October Wrap-Up & November Reading Plans | Sci-Fi Month 2020

I was afraid that October was going to suck as much as September but, even if it was very busy, it ended up being a great month! Even if I was feeling very slumpy at the end of September, I managed to read 6 books in October and I enjoyed all of them. I watched a bunch of TV shows (more on that later) and I also had a blast writing posts for Spooktastic Reads. It was so much fun and now, I’m even more excited about Sci-Fi Month!

We are currently in lockdown in France so I will be staying alone in my studio near college (I still have to attend labs and I also don’t want to be trapped with my parents during 4 weeks 🙃) so, I should have a lot of free time to read. At least, with the labs I will still be able to have some human interactions so hopefully, I should not go completely insane…

BOOKS READ

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• The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin ★★★★★
• Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey ★★★★ 1/2
• The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle ★★★★
• When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole ★★★★ 1/2
• Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee ★★★★
• The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey ★★★ 1/2

Favorite Reads

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin completely blew me away. I expected to enjoy it but wow, I didn’t expect it to be this brilliant. I couldn’t stop gushing about it on Twitter and some of you recommended me The Word for World is Forest and The Left Hand of Darkness so I will read as soon as I get my hands on them! 😀

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When No One is Watching was also an amazing read, I decided to pick this book up on a whim when I saw that it was available on Scribd and I loved it! It’s a gentrification thriller set in Brooklyn and, if you enjoyed Get Out, it’s the perfect book for you!

TV Shows

As I mentioned, I watched a lot of things in October, especially during the first half of the month and I thought it might be fun to talk about it!

During the first few weeks of October, I couldn’t stop watching medical TV shows! I blame my impromptu rewatch of one of my favorite Korean drama: Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim for this binge. Yes, the English title is very cheesy but it is probably the best medical show I’ve ever watched and, the two main characters are played by two of my favorite actors: Yoo Yeon Seok and Seo Hyun Jin.

It follows two surgeons who end up working in an old under-staffed hospital in the middle of the countryside. It has everything I want in medical dramas: cool surgeries, competent people saving lives, a swoon-worthy romance between said competent people and a touch of political intrigue.

It was so good that I then binged the second season of Grey’s Anatomy. I watched the first five seasons of the show 10 years ago and I remember loving them. However, now that I’m a bit wiser and that I’ve seen actual good medical shows, it’s not a favorite anymore. But I can’t deny that there is something deeply entertaining about it. All the characters make stupid decisions, argue with their love interest in the middle of the hospital or (even worse in front of patients) instead of healing anyone… 🤣 I don’t know if I will watch the 3rd season. I’m not in the right mood for it right now but, after a few weeks of lockdown I might need it!

To finish with my medical show-binging, I also watched Doctor Prisoner, a Korean show following a former surgeon who wants to work as a medical director in Seoul Western Penitentiary to take revenge against several powerful people who tried to revoke his medical license years ago. I gave it a try because I love political/medical drama, I wasn’t expecting a lot with this one but, OMG IT WAS SO GOOD.

The pacing of the drama is insane and the story has so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming at all. The amount of betrayals in this show is mind-blowing. The actors are also amazing, Kim Byung Chul and Choi Won Yeong’s facial expressions were perfect. Nam Gong Min also perfectly portrayed his “nice doctor gone rogue” role. It’s available on Netflix and, if you want to try Korean TV shows, it’s a great place to start with them!

The other TV show I watched was another Korean drama (I have a bit of an obsession with them) The King: Eternal Monarch. This drama was aired earlier this year and it received a lot of hype because of the amazing cast and the fact that it is produced by the same people who produced Guardian, Mr. Sunshine and Descendants of the Sun which are extremely popular Korean dramas. I didn’t like Descendants of the Sun, I thought Guardian was average but I really loved Mr. Sunshine so, I decided to give it a try to The King: Eternal Monarch.

And I… loved it? I mean, it’s definitely not the best Korean drama ever. The story is convoluted and some parts didn’t make any sense at all. It’s also kind of cheesy and you have to accept from the start that the two main characters are in Love. Yes, with the capital L. But, once I accepted how tragic and cheesy it was at some parts, I was able to fully enjoy the ride.

Can you feel the Love?

It also helps that the actors were absolutely amazing so, even when I didn’t understand the plot, I was rooting for the characters so hard that I had to keep on watching. At the end, I wanted to hug them all! The photography is also gorgeous and some shots were just perfect, I mean look at this:

So, objectively it wasn’t that great but I still loved it!

Finally, I also binged season 4 and 5 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars which is the best reality show ever. What can be cooler than a show about of gorgeous queens lip-syncing for their legacy? Nothing.

Posts Recap

My goal was to post 7 Spooktastic Reads posts and I did just that so, I’m very happy! I also posted 5 reviews which is way more than what I usually post! 😀

• Book Reviews
  • Burning Roses by S.L. Huang
  • Ring Shout by P. Djèli Clark
  • Meet Me in the Future by Kameron Hurley
  • The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
  • When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
• Kushiel’s Dart Read-along Updates
  • Week 5
  • Week 6
• Tag
  • The Halloween Book Tag
• Other
  • September Wrap-Up & October Reading Plans
  • Top 5 Wednesday: Spooky Times
  • Favorite Spooky Covers

November Plans

As you probably know, November is Sci-Fi Month! My favorite blog-event is BACK. In case you’re new to Sci-Fi Month, it’s a month-long event hosted by imyril and Lisa celebrating science-fiction! Of course, I’m taking part and I have already selected a lot of books that I would like to read. My TBR is (as usual) overly ambitious but I’ll try to read as many books as I can fit into the month.

Here are the books that I would like to read this month:

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As for the posts I am planning for this event, you can expect reviews, tags and discussions! I’m particularly excited about my buddy-read discussion of Do You Dream of Terra-Two with the wonderful Mayri from Bookforager. It was amazing to read and discuss this book with her! 😀

Artwork by Tithi Luadthong from 123RF.com

If you made it to the end of this never-ending post, thank you! Are you also taking part in Sci-Fi Month? 😀 🚀🚀