October 2024 Reading Wrap Up
Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!
October is over, my birthday has come and gone, and this damned heat wave has finally broken. It's a lovely 68 degrees Fahrenheit today, and it's getting down into the 50s at night. Just this past Monday we were still in the 90s, so this is absolutely a welcome change. Of course, I can't really enjoy it because I've been struck with a cold for the last week, so that's rather unfortunate. Anyone else turn into the biggest baby when they're sick? I deal with chronic pain and a whole slue of other issues on the daily, but as soon as I get hit with the sniffles I regress into a five-year-old. At least being sick has given me a proper excuse to hole up and read.
In the month of October, I read a grand total of 16 books: 9 novels, 3 novellas, 1 poetry collection, 2 short-story collections, and 1 manga volume. Everything was relatively short (I believe the longest book was just over 500 pages) and there is actually a decent mix of age ranges here; a few middle-grades, some YA, and yes, the majority is adult. I also read a few translated books, and a decent number of them are from countries other than the US (but probably 70% are American titles).
Alright, let's get into the wrap up!
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Novels
1. Someone You Can Build a Nest in by John Wiswell
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.26 CAWPILE
Page count: 310 pages
Day(s) read: 10.01 - 10.04
Final thoughts: I thought this was good! It's not my new favorite fantasy, but I enjoyed my time with it. Shesheshen as a character was hilarious and she felt autistic-coded to me, which I appreciate. I also liked how immediately whipped she was for Homily, she was fully ready to have this woman be her entire world. I will say that ending fell a little flat for me. I feel like the book could have ended after the final battle and the last part could've been scrapped, but I can appreciate the author wanting his characters to have a happy ending.
2. The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Means of reading: Mixed Media
Star rating/CAWPILE: 5 stars/9.06 CAWPILE
Page count: 576 pages (20:51:03 audio)
Day(s) read: 10.05 - 10.10
Final thoughts: Finishing this book had me feeling vaguely nauseous and very, very sad. Once again, I read a book about a historical event that I learned absolutely nothing about in school. We were barely even taught about Jim Crow (though I suspect that has more to do with location than anything, since I was in California). Of course after I finished this book I went down a serious rabbit hole and learned pretty much everything I could about the Dozier School for Boys in Florida. I will definitely be reading more from this author.
3. The Age of Magic by Ben Okri
Means of reading: E-book
Star rating/CAWPILE: 2 stars/2.73 CAWPILE
Page count: 288 pages
Day(s) read: 10.07 - 10.11
Final thoughts: Read for the World Tour Book Club on Fable. This had such promise in the beginning, and then it fell completely and utterly apart. I felt like this was trying to be the next The Alchemist and it failed miserably. The plot went nowhere, and while there are plenty of beautiful quotes, pretty writing does not a novel make. It seems like this is also the general opinion in the book club. I don't think anyone had a good time reading this, sadly.
4. Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan
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Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4.5 stars/8.00 CAWPILE
Page count: 322 pages
Day(s) read: 10.14 (ONE DAY READ)
Final thoughts: I have so much fun with these books, seriously. I always love coming back to this world, because it makes me feel like a little kid again. I thought this book was much better than Chalice of the Gods, which means it can only go up from here, right? It's like Rick Riordan needed to settle back into Percy's mind, and now the character feels much more focused and authentic to the original series. And I loved that we got some Sally backstory!
5. Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull
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Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.74 CAWPILE
Page count: 384 pages
Day(s) read: 10.17 - 10.19
Final thoughts: I actually finished up my reread of Fablehaven before I picked this up, but I didn't feel like logging those books into my stats for the year, so consider this book three-in-one. These books give me the same feeling as the Percy Jackson books, and I was really feeling the nostalgia this month. Since this series is new territory for me, I'm very excited to see what Kendra and Seth get up to next!
6. The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.82 CAWPILE
Page count: 385 pages
Day(s) read: 10.21 - 10.23
Final thoughts: I know that this was T. Kingfisher's debut horror novel, and it shows (but not in a bad way). It didn't blow me away, but I thought it was very good. My favorite part by far was Bongo and how Mouse waxed on about him in her inner monologue. She really hit the nail on the head when it comes to dog moms. I kind of lost interest in the final third of the book, mainly because of the whole "once the monster is revealed it's no longer scary" dilemma. And the ending felt a bit like a cop out, but I suppose there wasn't much else that could have happened.
7. The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig (Review Here)
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Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.58 CAWPILE
Page count: 512 pages
Day(s) read: 10.21 - 10.22
Final thoughts: This is exactly what I was expecting from Erin A. Craig. She is the queen of YA horror Grimm retellings. She knows how to write a lush fantasy world with the darker, horror-leaning undertones and I love her for it. Since I wrote an entire review for this book, I won't harp on and on here. I'll just say that I will keep reading her books as long as she keeps writing them.
8. This Fatal Kiss by Alicia Jasinska
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 2.5 stars/4.37 CAWPILE
Page count: 416 pages
Day(s) read: 10.26 - 10.27
Final thoughts: This...wasn't very good? It was tonally inconsistent, for one. I never figured out when this book was supposed to be taking place, because the village seemed like a historic village, but then modern language would be thrown around and there would be mentions of buses and glass phone booths. It couldn't make up it's mind on when to be set. Another thing that bothered me was the romance. I was so excited for the poly romance, that's why I picked this up in the first place, but then the romance itself was rather toxic. If you want me to root for a romance, don't have the relationship be built entirely on lies and deceit. One of the partners wasn't even himself! I'm very disappointed, actually.
9. Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik
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Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 5 stars/9.00 CAWPILE
Page count: 480 pages
Day(s) read: 10.27 - 10.30
Final thoughts: Every time I come back to Temeraire, he instantly becomes my favorite character and I wonder at how long it took me to pick up the next book. This installment felt a bit like two books in one: there was the part that took place in China, and then the part that took place in Russia. The Russian part was too short to make it's own book, and I think that's why it was tacked onto the end of the Chinese part. But the emotion I felt when reading! I can't believe I only have one book left in this series. I don't want it to end!
Novellas
1. Odd Spirits by S.T. Gibson
Means of reading: E-book
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.46 CAWPILE
Page count: 115 pages
Day(s) read: 10.11 - 10.14
Final thoughts: This is the prequel to Evocation, which I read earlier this year and felt completely head over heels in love with. This didn't give me the same feeling that Evocation did, but that's probably because David wasn't in it very much (yes I love David, problematic asshole that he is). I did like seeing the relationship between Rhys and Moira more, since that took a bit of a back step in Evocation. It was nice to see how they met and how they interact with each other when it's just the two of them.
2. Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/4.90 CAWPILE
Page count: 156 pages
Day(s) read: 10.20 - 10.21
Final thoughts: This was one of my most anticipated books of the year considering how much I loved If We Were Villains, and I was pretty disappointed by it, actually. I think that's also the general consensus with this story. It felt like an episode of Scooby Doo, which just isn't the vibe. The mystery was unrealistic and the characters were more caricatures. Since each character had a POV, every time we were getting somewhat deeper into a character, the chapter would end and the POV would shift. This just didn't feel like M. L. Rio at all.
3. Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
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Means of reading: Mixed Media
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.06 CAWPILE
Page count: 127 pages (03:02:12 audio)
Day(s) read: 10.31 (ONE DAY READ)
Final thoughts: A creepy little gothic horror, perfect for Halloween night! I was a little apprehensive going into this book because I'd heard it hyped up so much, that it's better than Dracula ever could be, yada yada. Did I like it more than Dracula? No, but that could just be due to the length of the two books. This felt too short for me to really get invested. I will say there were a few moments where a chill went down my spine!
Poetry
1. The Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: N/A
Page count: 192 pages
Day(s) read: 10.10 - 10.17
Final thoughts: Poe was so depressed, man. He had so many tragic things happen to him and around him in his life! Some of his poetry I really liked, but most of it was kind of mid for me. I definitely prefer his prose over his poetry. Some of my favorites are, of course, "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and "The Forest Reverie."
Short Stories
1. Revenge by Yoko Ogawa
Translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder
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Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 2.5 stars/4.00 CAWPILE
Page count: 162 pages
Day(s) read: 10.23 - 10.26
Final thoughts: Eh? Not at all what I was expecting from this author. I've read two of her novels, The Memory Police and The Housekeeper and the Professor, and while they were rather different from each other, this short story collection was even more different (though not in a good way, for me). I do like that each story was connected in some way to the one before it, I always like that in collections. But if this was where I had started with Yoko Ogawa, I'm not sure I would have continued with her work.
2. A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez
Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell
Means of reading: Mixed Media
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/5.00 CAWPILE
Page count: 257 pages (08:38:25 audio)
Day(s) read: 10.28 - 10.31
Final thoughts: Mariana Enriquez is an incredible writer, but the stories themselves didn't really do much for me. The one that freaked me out the most was for sure the last one, "Black Eyes," mostly because I've heard the tales of black-eyed children and they are terrifying. I appreciated in the audiobook that each story was narrated by someone different.
Manga
1. Yona of the Dawn vol. 42 by Mizuho Kusanagi
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: N/A
Page count: 192 pages
Day(s) read: 10.30 (ONE DAY READ)
Final thoughts: I can't really talk about what's happening in the series without going into spoilers, considering this is the 42nd volume...So what I will say is that this volume was wild, and I think we might be creeping towards the end!
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Total page count: 4,874 pages (32:31:40 total audio)
Favorite book of October: Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik
No DNFs this month
No unfinished books this month
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And that's it for October! Can you believe there are only two months left of 2024? Where has the time gone?!
I'm wanting to tackle some big books in the final months of the year, so I'm assuming that my reading will slow down considerably. That being said, I still have a sizable stack of library books waiting to be read, so we'll see how this goes...
Until next time!
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