October has been a bleak month for me when it comes to books. I only read seven, making October my lowest reading month of the year. With too much going on in my life right now, my reading has suffered. I think I’ve been less patient with books than I normally am. Instead, I’m craving instant gratification and when I don’t get it I’ve been quicker than usual to quit on books. Since all of my ARC’s for 2018 are behind me I’m hoping backlist books, as well as some great nonfiction recommendations, will make my reading for the remainder of the year stellar. (Fingers crossed!)

{My October, Books & Blog}

The Cream of the Crop

Book I enjoyed the most…

It’s a sad month when I can only put one book at the very top and even that was a stretch. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Busy Philipps’ recently released memoir, This Will Only Hurt a Little. It was funny, heartfelt, gossipy, irreverent, and a perfect book to change things up a little. As you might expect, Philipps did a fabulous job reading her book. I highly recommend it. (Longer review to come?)

 

A Cut Above

Great stories…

• A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler – I liked Fowler’s telling of the life of Alva Vanderbilt, a woman both ahead of her time and squarely in the middle of it. The “rigors” of a high-society lifestyle were surprisingly funny at times. (my review)
• A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne – This book by the author of The Heart’s Invisible Furies (my favorite book of 2017 – review here) had HUGE shoes to fill. Did it do it? Not quite, but I still enjoyed this story of an author who would stop at nothing when it came to gathering ideas for his next book. (Review to come later this month.)
• My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite – Sometimes books with crazy titles disappoint, but that was not the case with My Sister, the Serial Killer. I breezed through this short novel in a weekend and loved the dynamic between the two sisters in this most unusual story. (Review to come later this month.)

Subpar

Books I could have skipped…

• Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller – I really liked Fuller’s first two novels, but was bitterly disappointed with Bitter Orange!  (my review)
• A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl by Jean Thompson – I didn’t dislike this book, but the further I get away from reading it the less I care about it. For me it just wasn’t that memorable. (my review)
• The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain – Even though I liked much of this book, when I think back to it, it’s the story’s three big flaws that I remember most. (my review)

DNF

• Family Trust by Kathy Wang – I only made it to 11% because I was just plain bored.
• The Library Book by Susan Orlean – After 20%, I no longer cared – too many tangents and personal antidotes.
• Those Who Knew by Idra Novey – I gave this one a good shot, 21%, but even with that the book just couldn’t sustain my interest.

Top Blog Posts

• Everyone is probably sick of hearing about my Readers’ Preferences Survey. It’s been a couple weeks since I posted it and I keep promising to get the results to you…and I will! Life has just been getting in the way recently. Thanks to everyone who took part. It has been well received and was my top blog post for October.
• I’m thrilled to suddenly see Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens getting lots of attention. It’s one of my favorite books of the year and I love that my review from August had loads of views in October.
• 10 Long Books Worth Your Time also really hung in there with the other top viewed posts in October.

{From the Book Blogging World}

Favorite Reviews & Recommendations

Links take you to these wonderful reviews…

• Family Trust by Kathy Wang was a DNF book for me this month, so I was happy to see that Abby at Read This, Not That gave it four stars on her recent review.
• I’m still a little on the fence about Unsheltered, Barbara Kingsolver’s latest book. Catherine at The Gilmore Guide to Books gave it four and a half stars, but Andrea of Born and Read in Chicago thought it was a little heavy handed in its political statements. Hmmmm….
• I always find it fascinating when I read a really great review of a book that just didn’t work for me. That was certainly the case a few days ago when I saw Jennifer at Tar Heel Reader’s review of Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak. I feel like I must have missed something!
• Taylor Jenkins Reid has many devoted fans looking forward to the release of her next book, Daisy Jones and the Six coming in March. Renee from It’s Book Talk gave us a sneak peek on her blog last month.
• Last month I raved about Eden by Eliot Ackerman and I just don’t feel like it’s getting enough attention. So if I can’t convince you, see what Sarah from Sarah’s Bookshelves had to say about Eden in her most recent Alcohol and Advil double review.

Fun & Useful Blog Posts

So many great posts on book related topics were delivered in August. Here are a few that really inspired!

• My mind has been in something of a tailspin recently, but not Allison’s from Mind Joggle. She created a wonderful list of Books that Make You Think (Even When You Don’t Really Want To). More than one of the book on this list I’ve already added to my TBR list (for when I stop spinning)!
• Angela from Musings of a Literary Wanderer did a terrific post where she examined TBR Expectations. She brought to light some great questions to consider when adding to and deleting books from your TBR pile.
• If you’re a fan of audiobooks and you’re not already paying attention to the names of the narrators, you NEED to start. Great narration makes an audiobook for me, so I loved seeing Book Riot’s list of 21 Incredible (and Prolific) Audiobook Narrators.
• And finally (incase you’ve been living under a rock and missed it), Goodreads has their opening round of voting up for Best Books of 2018. I have some SERIOUS issues with a few of the categories this year. Delia Owens (Where the Crawdads Sing), Christina Dalcher (VOX) and Meghan Mclean Weir (The Book of Essie) were ALL left off of the debut category. I’m stunned by this. Be aware that at the bottom of each category you can WRITE IN a vote for an author/book not listed.

That’s a wrap! How was your October?

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