October Favourites

How in the world is it November?? Didn’t it just become October?? I have no idea where the month even went. It was also a busy month. I have some really good favourites from October, especially me hitting 1000 classes at PeachLab!!!! There are also a couple of movies and books as well.

The Voice of Hind Rijab

Turkish Airlines had this movie on their selection and I had been wanting to watch it and it’s very hard to find to watch in the U.S. Did I cry on the airplane while watching this? Yes, yes, I did. The movie uses the real recordings from the calls 6-year-old Hind had with the emergency dispatchers. Hind was stuck in the car with her dead relatives as the IDF shot at the car 355 times. When the emergency dispatchers finally got the all-clear to send an ambulance to rescue her, the IDF bombed the ambulance as well, killing the 2 paramedics inside. If you have the chance to watch this movie, please do.

Sevmek Yüzünden

Another movie I watched on the plane ride back home that Turkish Airlines had. I’ve never seen this movie on any other platform and I love Ayça, so I wanted to watch it. Idil, a wedding dress designer, finds herself in the middle of making her ex-boyfriend’s fiancée’s wedding dress, something she really doesn’t want to do, but she also wants to help the girl realize how much of a pos her fiancée really is. She teams up with her friends to catch her ex cheating all while falling in love with the bride-to-be’s brother.

The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella

This book has been sitting in my Audible account for a while. I had finished my book club book earlier in the month (wasn’t a fan), and decided to listen to this! Overworked Sasha suffers from a major burnout episode at work, where she tries to become a nun and then, when she sees someone from her job, accidentally runs into a brick wall. After going to the hospital, her family and co-workers tell her she should take a break and go somewhere to relax. She decides to go to Rilston Bay, by the sea where she hasn’t been since childhood, before her dad died. She meets Finn, who is also on a burnout work retreat. She thinks Finn is an absolute asshole at first until she gets to know him. Finn and Sasha start to spend all of their time together, and of course falling in love. Since this is a rom-com, there were times I was saying out loud while listening, “Sasha yapma (don’t)” and “Sasha dur (stop).”

This Isn’t What This Book Is About by Joanna Johnson

This book was supposed to be in my September favourites but I forgot to add it. Oops, my bad. Joanna is Unlearn16 on Instagram and TikTok. She is a history teacher in Ontario, and I think she knows more about US history than most Americans. Her videos are always so educational with a bit of sarcasm. I actually met her back in June at her book signing in Windsor. I wanted to listen to her book and I am so glad I did, because she left mistakes and all, even her cat making noises and it was perfectly imperfect.

1000 classes at PeachLab

I am still in shock that I hit 1000 classes at PeachLab. I don’t think I’ve gotten this many classes anywhere else in my life. Before AKT and then PeachLab, I was at LA Fitness and I did Zumba here and there, but never such a large number. Never would I have thought that when I did my first PeachLab class in January of 2023, I would be reaching a 1000 classes in October 2026. I can lift weights I never thought I would be able to lift. I am strong AF. And then there is the community. I have formed so many friendships from PeachLab. I will forever be grateful.

A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery by Kate Khavari

I got this audiobook when Libro was having a buy one get one free sale. Newly engaged Saffron and her fiancé, Alexander, join a scientific research expedition to newly formed Turkiye. Takes place in Izmir in the 1920s, just after the 1922 fires. Saffron is in a male-dominated environment and one of the guys is playing very mean tricks and games on her. Her assistant, Martin, randomly gets sick and dies and the murder is being pinned on Saffron. This book was actually so much better than I thought!