Read:
Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough (audiobook)
The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton
The Shining by Stephen King
The Darkness by Ragnar Jonasson
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman (audiobook)
The Lingering by S.J.I. Holliday
Brother by Ania Ahlborn
The Lies We Told by Camilla Way (audiobook)
Dead Leaves by Kealan Patrick Burke
Trap by Lilja Sigurdardottir
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (audiobook)
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
The Bat by Jo Nesbo
Stats:
13 books (4 audiobooks)
3,789 pages
Favorite read: I can’t decide, so I’m going Top 3…The Shining, Trap, & The Lingering!
What a month! October was packed with good reads and I was able to find a better balance of reading with other life things. Speaking of life things…I wanted to get this post up yesterday, but my hubby surprised me by being home right after I arrived from my flight home from a work trip. It was fantastic! Now without further ado, let’s talk October reads!
October found me with quite a few book club selections and read alongs filling up my TBR. I kicked things off with CROSS HER HEART by Sarah Pinborough, which was unfortunately a huge disappointment for me. I absolutely raved about BEHIND HER EYES, and then I ended up hating this book. I was warned I wouldn’t like it and refused to listen! I had fun participating in a read along for this one and will soon be discussing it with Instagram’s Black Heart Reads book club, as it was also their selection for October.
Things got a lot better in book club world with THE LIES WE TOLD by Camilla Way. This one was arranged by one of my Nerdy By Nature book club ladies and she deserves so many thanks! We actually ended up with the timing coinciding with the audiobook becoming available and me needing a new audiobook for my commute AKA pure perfection! There is so much fun drama in this one! Speaking of drama, SOMETHING IN THE WATER was filled with it as well! Instagram’s Criminally Good Book Club voted on this lovely title for October and I devoured it. I cannot wait to chat with a group of bookworms about this one! Let’s just say there was a lot of me shaking my head and yelling at the audiobook for certain character’s poor decisions!
October treated me well with my selection of advanced reader copies, starting with one of my most highly anticipated Fall TBR reads, THE CRAFTSMAN by Sharon Bolton. I read and loved DEAD WOMAN WALKING last year and can confidently say I was not disappointed with my second Bolton book. I will definitely be looking to add some of her older titles into my 2019 reading list. Another author I need to make sure to add more books by to my 2019 list is Ania Ahlborn. I finally read one of her books and was blown away! BROTHER is the definition of dysfunctional family. I was immediately sucked it and devoured this one over a weekend.
I also finally added a Shirley Jackson book to my line-up with WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE. I have had my eye on this classic for quite some time and knew I needed to include it in my seasonal reading. I really loved the audiobook for this one and the story was amazing! Everyone is raving about THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE on Netflix, so now I need to hurry up and slip that one into my TBR before I watch!
This month I tossed in two shorter books towards the end of the month because I knew I would be limited on time. First up was DEAD LEAVES by Kealan Patrick Burke. This is a short story anthology that is perfect for Halloween. Each story was so unique and creative. I’m still thinking about Andromeda! My second short book was THE HALLOWEEN TREE by Ray Bradbury. I saw this one all over #bookstagram and knew it had to make the cut. I was so not disappointed! Bradbury took me on an awesome adventure of Halloween throughout history.
October took me back to my Nordic Noir loving ways with two authors I have been wanting to read more from. I have reviewed three previous Jo Nesbo titles on here that I absolutely loved. This month kicked off my journey to read the Harry Hole series in order. Since I wrapped up my Louise Penny journey (minus the ARC I just got for her November release) I decided it was time to select a new series to read, so Harry and I are going on a journey! THE BAT is book one in the series and often receives a bad rap, in my opinion, for being too slow. I found the pacing incredibly enjoyable and loved getting the backstory of Harry.
And why pick one series, when you could read two? That’s right I’m also going to be reading Ragnar Jonasson’s Dark Iceland series. I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of Jonasson’s latest release, THE DARKNESS, which is book one in his new series HIDDEN ICELAND. This book was amazing! I really loved the main character of Hulda and I am beyond excited to see where the 2019 follow up takes the series. Until then, I’ll be kicking off reading SNOWBLIND next month.
I can’t pick one favorite this month, so I’m going with my Top Three to end this post!
By far my favorite group read pick was our October Stephen King selection, THE SHINING. I just love King more and more as I continue through his collection of books and this was no exception. For once in my King journey this book wasn’t filled to the brim with characters. Instead I found myself fully committing to a smaller cast of characters and absolutely loving them…even Jack! I can’t wait to pick up DOCTOR SLEEP for our November pick and see what Danny is up to!
October also found me on tour for TRAP, which is the second book in Lilja Sigurdardottir’s trilogy about Sonja, a woman caught up in Iceland’s underground cocaine ring. AMAZING! I loved SNARE so much and TRAP didn’t skip a beat. The story picked up right where the previous left off and was an exhilarating trip! Also giving me thrills and definitely chills this month was THE LINGERING. Are you looking for the perfect Fall creepy read involving former asylums, ghosts, and psychopaths? Well look no further! This book has it all and will leave you with goosebumps.
I’d love to know what you read this month! Have you read any of these titles? Let’s chat!
Here’s to November! Happy reading!
Disclaimer: Thank you to Minotaur Books, Random House, Orenda Books, and Berkley Book for sending me free review copies in exchange for an honest review.
What Jess Reads 