Hello readers!
I cannot believe October is OVER. How dare the year go by like this, I still have way too many new releases to read! Still, I got quite a few read this month and several books that I’d been wanting to read for a while. A productive month, but with mixed results: I have 3 DNF-ed books, several 3 stars and one 5 star read.
I also didn’t read my entire TBR planned for October, but that’s okay!
From Netgalley I got:
This week I received from Edelweiss:
I kinda went to town. Very exciting new titles!!
October Wrap Up
October was another very productive reading month! I’m quite glad with how this month turned out!
Girl of Fire, by Gabrielle Mathieu / eARC Review ★★★☆☆
I ended up not warming to this series quite like I enjoyed The Falcon series. I have one Falcon book left and looking forward to reading it!
The Chain, by Adrian McKinty / Review ★★★☆☆
I also was disappointed a bit by this one, which felt a lot like a Hollywood movie and not so much like the kind of thriller I enjoy. Still, an interesting read!
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson / Mini-Review ★★★★★
This one, on the other hand, I LOVED. It’s the perfect amount of eerie, whimsical and horror. What a great little gem!
A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore / Review ★★★★☆
I really enjoyed this one! It’s perfect for the colder temperatures, bleak and eerie, and really a great read if you love Gothic!
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, by Jia Tolentino / Review ★★★☆☆
This one was a mixed bag, which is why the rating is rather mediocre. Some of the essays I really enjoyed, some of them not really. The audio is pretty good, though!
Most Ardently, by Susan Mesler-Evans / eARC Review ★★★★☆
This was super adorable! A palate cleanser kind of book. You definitely need to be able to suspend disbelief for this one, but if you’re looking for a sweet F/F YA to leave reality a bit, I recommend this one!
Now I Rise, by Kiersten White / Goodreads ★★★☆☆
This book suffered a bit on my “YA saturation” right now. I have read so much YA the past couple of years that they start to blend together, and even though this one is an objectively GREAT book, I still could not engage much and, if I wasn’t in a readathon, I’d probably have DNF-ed it. I will not review it in my blog.
The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2), by R. F. Kuang / eARC Review ★★★★☆
I really liked this book! It dragged on a bit in the middle and was a bit too obvious with its allusions to Christianity, but the ending made up for all of that and it holds a solid 4 star for me! I can’t wait for the last book!
The Turn of the Key, by Ruth Ware / Goodreads DNF
Yes, I DNF-ed one of the most talked-about mystery/thriller books of this year. I just lost patience with this and although I REALLY tried (I was more than halfway through when I gave up), it just didn’t seem to agree with me and was slowly dragging me into a slump, so I stopped listening to it and got another book instead. It also reminded me way too much of Lock Every Door, which I loved, so I think I couldn’t help but compare both and find this one wanting.
Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman / Review ★★★☆☆
This was very entertaining and certainly a cozy kind of read (despite it being technically horror). It’s so funny and witty, it just fell a little flat for me because of all the endless uses of tropes that made the book a little too predictable.
Here and Now and Then, by Mike Chen / Goodreads DNF
I normally don’t DNF a lot, but this month I did it twice. I guess after so many mediocre reads the entire month, I just couldn’t make myself finish another book I’d lost interest in. I love a good time travel SF, but this one fell flat for me and I could barely read more than the first 5%.
Proper English, by KJ Charles / Goodreads (Review to come)
Okay, so this was damn adorable, a F/F book that gave me Agatha Christie vibes (although it’s mostly focused on the romance). One of the loveliest romances I’ve read this year.
Bibliophile, by Jane Mount / Goodreads Ongoing
I received this beautiful book last Christmas (or birthday?) and I shamefully have only started it now. It’s so lovely and cute and a great book to pick up when you don’t want to read something too focused (know what I mean?). I just read this together with my fiancé and squeal at the cute illustrations.
Jade War, by Fonda Lee / Goodreads Ongoing
I love this series so much – it’s a vibrant urban fantasy full of scheming, fighting and magic. I can’t get enough of this.
Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist / Review ★★★★☆
This is such a great YA! It’s the story of a girl who can tell when and how a person will die and speak to ghosts, and she will help a young woman’s ghost get the revenge she craves on the person who murdered her. So explosive and addictive!
Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen / Goodreads Ongoing
I haven’t read Mansfield Park this month at all! So many other books that had a higher priority than this one, so it’s left for another day…
Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors, by Sonali Dev / Goodreads DNF
I am not sure I will actually DNF this book forever, because I do like the idea of it. But I guess yet another P&P retelling just isn’t my thing right now and I found myself exasperated at another predictable plot – which worked fine for Most Ardently, but I suppose you have to be in a certain frame of mind to pick up books when you know exactly what will happen. And while interesting, the main characters didn’t really warm my heart. I will try this book again another time, maybe.
November Reading So Far
Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen / Goodreads Ongoing
Ugh I don’t know if I’ll pick up Mansfied Park this month just because my “TBR with a deadline” pile is kind of huge. I hope so, though!
Bibliophile, by Jane Mount / Goodreads Ongoing
I will continue a little more with Bibliophile, although I don’t particularly aim to finish it this month.
Jade War, by Fonda Lee / Goodreads Ongoing
This one I will be finishing soon, because it’s absolutely fantastic.
How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, by Randall Munroe / Goodreads Ongoing
I also hope to finish this one soon! I do love XKCD and really enjoyed the first book, so I’m glad to pick this one up. It’s really amusing.
What was your favorite read from October?
