The air is cooling, the leaves are -- wait, never mind. This is Texas. The air doesn't cool until mid November. And do our leaves even change color?! As much as I love living in hot states, sometimes I miss the smell and the crisp feel of Fall air. In the meantime, I'll just blast the AC in my apartment and pretend it's also cold outside.

Fall in my apartment starts in July, I'm running a bit late this year. Between trying to salvage my mental health, getting ready for Tums to start school and adjusting to Winnie being a total Muffin and skipping her naps, it's been a different kind of busy for me over here.

I started this blog 11 years ago and my life has drastically changed since then. I never thought I'd have kids, for starters. And I never thought I'd be one of those parents who were counting down the days until school started again. But here we are. A lot a lot can happen in ten years.

My life switched up just like how my ex husband decided to switch up on me one day lmao. Craaaazy. Shout out to my cousin Raena who never gave up on the idea that I'd have kids some day despite what I kept saying... girl you got your wish! You'll love Tums, she's literally a smaller me haha!

Fall is the only time I make a TBR, and while it's been a few years since I've actually been active with completing it, I still look forward to making a list of books I probably won't read. It's the little things in life.

This isn't a solid final list but a few titles I am hoping to read this Fall.

House of Salt and Sorrows is one that I put down after coming across a rather creepy scene. I really need to finish it. I want to finish it. It's so intriguing. The Twelve Dancing Princesses was never on my list of favorite fairy tales but I'm finding that I enjoy the retellings more than any other one. 

Into a Wicked World is one I just started and unlike Dorothy Must Die I'm really enjoying this one. I think this was renamed? Or, I don't know. I know I bought the previous version of it. I'm a little confused at what happened with that but they shared the same cover until they didn't.

Once Upon a Broken Heart has been on my TBR for far too long. That's it. That's the reason. Oh and it's a retelling by an author I enjoy.

Gallant is one I started on my last plane ride. I LOVED LOVED LOVED The Cassidy Blake series and would had thought I'd pick up more of V's books but then I gave birth and reading just hasn't really been a thing I have the luxury of doing. This one is just as captivating, I really hope I get around to finishing this one this year!

Belladonna was one I got from OwlCrate a few years ago and I keep planning on picking it up every Fall season but then I don't get around to it. Almost tempted to start this one first just so that doesn't happen this year lol.

The Book of Living Secrets is one I literally just found and picked up today as I was browsing GoodReads lists. It sounds super interesting and the cover was what really caught my attention.

Are there any books you tend to set aside for a certain season or holiday to read them?

I have always been obsessed with books, reading, researching and dreaming of far away places. I remember in Kindergarten I was the first person to read all of the 4 books we had lined up for the month. I started writing stories when I was 7 about princesses with sisters that lived in big castles.

I stopped reading in high school because it made me look "nerdy" and I was on my hardcore thug bullshit back then. Growing up in The Bay was rough lol. I didn't get back into reading until my ex husband left for the military in 2009; then the world of Young Adult sucked me in.

But before there was Young Adult there were a number of books that changed my life; helped shaped the way I thought about myself, the world or others. Or just helped enlightened me. And if there's anything I'm still a sucker for it's the things that change the way we think.

So here's 5 books that helped shape me;

Read

Do you have any books you plan to read this week/month?

Again, to see the covers click ⇢ H E R E.

RE - READS

Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder's brain interference has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on. 

Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger stepsister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honor" that no one has survived. 

But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for.

Are there any books you tend to read in October or have a book you hope to read this month?