What are you reading for October?

[Anonymous]

The Survivors by Jane Harper, set in Tasmania.

[Anonymous]

I just had a Jane Harper weekend. I had never heard of her but started The Dry on Friday based on a recommendation in another thread, and by Monday had plowed through it, Force of Nature, and Lost Man. Very highly recommend the audiobooks. I got so pulled into each story, and can’t wait to read more of her.

[Anonymous]

NetGalley person here. I looked at the books I read that came out in the last month that I thought were solid. Not sharing the ones I didn't enjoy.

A Traitor in Whitehall by Julia Kelly - A woman gets a job in Churchill's typing pool, which operates in a secure, underground war rooms in London during WW2. A colleague is killed and the main character figures out who did it. This author usually writes historical fiction, but this was more mystery. Loved it. Goodreads | Amazon (came out yesterday)

Murder at Midnight by Katherine Schellman - Part of a series. A house party in the early 1800s gets snowed in and someone is murdered. It's a clever locked room mystery with some good romantic tension between three characters that is resolved by the end (no cliffhangers). Goodreads | Amazon

The Woman in the Castello by Kelsey James - A thriller about an actress staring in a horror movie being filmed in 1960s Italy. Production difficulties have them filming at her grandmother's dilapidated castle. She's hiding the fact that she has a daughter (living with her mother in the nearby town) and dodging deadly accidents on set. Gothic, with a little romance. Surprisingly hard to put down. Goodreads | Amazon (Fairfax library definitely has it on libby in ebook and audio)

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles - A M/M romance with a mystery that is really charming. Part of a series set in Regency England, but set in a coastal area with a smuggling trade. Goodreads | Amazon

Foxglove by Adalyn Grace - A second book in a gothic YA trilogy about a young woman who can't die. She worked with Death in the first book to save her adoptive family from a poisoner. In this book, Death's brother Fate frames the main character's uncle for murder and she works with Death and her cousin to free him. Super atmospheric. Perfect for October! Goodreads | Amazon (Fairfax definitely has it on libby in ebook and audio)

[Anonymous]

I post on here periodically about Nordic Noir, one of my favorite genres. Now reading "He Who Fears the Wolf," book #3 in the Inspector Sejer series by Karin Fossum. Set in Norway and translated from Norwegian. So far the series is excellent... Fossum has a knack for conveying horror and chilling atmospheres through her writing.

Struggling through "What Could Be Saved" by Liese O'Halloran Schwartz. The description pulled me in, and I do like her writing style, but like SO many novels I've read lately, the narrative gets bogged down with side stories of characters that fail to drive the primary plot. None of the characters are likeable or relatable so far and I'm holding out little hope any of them can be redeemed. I'm about 2/3 of the way done so will probably finish it, but probably should've saved myself the trouble and DNF'd it earlier.

[Anonymous]

I just finished Bel Canto (Ann Patchett) and thought it was a good, solid read. I have loved her essays over the years, but this was the first time I'd gotten to one of her novels. I am inspired to get the audiobook of Tom Lake next, both due to the afterglow of this read & all the recs on DCUM.

Also just finished listening to Fourth Wing (plucky youngest daughter of general trains to be a dragon rider + romance), chosen also in part because of DCUM recs. I was... disappointed? Not because it was all bad, but because the concept was actually engaging and fun, but dragged down by terrible writing and cliche and repetition. I don't think I'm really a book snob and have always loved fantasy/sci-fi, but perhaps I am just not used to the pace and tropes of a romance novel? I don't know, on the fence with whether to recommend and/or get the next in the series. Perhaps I should just unearth the Anne McCaffrey dragonrider books of my youth!

[Anonymous]

Just finished "The Boat People" a fictionalized account of a boat that arrived in Vancouver CA from Sri Lanka with 500 passengers in the midst of the civil war. None have any documents. It was good - i finished it!

Next is tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

These are for book club

Outside of book club I read "Lessons in Chemistry and didn't care for it. I didn't like the writing or the stilted plot twists and then we are inside the mind of the dog...
like, trying too hard to be quirky and cool ?

LOVED "Yellowface" - just loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Bel Canto (Ann Patchett) and thought it was a good, solid read. I have loved her essays over the years, but this was the first time I'd gotten to one of her novels. I am inspired to get the audiobook of Tom Lake next, both due to the afterglow of this read & all the recs on DCUM.

Also just finished listening to Fourth Wing (plucky youngest daughter of general trains to be a dragon rider + romance), chosen also in part because of DCUM recs. I was... disappointed? Not because it was all bad, but because the concept was actually engaging and fun, but dragged down by terrible writing and cliche and repetition. I don't think I'm really a book snob and have always loved fantasy/sci-fi, but perhaps I am just not used to the pace and tropes of a romance novel? I don't know, on the fence with whether to recommend and/or get the next in the series. Perhaps I should just unearth the Anne McCaffrey dragonrider books of my youth!

I'm a huge romance and fantasy reader and I think Fourth Wing was a very strange read. I still, oddly, want to know what happens next, but it's a five book series and I'm not sure I can deal with garbage writing for four more books.

I think one of the first issues was just basic world building info dumps, plot holes, and my inability to suspend disbelief that a young woman poised to be a scribe would merge seamlessly into the role of being a dragon rider. She was scholarly and bookish before, but then suddenly swears like a sailor and is on board with violence? It just doesn't make sense. Also, a war college that is fine with losing the majority of recruits to training accidents and encourages recruits to murder each other is just ridiculous.

But damn, those dragons got me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just downloaded Nine Perfect Strangers from Liane Moriarty. I was debating between watching the mini series on HBO Max or listening to the book, and my sisters recommended listening. So here I am. I listen or read multiple books in a month, so I will follow up with my next one when I start. I just put a hold on Sourdough by Robin Sloan

FWIW, I didn't love the book (I read it, didn't listen to it), but I LOVED the show. It has some differences from the book and really brings the characters alive in a way the book didn't (for me).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in two different book clubs, one is reading Mad Honey and the other is reading A Gentleman in Moscow. Haven't started either one yet. Someone recently recommended 'Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic' by Jennifer Breheny Wallace and think that will be my next read.

I really enjoyed Mad Honey, I hope you do as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone recommend some spooky Halloween reads? I’ve already read pretty much every Stephen King and Shirley Jackson and I reread the classics (Frankenstein, Dracula) every year. Enjoyed Mexican Gothic recently.

The Elementals by Michael McDowell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just picked up Dracula for the first time and it seemed thematic for October. Also I just finished The Celebrants which was very poignant.

I'm reading Frankenstein (also first time) for the same reason! I remember I couldn't put Dracula down when I read it in high school. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Finished The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri - would recommend it and would have kept on reading had it kept going, it wasn't particularly striking prose and I thought some of the reviews that talked about various topics gave way too much credit to certain things that were mentioned, but it was a good story with a compelling main character who was escaping Syria as a refugee

Did Not Finish The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles - I am almost halfway through and I just don't like any of the characters that much, plus the book is sssslllloooowwww and I don't have the patience to wait and see what is going to happen next because I don't think I'll care

Next up is Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson or Tom Lake by Ann Patchett or Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, the latter two I chose because of this forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Finished The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri - would recommend it and would have kept on reading had it kept going, it wasn't particularly striking prose and I thought some of the reviews that talked about various topics gave way too much credit to certain things that were mentioned, but it was a good story with a compelling main character who was escaping Syria as a refugee

Did Not Finish The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles - I am almost halfway through and I just don't like any of the characters that much, plus the book is sssslllloooowwww and I don't have the patience to wait and see what is going to happen next because I don't think I'll care

Next up is Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson or Tom Lake by Ann Patchett or Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, the latter two I chose because of this forum.

Oh and I forgot I finished The Measure - it wasn't the most well written book I've ever read but the premise is interesting and thought-provoking, so I'd recommend it

[Anonymous]

I just finished Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway. It is described as Raymond Chandler by way of Philip K. Dick, and I think that is a very appropriate description. I really enjoyed it.

[Anonymous]

The End of Drum Time, about the Sami in the 1830s. Enjoying it so far.