Lashaan’s Monthly Wrap-Up | September 2019

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Hello ladies & gentlemen,

The month has come to an end and it’s time to do a quick wrap-up of what’s been done. 

Reading Breakdown.

Novels read: 5 (–).
Comic books read: 10 (–).
Manga volumes read: 5 (↓).

BOOK REVIEWS

The Tower of Living and Dying by Anna Smith Spark
The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie
The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht
The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker

COMIC BOOK REVIEWS

Hawkeye (Vol. 1) by Matt Fraction
Batman: Detective Comics (Vol. 9): Deface the Face by James Robinson
Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka
Akira (Vol. 4) by Katsuhiro Otomo
Batman: Damned by Brian Azzarello
Burmese Moons by Sophie Ansel
The Umbrella Academy (Vol. 3): Hotel Oblivion by Gerard Way
Black Hammer: Streets of Spiral by Jeff Lemire
Batman: Detective Comics #1000: Deluxe Edition
Young Justice: Gemworld by Brian Michael Bendis
Heroes in Crisis by Tom King

TV SERIES/MOVIE REVIEW

Shazam! (2019)

MISCELLANEOUS POSTS

The Seven Heavenly Virtues Book Tag
The Art of Abandoning Books

TOP BOOK

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Even if it was my first time reading anything written by Mr. Abercrombie, this latest book in his new trilogy was fantastic!

Check out my review for more on my thoughts!

LEAST FAVOURITE BOOK

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This was probably the most disappointing one this month, especially when my hopes were so high for it. The artwork is still amazing though.

Check out my review for more of my thoughts.

TOP TV SERIES/MOVIE

Image result for downton abbey 2019 poster

While I know about the show and haven’t seen a single episode of it, my girlfriend and I had the chance to watch the premiere thanks to Indigo Books for the movie based on the show that was released on the 20th of September, 2019, and had a pretty good time. A lot of the names thrown around went over our heads but the drama was fun and the banter was hilarious. Despite a couple of issues in the plot, Maggie Smith really nailed her role every single time she was on screen! 🤣

3½ outta 5 stars.

CURRENTLY READING

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It’s going to be a pretty epic month of fantasy. Again. But this time I’m binging the rest of the Lightbringer series just in time for the 5th book coming out later in October!

Check out my review of the first one to find out why YOU should read it too!

PERSONAL LIFE

I’ve always seen September like the beginning of the new year because of how school always starts around this time and you sort of don’t have the choice but to reorganize your life to build it around that academic schedule. This month marked the beginning of my 2nd year of my Ph.D. and it’s safe to say that it’s been pretty smooth so far. It was all about finding a weekly routine that fits with your personality while trying to always find time for yourself.

I especially really wanted to make sure that I could fit in work, my four-times-a-week gym session, blogging, reading, and social activities without seeing any major drop in my academic productivity and it worked for the time being. Will I be able to maintain it all till New Year? Only time could tell but for now, I love how it’s all working out and look forward to all the things that life has in store for me. 

If there’s one thing I’m believing more with every day that passes is that you can always make time for the things/people you love. At least I know it’s a philosophy I’ll work with till work or my thesis decides to kick my ass… 😀

Image result for enjoy life gif

Thank you all for checking out my monthly wrap-up and don’t forget to check out any posts that might interest you or that you might have missed out on!

Stayed tuned for my Monthly Anticipation post coming out soon. 😉

So what’s going on with y’all? What have you discovered this month? What are your thoughts on the books/TV series/movies I’ve checked out?

Yours truly,

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Published by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Reader. Reviewer. Researcher. Criminology Ph.D. Candidate. Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Want to know more? Connect with him!

55 thoughts on “Lashaan’s Monthly Wrap-Up | September 2019”

  4. I have been pretty far from the blogging world recently, so I’m happy to catch up by reading this post of yours! As always very impressed by how much you read, especially given that I am super ashamed as I haven’t opened a book in almost a month now 😭 (I was very busy though…) ! I’m glad to know you liked the Downton Abbey movie even though you haven’t seen the series, I might watch it too as it sounds great! As always, thanks for sharing your updates and good luck for the “new” year ahead 😊

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    1. Then again, knowing what you’ve been up to lately, I think it’s fair to say that you’re doing the right thing by putting your blog on the side and focusing on what matters, especially yourself, before any of these hobbies! I’m sure that once you’re well established in Brussels, you’ll know when’s a good time to pick up that book and get lost in it. 😉 You should totally give Downton Abbey a try if you’re intrigued. It’s fun, it doesn’t require you to think much and the comedy is gold. Besides issues I had with the plot, the pacing, and the incredible amount of name-dropping (unless you’re a fan of the show, I doubt anyone could really follow who’s who hahah), it’s a movie that can be watched for fun! Thank you for the warm wishes and I hope you have a fantastic new adventure too! 😀

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      1. Ahah thanks, I’m almost settled and hope to achieve my goodreads goal for the year 😛 If I get the occasion I’ll definitely check out Downton Abbey, they say it has a lot of “fan service”, but if it’s funny anyway I won’t mind being confused about names and faces! Thanks a lot for the wishes too 😊

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  7. Lashaan I didn’t realize you were a PhD student! Can I ask what you are studying? I’m also impressed by what sounds like a very busy schedule, reading, blogging and going to the gym. I am happy if I have time to read never mind the rest of it!

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    1. Hahah yes! Although sometimes I wish I wasn’t and that I lived on some paradise island with all the books in the world… And Internet. 😀 No problem at all! I’ve completed my bachelor’s and master’s in Criminology and am now pursuing my studies in that field with a PhD! I also work on the side with the police in crime prevention. It was a passion of mine since I was a kid, although at first I wanted to become a detective, I ended up changing that a bit by rather focusing on the research side of that life. 😛 And yes! I think I just can’t go a day without reading too. It pains me to think of a day like that hahah 😀

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      3. If you’re going to do both- go into the field first. I think transitioning from the field to Academics is much easier than swapping out from Academics to the field.

        I say this as a recruiter who has no experience in Criminology and very little experience working with doctoral level candidates, so please take it with a grain of salt, just something to consider 🙂

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      5. I am a Lead Recruiter for a not-for-profit agency that works specifically with our community’s unemployed or underemployed residents- helping to connect them to over 80 different companies across the state, anything from manufacturing to banking/customer service and health and human services.

        My background is in manufacturing though so that’s mostly the crowd I work with, some technical level roles like electrical and mechanical engineers/technicians, but also a lot of machine operators, assemblers, and production maintenance people.

        I actually really enjoy it! And I’ve gotten to go on quite a few tours of facilities, which is one of my favorite parts, seeing how everything is made.

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      6. Wow, super fascinating and a career that should definitely be appreciated by everyone! I probably could have never guessed the fields you touch on a daily basis though but it sounds really intriguing. Especially when you get to see some of the behind-the-scenes action.

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      7. They are much simpler things than you are doing for sure. There is a lot of redundancy in manufacturing, lots of quality control and inspection. Some of the machines do get more complicated depending on what’s being made. You could Google CNC machining if you wanted- thats one role I work with that can be pretty cool!

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      8. What i say regarding PhD level candidates comes from my past job working with software engineers. The hiring managers wanted more practical experience brought in rather than academic/research.

        But on a personal note- I’d be academic all the way. I loved my time at college and wanted to learn everything. If I had the cash to go on to a Masters or PhD I’d totally do it with the intention of teaching one day.

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      9. Absolutely. I love the academic field for the amount of knowledge I gain there and how I’m constantly learning/always up to date with recent discoveries and all but it’s just the financial stability the tough competition to publish and acquire teaching positions that make it less appealing. I also want to accumulate some “field” experience to back up my academic knowledge, it’s why I’m open to the idea of working in governmental organizations and then maybe return to a teaching position with an exciting background/experience hahah But still, thanks for the reminder. It’ll be a helluva decision when it comes time to decide what I want to do for the next 10 years or so hahah

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      1. I cannot complain about September. Well, I can. I can ALWAYS complain. But you know what I mean 😉 Hopefully it gets better as the year comes to an end and we have more Holidays and such.

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  9. Wow, you are super busy, Lashaan. And I always complain about how busy I am! I’m impressed with everything you do and still manage to be a PhD student! As long as you are happy, that’s what counts:-) Hope October is a great month!

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  11. YOU MANAGED TO 20 book/comics OVERALL in addition to your phd (i reckon its a HELL LOT OF WORKKK!! ) and EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN!?! 😱😱😱 DAMN, you must be a superhero because HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO DO IT ALLLLL!?! But then, I agree with what you said about making time for the things and people you love soo…WELL DONE LASHAAN!! And here, I was thinking that my September was productive as hell! 🤣🤣🤣 NOTHING compared to yours! 😜😜

    I am glad you have a great September and I WISH YOU AN EVEN GREATER OCTOBER YAYYYYYYYY!! 🥳🥳🥳🎉🎉🎉

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    1. Hahahah it’s all relative though! 😛 I envy those who manage to read 10+ full-fledged novels every month though. I squeeze in comics/manga cause they’re quick and easy to read and nice way to take a break in between things. Adding them all up together sure does make it sound like a read… A LOT hahahah I do hope you have a fantabulous month of October too, Rain! 😀 😀

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      1. SERIOUSLYY! HOW DO THEY EVEN MANAGE THAT?! I mean, I tried a A-Book-A-Day challenge for a week….and although I managed to read 7 books, I WAS EXHAUSTED!!

        I just wish I read more comics, you know..☹️☹️ But there are just Soo many I don’t know WHERE TO STARTTTT!!?!? I wanted to start reading the Marvel ones but….I got Soo confused with sooo many of them that I ultimately gave up! 😂😂 any suggestions??

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      2. Hahahaha I totally know what you must’ve felt when you wanted to try. It’s something that many have struggled to figure out and quickly abandoned. I do think that you’ll have to do a little bit of research if you want to know exactly where to start. Otherwise, the first volume of any series is a good way to not make too many mistakes as well. What most will also have to realize is that you’re bound to not understand some references but that those things that you understand is how you trace back to the comic book stories that you’ll one day have to read to understand what’s going on.

        I’d always recommend going with a hero that has always intrigued you and look into the stories that are considered “classics”. While story and artwork aren’t always BOTH perfect, at least one will be and that will give you an idea as to what kind of comics you want to read. When it comes to Marvel, I’d always recommend Hawkeye by Matt Fraction, for example. But if there’s a hero, in particular, you want to read about, let me know and I can hook you up with recommendations. 😉

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      3. Oh, I am willing to start with any, really! I mean, I LOVEEEE CAPTAIN AMERICA AND IRON MAN AND THOR 😍😍 But I also wanna know more about the Marcel universe FROM THE FUCKING BEGINNING because being just a “movie” fan, I don’t always know what the fuck everyone around me is going on about and I FEEL SOOO DEPRIVED! 🤣🤣🤣

        So yeah, I am gonna start, as you recommend, with Hawkeye by Matt Fraction then! 😊😊

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      4. Hahahah it’s not easy to become a “full-fledged comic book Marvel fan” since it would mean lots of reading, especially diving into the Golden/Silver/Bronze era of comics. You’d have to go through individual arcs and crisis events (like Civil War, Infinity Gauntlet, etc.) to know about all those big events that happen and change the comic book scene. I think this will just happen on its own when you start reading more and more stories of all the heroes, especially their quintessential content. For example, for Captain America, you’d have to read about The Winter Soldier and The Death of Captain America, to get some of his best stories. For Iron Man, you can also check out Matt Fraction’s Invincible Iron Man run hahaha And for Thor, you could start it off with Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder run. And once you do, you can explore other stories by other writers and artists. Slowly, you’ll figure out what kind of artwork you prefer, and if art doesn’t bother you, you’ll be able to explore all the classic stories that are necessary to understand the hero’s lore.

        But yes, I definitely recommend Hawkeye by Matt Fraction because it shows you how the comic book medium can be used to tell wonderful stories! 😀

        Like

      1. Yea, I had issues with Night Angel but it was a decent read and I think the books improve as the story progresses (although I wasn’t crazy about the end and NEED more!!! He plans to return to the series).

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  15. Haha, curiously I always sort of see September as the start of a new year for the reasons you cite but also because the 3rd is my birthday! Keep up the hard work Lashaan, you sure do cram quite a bit into your schedule and it’s to be commended that you manage to balance it all.

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    1. Oh man, happy belated birthday, my good friend! I do hope you had a blast during September and are ready to tackle October with all the exciting things to come! And yes, I sort of impress myself with everything I achieve and still manage to think that I barely have time to do everything I want to do hahaha

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  16. It sounds like you had a great month! I also love September because it always feels like a new start 😊 I love getting all prepared for school with notebooks, agendas and countless useless apps for productivity 😄 For me, it was definitely the start of a new chapter of my life so I’ve been excited about all the things to come during the whole month! I also felt very busy and I’d like to make more time for my hobbies in October! 😄
    Great post, Lashaan 😘

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    1. Oh yes, and your enthusiasm for September’s fresh start is contagious hahaha I do find that it’s cool that we kick off September with that much energy since it’s usually bound to always go down with each month, until December when the Holidays are just around the corner. Don’t worry about September having been so busy. It’s in fact THE busiest month for EVERYONE, especially students/researchers because of so many deadlines. It’s also about getting used to a new rhythm and once that’s done, the rest of the year should be so much better! 😉 Thank you for reading, Caroline! ❤

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  17. I watched the first couple seasons of Downton Abbey… and now have some friends bugging me to go. But I’m really not interested. It’s like an adult soap opera. hahaha but then many say that about Korean shows. 😉 I’m glad you broadened your horizons watching that with your GF!! I hope you’re able to keep the balance. I find myself tipping over all the time. ❤

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