Reading in October

06 November 2020

 

I don't usually make TBR lists of the books I want to read each month, but for October I really wanted to focus on reading books that would get me ready for fall in full force and the spooky season of Halloween. I had a mental note of several different books in various genres I felt would give me that vibe, and I picked them up as I was able to get ahold of them. Sticking to a category of books for a month has been a great way for me to knock books off of my overall TBR, but to also stay true to my mood reader self.


In the end, I feel like my reading over the past month was successful! I satisfied my itch for fall by reading five books full of cozy, unsettling, atmospheric stories. I am fully in the mood for autumn now and I don't want it to end! 


The Shining - Stephen King


Unfortunately, I didn't ever feel like I needed to put this one in the freezer as Joey had to when he read The Shining in Friends. It didn't succeed in scaring me, but it was still a solid and well structured thriller. I absolutely love the work Stephen King puts into his characters. I feel like in this book he did a great job at developing the motivations of the characters especially, digging deep into their thoughts and insecurities. It ultimately makes sense why the characters react the way they do. Jack in his anger, Wendy and her distrust, and Danny simply trying to keep his family together. There is a huge difference between this book and its movie adaptation. The movie focuses more on the cabin fever and decent into madness, but the book emphasizes the dark history of the hotel and how haunted it is. The ending also made much more sense in the book than in the movie. There were still several aspects I felt needed more explaining for me to fully understand, but overall I enjoyed reading this book. I can understand why it's considered a classic of the genre.

Rating: ★


The Bookshop on the Corner - Jenny Colgan


I can really understand why people like this book. A young woman taking a risk to restart her life and open a bookshop in rural Scotland? Yes please! But for me the execution was just meh. I found the main character, Nina, to be incredibly naïve and her character development was never really fleshed out. She just had moments where she thought "Wow! I've really changed since moving to Scotland!" but there was no actual evidence for this change beyond her thoughts. In my opinion, she never changed from the beginning of the book to the end. I also found the way that she was so good at running a business seemingly overnight to be a bit unrealistic. She absolutely had no idea what she was doing. I was disappointed that the main conflict wasn't centered around the business and watching Nina struggle with failure and perseverance that could have led to real character development. Instead, the conflict came from Nina being torn between two underwhelming and boring romantic interests. While this book does give strong vibes for fall, I was bored and annoyed through most of it.

Rating:  


A Rule Against Murder - Louise Penny


I continued my read through of the Armand Gamache mysteries last month, and I absolutely loved this installment! It's one of my favorites so far! It was a bit jarring to be out of Three Pines, but the story did not disappoint. And we still got a taste of the small town Quebec life which is half the charm of this series. I loved the more intimate look into Gamache's life in this book, his relationship with his wife, and his background with his parents. Of course, the mystery of this book did not disappoint! I thought this case was especially interesting, and I would recommend it if you've read the first books of the series.

Rating: ★


The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural - Agatha Christie


I feel bad rating the Queen of Mystery so low for this one, but all the stories in this collection were so boring to me. The Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple entries were fun, but still did not live up to the full fledged novels. All these stories felt as if they had been ripped from a larger story, and while they were interesting in concept, without expansion and more development they just weren't satisfying to read. I do love Agatha Christie's writing, though, and the atmosphere she creates is impeccable! It's a shame this collection couldn't be stronger.

Rating: ★


The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan


My binge of the Wheel of Time goes on! This third book was just as interesting as the last two, and continued the world building that was established in the second book. loved the deeper look into the thoughts and feelings of the main characters involved. This book did drag on for me in some areas, but this it was still great overall! I love Robert Jordan's writing, attention to detail, and his excellent character work. I don't want to say much more about this for fear of spoilers, but I can't recommend this series enough! I can't wait to see where it goes from here. I feel like we're finishing the world building stage of the series and are getting ready to get into a lot of action!

Rating: 

--------------------


What did you read in October?

1 comment

  1. I had a few rereads mostly. I just read your list and decided to try a Louise Penny mystery and to recheck out Eye of the World. I'm in rather a reading slump, I'd say 90% of what I've read this year has been rereads.

    ReplyDelete