October '22 Reading Wrap-Up

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!

It's that time again, to go through all the books I read in the previous month. Unfortunately, October was even worse than September: I only read eight books this month. Eight. I was just having such a hard time getting through the books I was reading. It wasn't even that they were bad books (I even read a new favorite) I was just going through it. 

I guess a little life update wouldn't hurt. Early in the month I was diagnosed with ADHD and started on stimulant medication. And since apparently reading was a hyper-focus activity in the past, and I no longer was able to hyper-focus on these new meds, I found it harder to sit still for hours and read an entire book in a day. I know that sounds pretty much like the exact opposite of ADHD, but hey, I'm learning too. There are so many things I do in a day/did as a child that I am just now realizing are due to my ADHD. And it really is such a relief to know that these little quirks of mine aren't actually problems, they're just indicators of something larger at work. Though, I will say that I do miss that ability to hyper-focus on reading. 

Another life update: I celebrated my 25th birthday, and that same weekend my best friend got married! It was such an incredible ceremony and I'm so honored that she asked me to be a part of it as a bridesmaid. It's a weekend that I will never, ever forget. 

Anyway, as I said before, I read eight books in October. Actually, I read eight novels. That's right, I didn't read anything else (I have a copy of Spy x Family vol. 8 on my shelves, just waiting). 

Let's just get into it, shall we?

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Novels 

1. Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire (Alchemical Journeys Book 2)
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adult
Star rating / CAWPILE: 3.5 stars / 6.29 CAWPILE
Page count: 496 pages
Day(s) read: 10.02 - 10.08
Goodreads thoughts: I liked this, but not nearly as much as the first one. There was a lot of info-dumping and that part was pretty boring, but the second half flew by really fast. But I wasn’t as confused as I was with middlegame, probably because of said info-dumping. The concept is super cool though, I love the idea of being a season incarnate.

2. Dracula by Bram Stoker (Review Here)
Genre: Classics, Horror, Gothic Horror, Adult
Star rating / CAWPILE: 3 stars / 5.57 CAWPILE
Page count: 350 pages
Day(s) read: 10.04 - 10.09
Goodreads thoughts: You know, even with all the death and gore and everything, this was pretty boring? I mean, boring as in it's a classic and written in a different time and I have to account for that, type of boring. But still, I found that I didn't care if I finished or not. I didn't want to actively DNF, but I knew that if I put it down to read other books, I'd have never come back to it.

Mina is the only smart person in this entire book, and I will not argue this.

3. The Clackity by Lora Senf (Blight Harbor Book 1)
Genre: Horror, Paranormal, Middle-Grade
Star rating / CAWPILE: 3 stars / 5.71 CAWPILE
Page count: 288 pages
Day(s) read: 10.08 - 10.09
Goodreads thoughts: Honestly nothing really beats a good, spoopy middle-grade horror novel. They just hit different. I liked the creepy otherworld, and the atmosphere that went along with it, but I felt that the pacing was a little fast for my liking. But I’ll be reading the next book when it comes out for sure.

4. The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson
Genre: Literary Fiction, Mystery, Horror, Adult
Star rating / CAWPILE: 3 stars / 4.71 CAWPILE
Page count: 211 pages
Day(s) read: 10.10 - 10.15
Goodreads thoughts: Eh? This was just sad. Not in a “it’s terrible” way, but emotionally it was very sad. I guess I can appreciate the symbolism of the ghost stories and urban legends as a way to cope through trauma. But there wasn’t much substance here.

5. The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology, YA
Star rating / CAWPILE: 3 stars / 5.57 CAWPILE
Page count: 352 pages
Day(s) read: 10.15 - 10.17
Goodreads thoughts: Love me some Welsh legends. I guessed the plot twist easy and the story itself seemed a little convoluted, but I did enjoy this nonetheless. And I like the connection to her first book (if it is connected and I’m not just pulling that out of my head). Little confused on the title, as there were no woods that were drowned in the book, but we can’t have everything I guess.

6. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Review Here)
Genre: Horror, Gothic Horror, Historical Fiction, Adult
Star rating / CAWPILE: 5 stars / 9.00 CAWPILE
Page count: 352 pages
Day(s) read: 10.16 - 10.19
Goodreads thoughts: I have an entirely new appreciation for Gothic novels. Like damn, that was so good! I'm definitely going to need to not eat mushrooms for a while though...

7. The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik (The Scholomance Book 3)
Genre: Fantasy, Dark Academia, Adult
Star rating / CAWPILE: 4 stars / 7.71 CAWPILE
Page count: 407 pages
Day(s) read: 10.20 - 10.27
Goodreads thoughts: I am in awe at the way Naomi is able to bring all of her little threads together. There were many times throughout reading where I had to stop and just…bask in the brilliance of a reveal or twist. This last book didn’t make me quite as emotional as book two did, but I can look past that because I’d rather not have my heart ripped out and stomped on again, thank you very much. All in all, a wonderful conclusion to this series.

8. Ithaca by Claire North (The Songs of Penelope Book 1)
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mythology, Adult
Star rating / CAWPILE: 3 stars / 5.57 CAWPILE
Page count: 464 pages
Day(s) read: 10.23 - 10.31
Goodreads thoughts: I like how detailed this story was, but I was really struggling to get through it. It was dense and rather dry so reading a single chapter took much longer than it should have. But I will definitely be reading the sequel.

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Total page count: 2,920 pages (ugh. UGH.)

Best book of October: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

DNF'd books this month: Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen

No unfinished books this month

October book haul: The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
                                  Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater
                                  The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
                                  The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
                                  Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton
                                  Heartstopper vol. 2 by Alice Oseman
                                  Heartstopper vol. 3 by Alice Oseman

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Alright, that's it for October! I can't believe we're only two months away from the new year. I've still got so many things I need to get done! And I'm in serious danger of not finishing my Goodreads goal...I need y'all to pray for me. 

What was the best book you read in October? Let me know in the comments, or tweet at me @AllyEmReads.

Until next time!