My reading has understandably slowed down in October because of our big move, but I am looking forward to ramping it up now that it’s getting chillier.
I also joined a book club that met for the first time at the end of September and for the second time at the end of October, so that’s been an exciting thing to look forward to all month and have an excuse to pick up a new book!
On a self-promotion note, I did have two book-ish posts go up this month here on classicallygrace.com- make sure you check out my full review on Book of the Month and 13 perfectly unique gifts for the book lover in your life.
What I Read in October 2021:
The Devil and the Dark Water, Stuart Turton: 4 Stars
Description: It’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent.
But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered.
And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel.
Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?
With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent can solve a mystery that connects every passenger onboard. A mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board.
My thoughts: I think this book is a large contributor to my book count being so low in October. If I’m remembering correctly, it’s just more than 500 pages, so that took me quite a while to finish. It also started incredibly slowly, but I rated it so highly because toward the end, getting home to read it every night was all I could think about throughout the day.
This is also from the same author as the 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, which I absolutely loved. This book is really nothing like that, but I do enjoy this author’s writing style a lot. Preston is actually reading it right now, so it’s a good one for guys and gals alike.
The Reading List, Sara Nisha Adams: 4 Stars
Description: Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in the London Borough of Ealing after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.
Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home.
When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list…hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again.
My thoughts: This was the choice for the One More Page book club (which you should totally join!), and I really liked it. I absolutely LOVE any kind of meta book- the more bookish a book can get, the better. This was all about books and the library, so it was literally perfect!
This started so. slow. I was terrified that I was going to absolutely hate this one, but I ended up really liking it and being very into the two main characters. I feel like this book would have been 5 stars if the author had left out all the other people that the reading list brought together. That took up a lot more time, and it made it hard to figure out who the story was mainly going to follow!
I also felt like the author of the reading list from the book was so obvious. I think I figured it out within the very early chapters.
Overall, I really liked this read, and I feel like it gave me a few new, classic books that I want to read now. My activity on my goodreads account was very high after this one.
Just as a warning, many people in my book club did not like this one and regretted spending more on the book (it was almost $27 when we all bought it!).
The Ex Hex, Erin Sterling: 4 Stars
Description: Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would: vodka, weepy music, bubble baths…and a curse on the horrible boyfriend. Sure, Vivi knows she shouldn’t use her magic this way, but with only an “orchard hayride” scented candle on hand, she isn’t worried it will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two.
That is until Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, breaker of hearts, and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was, returns to Graves Glen, Georgia. What should be a quick trip to recharge the town’s ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong. With one calamity after another striking Rhys, Vivi realizes her silly little Ex Hex may not have been so harmless after all.
Suddenly, Graves Glen is under attack from murderous wind-up toys, a pissed off ghost, and a talking cat with some interesting things to say. Vivi and Rhys have to ignore their off the charts chemistry to work together to save the town and find a way to break the break-up curse before it’s too late.
My thoughts: This wasn’t the best writing or most thought provoking book I’ve ever read, but I read it SO quickly and couldn’t get enough of the two main characters, so I had to rate it highly. Do not go in to this expecting something unbelievably deep, but it’s such a great read for October, so spooky! It gives me Hocus Pocus, Sabrina the Teenage Witch vibes but just a little steamier, which we love! The ending was so cute, I had to stay up until 1:30 a.m. to finish it!
One of my lowest months for reading in a long, long time, but I am not sad about it! I know with cozier weather and times on the horizon, I will more than make up for it.
What am I reading next?
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
Eight Perfect Hours – the next One More Page book club pick!
