What did you read in October?

[litskispeciality]

Ratings, recommendations, what to avoid etc?

[litskispeciality]

This was a weird slow month for me.

I finished "Such a Quiet Place" and read "Reminders of Him" by Colleen Hoover...quick read.

I got about halfway through "The Long Weekend" and "The Perfect Marriage"

I'm 24/30 of the year. Was hoping to finish at least one more in Oct to read updated goal. Here's to a really busy last 2 months of the year.

[Vespasia]

I stuck with horror or horror-adjacent books this month. 


The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance, #3) by Naomi Novik -  5*
Empty Smiles (Small Spaces, #4) by Katherine Arden -  3.5*
The Lost Village by Camilla Sten - 4*
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas - 4*

Kindle Shorts:
His Happy Place (Getaway, #2) by Zakiya Dalila Harris -  4*
Stockholm (Getaway, #3) by Catherine Steadman - 2*
Belle Mer (Getaway, #4) by Luanne Rice - 4*


I loved The Golden Enclaves. Such a great end to a series that really got stronger as it went along.

I have low expectations for the Shorts but the Steadman one was pretty terrible. 

[travella]

4*
The Winners by Fredrik Backman (4.5*)

3*
When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon (3.5*- some parts felt a little slow, but other times I wanted to keep reading to see what happened. It didn't feel like it was written by 3 different authors)

2*
Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier (2.5*-immemorable)

Upgrade by Blake Crouch (liked the concept more than the story)

Poster Girl by Veronica Roth (2.5*- liked the concept more than the story)

1*
An Affair of Spies by Ronald Balson - the characters felt like the most inept spies in literary history

[litskispeciality]

Vespasia, what did you think of The Lost Village? I read that one last year.

SPOILER: Click to show

Overall I remember liking it, although I felt like there were some negative mental health undertones. I think it would make a great short series.

[mie]

Starry-Eyed Love by Helena Hunting 3*
One Week Wingman by Lila Monroe 3*
Ten Thousand I Love Yous by Lisa Slabach 3*
I Flipping Love You by Helena Hunting 3*

Fall Twice by Evey Lyon 2*
Built to Last by Erin Hahn 2*
A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey 2*
Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma 2*

All We Never Knew by Elena Aitken 1*
Man of My Dreams by Faith Andrews 1*

Nothing really great.

[tacokick]

I read a lot! I’m not really sure how. I was very overwhelmed by how many books came in for me from the library because I actually did want read like 99% of them. Some of these books feel like I read them 2 years ago! It’s been a long month

Where We End & Begin by Jane Igharo (ok)

Stay True by Hua Hsu (ok)

Walking In My Joy: In These Streets by Jenifer Lewis With Natalie Guerrero (not as good as her first one)

My Life in the Sunshine: Searching for My Father and Discovering My Family by Nabil Ayers (oddly not a lot of introspection)

The Year of Miracles: Recipes About Love + Grief + Growing Things by Ella Risbridger (not as good as her first one)

The Furrows by Namwali Serpell (good)

The Clown Egg Register by Helen Champion and Luke Stephenson (cute)

Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala (better than the last one)

Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World by Clara Parkes (something about her irks me)

The Hero of this Book by Elizabeth McCracken (ok)

What We Saw by Mary Downing Hahn (still good at age 85!)

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings (good)

Jackal by Erin E. Adams (good)

Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions by Temple Grandin (disappointing)

1979 by Val McDermid (good)

Making a Scene by Constance Wu (good)

Scenes from My Life: A Memoir by Jon Sternfeld, Michael K Williams (sad)

Rough Draft by Katy Tur (her parents are bonkers and I wish the book was just about them, the rest was kind of boring)

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney (Halloween-y take on And Then There Were None)

This Story Will Change: After the Happily Ever After by Elizabeth Crane (good)

All of This: A Memoir of Death and Desire Rebecca Woolf (not great! I think I requested it thinking it was someone else)

A Gamut of Girls: Memoir by Elsa Lanchester (fun)

When I Am Through with You by Stephanie Kuehn (one of the worst book I’ve ever read)

Weaving Rag Rugs: A Women's Craft in Western Maryland by Geraldine Niva Johnson (interesting but I never understood, why Western Maryland)

Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson with Jay Cooper (Illustrator) (cute)

Shady Hallow by Juneau Black (cute!)

The Storyteller's Death by Ann Dávila Cardinal (good)

Crying in the Bathroom by Erika L. Sánchez (disappointing, oddly circuitous)

Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History by Kristina R. Gaddy (very informative)

Where are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark (I read this as a child lol)

Bad Sex: Truth, Pleasure, and an Unfinished Revolution by Nona Willis Aronowitz (not great!)

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison (disappointing)

Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial by Rabia Chaudry (not great! bad writing and weird mistakes about names/geography)

[dearprudence]

I had a pretty enjoyable reading month!

League of Gentlewomen Witches - 5*

Ramón and Julieta - 4*

The 13th Witch - 4*

Not Good For Maidens - 4*

Leech - 3*

Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow - 5*

My Evil Mother - 4*

Not Your Average Hot Guy - 5*

The Date From Hell - 4*

[estrellita]

I need to find time for audio books again, I'm behind on my yearly goal, haha.

Elektra by Jennifer Saint - 3 stars - I liked the characters, but not the story. It was just ok.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch - 4 stars - So far my least favorite of his books, but I did like it. I always love his themes and how realistic it seems to be. I'm not sure about the ending. Part of me liked it and thought it made sense, but the other part of me would have liked to see things be done a different way.

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez - 3.5 stars - I like her female main characters, and I liked that she added some themes that aren't usually brought up in romance books. I didn't really like the main male character, he seemed a little controlling, especially toward the end. I didn't really like the ending either. I get why she had things turn out the way they did, but I just wasn't a fan.

[charlatti]

Three stars: Unleashed by Cai Emmons (this was a really weird book), Poster Girl by Veronica Roth (I like dystopian, but I was kind of bored by this one)

Four stars: The Vicious Circle by Katherine St. John (I’m very hit or miss with thrillers, mostly miss, but I liked this one), A Map for the Missing by Belinda Tang (good, not memorable), and Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (I liked this, but not as much as her other books)

4.5 stars: The Mountain the Sea by Ray Nayler (sci fi, really interesting concepts)

[susiebw]

Becoming by Michelle Obama - 5 stars. Loved everything about it and found it to be inspiring, which is not something I say often at all.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 5 stars. I love space stories.

Educated by Tara Westover - 2 stars. Not my style at all. I hated the Glass Castle, and this just felt like that to me. Also like she was trying too hard, and she didn't really have a good grasp on her on recollections, so it felt like she had no business writing a memoir.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch - 5 stars. I love his brand of sci-fi.

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes - 5 stars. I adore The Princess Bride, and I listened to this one, which is read by the author with help from others involved in the film.

[mrspez07]

The Sentence 3*
Nightcrawling 4*
The Henna Artist 3* (audio)

Also started The Color of Law but haven’t gotten too far.
A bit of a slow month for me.

[minzy]

I think I actually finished three books in October by some miracle.
Food, A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan
Norah Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
Anne of Avonlea by LM Montgomery (read over months with my kids)

Norah Goes Off Script was light, quick, and somewhat engrossing. Those seem to be my new criteria since I read so much detailed, fact heavy stuff by day for work.