population so, not many room for small communities acting like lost haven but rather many cities with room for sprading the virus.
I don’t think Belgian people wear less masks than in other countries, even if we of course have room for improvement.
Last week I told you that my son was possibly COVID positive well, it’s been confirmed!
He had very mild symptoms and my doctor thinks he was a healthy “carrier” and had virus for one day as his symptoms and the brevity of them allude at something else.
My husband and I are still healthy and past the point of contagion so I hope (cross fingers and toes) that we are out of the wood…until next time!
My daughter is learning online at her dorm and I think my son will have to learn online but at home!
Now to give you some good news:
-I am on holiday for three weeks (with little to do but still);
–Tomorrow I will make a funko for one of you and it should ship to UK by the end of the week hopefully (yes Caro, I am talking about Manon);
-I am doing more unboxing videos on Instagram and I have fun doing them! I will leave the link to my two last ones if you are interested (it was so nice to see Caro and Jacquie visiting me).
One of them is for a company that will launch her book box on November 20th @readingincolorcrate and that wants to promote books written by POC and less known books. I will have a live Q&A on November 20th with its owner.
Video for unboxing a prototype from @readingincolorcrate https://www.instagram.com/p/CG-dToQgzxt/
Video for unboxing @beaconbookbox https://www.instagram.com/p/CHAvRgSAoOI/
On the blog
I have read 9 books this month and some are still to be reviewed (hopefully next week).
Honestly saving daylight and hard work days combined with bad world news had me utterly exhausted and I often lacked energy to reply to comments and review at the end of the day. I just wanted to take solace in my reads and go early to bed.
As blogging should always be a hobby and only good for me, that’s just what I did!
Sorry if I am lacking but I know from experience that taking care of me, my mental health has no price!
I hope to do better with my three weeks of holiday!
My disappointment this month:
Lord of London Town by Tillie Cole. A case of “it’s not the book, it’s me” with personal pet peeves.
Favorite reads this month
From Blood and Ash followed by A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L Armentrout is JLA being at her best! New universe, fiesty heroine, hawt male MC and good banter with many twists!
His and Hers by Alice Feeney. Thrillers are so out of my usual genre but this one blew me away! With a cast of disillusioned characters, a bleak setting and twists upon twists this book was a prime example of the genre!
And the best of the month…
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik . I listened to the audiobook and really loved how the narrator brought that story to life! Galadriel was not easy to like but I am among the ones that did! And that ending! I can’t wait for the sequel of that dark academy!
On the blogosphere and the literary world
Epic Read has a fun quiz to know “how well you know book covers” take the quiz HERE
I am proud to say that I reached the level of EXPERT 😀
And to leave on a good note, Kim at @bybookorbyhook made me discover the wonders of The Holderness Family and they never fail to make me laugh with their parodies. Oh and pay attention to his shirt ! 😆
How was your week guys? And what was your best October book?
Thanks for reading!
Sophie
I just got started wtih A Deadly Education!
I’ve heard so much about dealy education! And I hope you guys are all safe and healthy by this point (as I know I’m a little late)
Yeah I’ve not posted anything in ages. One good thing about this lockdown is it’s taken away my guilt about being too tired to do anything when I get home from work or at the weekend. Work is so exhausting at the moment that it takes all weekend to recover. And when I get home from work I pretty much get straight into my pyjamas. Because I’m cool like that.
I’m sorry to hear about your son testing positive but I’m glad that he’s doing ok and that you all appear to have escaped it!
My mum tested positive last Saturday (and she’s has lots of underlying conditions so that’s been a bit scary…) 🙁
The UK is back in lockdown now too. It’s not as strict as the first one but still – it sucks.
Enjoy your 3 week break! Recharge and look after yourself.
Oh no Nicci! I hope your mom will be all right!
Despite the sad news that is the second lockdown, I’m glad to hear your son is doing better and that you or your husband are not infected by it!!! 😀
Thank you Lashaan!
Sorry to hear that lockdown is back. Sometimes it feels like one step forward and then two steps back. 🙁 So glad your son wasn’t taken down too hard by the virus. And that you and your husband managed to stay healthy! Such strange times we are living in now.
I know Tanya it’s hard to get back for a second time…
Sorry your son tested positive, Sophie, but so glad his symptoms are mild. Stay safe!
Thank you Teri!!
I’m sorry to hear your son’s test came back positive, but I’m glad to hear his symptoms have been mild. I hope that you and your hubby will be safe from it as well.
Thank you Suzanne!
I’m so glad your son is okay! I’m sorry you’re heading back to lockdown! That’s a bummer!
I’m glad you enjoyed JLA’s books! I haven’t read Kingdom of flesh and Fire yet but I’ve added it to my DEC TBR list.
Hope you have a great November! 🙂
Thank you Raveni You too!
Scary that your son caught it, but I am so happy to hear he is on the mend! I love Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books too! 🙂 Happy November!
Happy November to you too Freda!
Three weeks’ holiday sound exactly what the doctor ordered, considering recent events – and about that I’m glad your son is on the mend and you are all past the “danger zone”. Sadly, lockdown is again a reality all across Europe, and I think we’ll have to learn how to coexist with this virus until a working vaccine will be distributed…
I think you are right Maddalena! Let’s pray the vaccine will come sooner than later!
We here in the UK are also heading back into lockdown this week. It’s a worrying and stressful time. 🙁 I keep seeing A Deadly Education everywhere, I’m thinking I’ll have to hunt a copy down. 🙂
I hope you will love it Viki!
I’m glad to hear your son is well, and it’s a relief that most young people can bounce back from it pretty quickly. Lucky you too for having three weeks off, I hope you enjoy your break! And sorry to hear about the lockdown and the numbers in Belgium.
Thank you Mogsy!
I’m sorry to hear about lockdown. And your son- oh no sorry to hear that also! Although I am glad you and your husband are so far okay. Thoughts and prayers to you that your son stays mild and doesn’t have too much trouble. My daughters had it mostly mild so hopefully that’s his experience as well…
Enjoy your holiday!
Thank you Greg!!
Glad to hear your son’s symptoms were mild even though he tested positive. Hope you and your husband continue to stay virus free. It seems like more and more countries are going on lockdown! Stay safe and happy reading, Sophie! 🙂
Thank you Rachel!
Three weeks of holiday sounds lovely. It is getting colder here and I would like to just stay in bed and sleep and read. But there are some things to do, of course. I hope you all stay well now.
Thank you Anne!
So glad that your son’s COVID symptoms are not too bad – and I very much hope you enjoy your three week break. Sorry to hear you are also headed into lockdown… And thank you for sharing the Holdeness Family video – hilarious:)). I hope you get a chance to decompress and have a reasonable week:)
I am happy to make you laugh 😉
Oh darn 🙁 So sorry to hear you’re heading back to lockdown. Canada is currently a few weeks behind Europe (my region is seeing 200-300 infections per day) … and, while public health authorities are “talking the talk”, not much has been done with regards to legislation and (re)implementing self-isolation protocols.
I get that they want to keep the economy open — but, we can all see where it’s heading. A dose of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
But, books!
I’m so glad you liked A Deadly Education! I just purchased a copy … with high hopes (lots of 5/5 reviews out there!) but low expectations (not a huge fan of Uprooted). We’ll see!
I hope you’ll love A Deadly Education Em! And fingers crossed for Canada!
— lockdown 2.0 just announced. Nice job, citizens.
Sigh. Well, maybe there’ll be time to start Deadly Education this week?
Our family just ended two weeks of quarantine because my daughter was exposed via her high school swim team. The schools are supposed to be going back to an in-person hybrid schedule, but the COVID numbers are just going up right now, so it seems like a bad idea. Hopefully they’ll change their minds.
I hope for you they’ll get back to full online classes Nicole!
I’m glad your son is OK! My son has to take weekly tests because he’s living on campus, so at least we know he’s fine so far. Enjoy your three weeks off, I AM SO JEALOUS!
Weekly tests! We stopped testing those without symptoms here as the labs could not follow 🙁
Glad you are healthy and your son’s case was mild! I can’t imagine anyone being worse about masks and social distancing than Americans!
Enjoy your time off! I’m jealous!
Thank you Samantha!
I’m so glad your son is okay and the rest of you didn’t catch it Sophie!
Me too Kim!
Glad your son is feeling well despite the diagnosis, and glad you didn’t catch it. Wow! Three weeks vacation. It’s been years since I had long breaks like that. Enjoy!!!
I do Sam, thank you!!
I’m sorry you have to go back on lockdown. I kind of expect it here. Our numbers are definitely going up. Sadly, we need the government to step up and you know how that is (US).
I know!! It will maybe depend on who wins the election?
So glad to hear your son is doing well! It’s great that you have some time off, hopefully you can get some rest and relaxation. Hugs!
Thank you Sarah!!
Firstly…..yay for Funko’s, IG lives and reading books!
Secondly, boo for COVID (but glad your son is ok and you don’t appear to have it!), and boo for lockdowns (ours starts Thursday for a month).
Thirdly, I could go on and on about how excited I am for Manon but I will save it until she is in my grabby hands and I can’t wait to watch your next video…you should get a countdown to the next so I know to free up time!!!
I will set a countdown promise!
Yay! Heehee!
Damn, Sophie, I am so glad to hear that despite your son getting the corona virus, that he came through it okay! Things could have been awful had you and your husband come down too. Let’s hope you are all in the clear. And it sounds like you need three weeks off to recover from all the recent stress. Do take care, rest and enjoy having time to do things for yourself.
I am enjoying my time off Alex! And it seems we are out of the woods for now but …for how long?