On the final Friday of each month, I take a look back at all the things I loved and put together this list of recommendations for you: the Friday Finale. It might include the best book I read, a particularly impressive recipe I tried, or the best thing I streamed this month. I hope these standout moments from my month inspire you to make some time for yourself looking forward!
I cannot believe October is already over! This month, I celebrated my 29th birthday (and posted my annual birthday video), embraced living in a state that does autumn so well, and went through some huge work changes. Overall, I can’t complain… except to say that this month always feels too short to me.
Before I look ahead to November and NaNoWriMo, I wanted to take a moment and share some of the things that made October such a good month!
It’s always exciting and a little nerve-wracking to get a new book from a favorite author. I follow Victoria (aka V.E.) Schwab on Instagram, so this book has been on my radar for quite some time. I knew I would pick it up when it came out, and I was pleasantly surprised when it appeared in my Book of the Month selections for October.
Addie LaRue is born in Villon, France in the 1700s, and after making a deal with the devil to save herself from a loveless marriage, she’s still alive over 300 years later. The catch? She can’t tell anyone her name or her story, she can’t make any changes to the world around her, and no one remembers her. Until she makes a return visit to a used bookstore in New York City, and she meets Henry, who most certainly does remember when she tried to steal a book.
I was so enraptured by Schwab’s prose, especially the flashes of memory from experiences across the centuries of Addie’s life, that I devoured this book. It’s fairly hefty at about 450 pages, but reading it absolutely flew by! The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue got an elusive 5 stars from me on Goodreads, and I recommend picking it up in your next Book of the Month box.
Is this a ghost story or is it a love story? You’ll have to watch and find out for yourself.
I really loved The Haunting of Hill House, so when I saw that Netflix had come out with a new “Haunting of” limited series this year, I knew we would have to check it out. It wasn’t until we actually got into it that I realized it’s loosely based on Henry James’ book, The Turn of the Screw. And I do love me some Henry James!
Overall, the story wasn’t too spooky to keep me up at night like most scary movies/TV shows. I thought the casting was great, and it’s especially fun for fans of Hill House to see some of the actors show up in new and very different roles! I also liked the way they took James’ work and made the story their own. I would definitely recommend this show, but be ready to cry your eyeballs out at the end! Watch it on Netflix.
‘Tis the season, am I right? At this point, I’m trying not to think about the fact that we have less than a week until Election Day. I voted weeks ago, and now I’m just taking deep breaths until we have a verdict. Fingers crossed!
If that’s where you are right now, I completely get it. However, I would 100% recommend watching this limited series on Netflix. It’s part of the Explained series from Vox, and I’ve loved them all. Vox will happily explain everything from the mind to sex and the coronavirus.
Whose Vote Counts, Explained has three episodes: The Right to Vote, Can You Buy An Election?, and Whose Vote Counts. I think my favorite was the first one. It includes a lot about the history of voting in America, how voter suppression is still taking place, and the mass disenfranchisement of former prisoners. And if you’re still confused about how we got into this situation in 2016, you’d be smart to check out the third episode for a breakdown of gerrymandering and the role of the electoral college.
In the last seven months, my job has gone from spending most of my time staring at screens to spending literally every minute from 9 to 5 staring at screens (thanks, Zoom meetings!). So, I decided to buy something that’s been on my wishlist for quite some time: blue light-blocking glasses.
I got these beauties from Shopbop, and they work like a charm! There’s a noticeable difference in color of the light coming off my computer screen when I put them on, and I’ve found that I have fewer headaches and less eye irritation when I wear them consistently throughout the day.
The best part? I put in a claim through my Health Savings Account (HSA) through my work, and they paid me back the $40 that I spent out of pocket for these glasses. Now that I know how easy it is to get reimbursed from my HSA, you’d better believe I’ll be using it to foot the bill for more things to improve my quality of life!
What’s one thing that you enjoyed this October? I love to flip the script and hear your recommendations!
P.S. November is right around the corner! If you’re thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo, sign up for my free daily motivational emails!
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