The Rest Of My October Reading

Thanks to some rainy weather and some quicker reads, I got more reading done in the last half of October than I did in the first half.

Usually I love Nora Roberts' trilogies but I skipped her last one because the first few chapters laid out the story of a mysterious global pandemic which killed a bunch of people and I just wasn't into that. (The book was published in December 2017, by the way.) However, this book is the first in her newest trilogy and there are a few things I love about it already: 1) It's set in Ireland (sort of) and I LOVE Ireland, even though I've only been there twice. 2) It ended on a total cliffhanger. Normally, each of Roberts' books in a trilogy have an overarching story line but there is also a whole story (usually around a romantic relationship) which is resolved by the end of the book. This book isn't like that. The ending leaves nothing at all resolved and I love it!!! (Please note, I only love it because I know there is more to come. You all know how I feel about stand alone novels with ambiguous endings...)

This book definitely falls into the category of "chick lit" but it is also so much more. Jess is trying to live again after the death of her daughter and the disappearance of the father seventeen years before. However, upon her mother's death she discovers that not all is as it seems. This book delves into mental health, manipulative parents, deep friendships, and ultimately, love, but it's not really a love story even. All this is to say that I really liked this book and I want to read another of Debbie Johnson's novels because this one was so good.

I never know what to think of Sally Hepworth but I do have to say, she hit it out of the park with this one. I love that Fern is a neurodiverse character and I hope Hepworth did a good job of writing her. Since I'm not neurodiverse, I don't feel like I can judge that. This story sucked me in, which I wasn't expecting, and I read it in one sitting. I just didn't want to stop reading. I don't want to say too much about the story because I don't want to spoil it, but I do recommend you read this one. Just make sure you set aside a few hours to read before you start it :)

 

Usually I love Becky Albertalli's books. This one is high school drama (both literally and figuratively) and my one big criticism is that the drama people call all jocks "f-boys." Sometimes, they use the full word and sometimes they don't. However, I thought that the "joke" was overused and actually, not much of a joke at all. I do love that Kate's older brother eventually calls her out on it but it really coloured my impression of the whole book :(

This was pretty much the only book I read during the readathon. But it was sooooo good. It will definitely be in my top books of this quarter. I loved the 80s references. I loved the mix of sports and mysticism. I think everyone should read this book because it was just so fun! It's not a book which will generate a lot of discussion but read it anyways!

 

Why yes, I decided to re-read some of The Bridgerton novels. Yes, they were just as fun the second time :) And yes, I count re-reads (even in the same year) as "books read" in my year end total.

This was our book club book for the month and it was good. I thought it got a little long towards the end but I still think you should read it. It reminded me to be grateful for how far we've come in women's rights, even though we still have a ways to go. I also don't know why this was the first time I was hearing about Elizabeth Packard because we should all be learning about her and the way she fought for herself and, more importantly, for others.

I decided to re-read some Nora this month too. What can I say? I needed some predictability among the craziness of our October.

So that's how I finished out October. I can tell from my early November reading, that we're in the time of year where I need comfort reads. Some people online are participating in "Non-Fiction November" but I haven't done that yet. I may have to push myself out of my comfort zone to get some non-fiction read this month because all I want to do is cozy up with predictable novels.