October Wrap up

I think I had a pretty good reading month, 6 e-books and 7 audiobooks completed. While I didn't get everything reviewed on time, I did most of my October books reviewed.  I have 2 left, then I think I am finally caught up on all of the reviews I need to write and I have nothing to review in November.  That means I have some time to focus on finishing up my reading challenge prompts.  I updated my challenge spreadsheet and I have 10 left after October.  Fortunately I have books picked out for all of the remaining prompts and I own most of them.

Most of my books for October were of the spooky, mystery variety which I think was perfect given the time of year.  I love Halloween and fall is my favorite time of year.  The beginning of October was unseasonably hot, but about mid-month it finally started to get cold and actually felt like fall.  Halloween was rainy and foggy, but my kids had a blast and in the words of Garfield the Cat there was lots of "Candy Candy Candy!"

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• The Case of the Hidden Daemon by Lucy Banks
• Review
• I really loved the previous books in this series and this one is no different.  It moves the storyline from book 2 along nicely, while having it's own plot.  The group of ghost-hunters is pretty hysterical and I really enjoy Banks' writing style and humor.  This comes out October 23rd.
• The Spellbook of Katrina VanTassel by Alyssa Palombo
• Review
• This is perfect to get into the Halloween spirit.  This is a retelling of Sleepy Hollow.  I used to love the Headless Horseman cartoon when I was a kid because it was scary and I really enjoyed the TV show for a while.  This was not as paranormal and magic related as I wanted it to be.  It was much more of a historical romance, and from that perspective it was good book and from a retelling perspective it was one of the better ones.
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
• I'm glad to have finally read this. I have always loved this story and it is about time I read the original work. Perfect for fall and Halloween approaching.  I read this directly after reading the Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel to see how the retelling matched up.  It was fairly short, and pretty good.  I'm also using this to fill the reading challenge prompt for a book with an ugly cover.  This cover is completely unappealing.
• 
• Fight or Flight by Samantha Young
• Review
• I loved this.  I couldn't put it down.  It is a hate to love romance and I loved the couple.  I needed a good contemporary and this was the book I didn't know I needed until I read it.  Really no complaints about this at all.
• The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
• This is a weird little book.  It is poetic and beautiful, but its weird.  It pays homage to all of the various cultural death ceremonies throughout time that eventually came to be what we know in the US to be Halloween. I love Halloween and I really loved this little book.  The art and story were appropriately strange to be respectful to all of the different times mentioned.  I really enjoyed it.  I met the challenge prompt for a book about Halloween.  it could also meet a book with and ugly cover as the art is not aesthetically pleasing to me, but is totally appropriate to the story in a Tim Burton kind of way.
• The Boy I Grew Up With by Tijan
• Review
• This came out on October 29th.  This is kind of a crossover between the Crew series and Fallen Crest (which I haven't read).  It tells the backstory and present day story of side characters in both series, Channing and Heather.  It is kind of a dark contemporary.  There are plenty of steamy scences, and because of the crew business there are some violent mafia/gang kind of situations that the characters get into.  I liked it.

Audiobooks

I got through a ton of audiobooks this month.  I actually posted a couple of reviews for them too.  That in itself is amazing.  I almost never post reviews for audiobooks because I just never get to them.  I mean to but I just don't do it.

• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• Review
• This covered a book challenge prompt for a book I borrowed.  I loved it.  I'm a child of the 80's so I really appreciated all of the 80's references.  This really appealed to my inner nerd.  It was so good, it just made me laugh and feel happy.
• 1984 by George Orwell
• This was an interesting read.  I can see why it is taught in high school and college courses.  You can see the post Nazi-era influence and the Marxism in the writing.  While this isn't my normal reading preference, I can appreciate it for what it is.  This covers a reading challenge prompt for a book set in the decade I was born.
• Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks
• I picked this up when it was a free promo on Volumes.  My son loves Minecraft and I got it for him.  He and I listened to it on our way to and from his basketball practices and games.  Jack Black was an amazing narrator, and while I don't know anything about Minecraft I found this really funny and pretty entertaining.  My son loved it and said it was pretty authentic to the game.
• How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
• I was expecting this to be about time travel, it isn't but its still interesting.  It follows a man who ages very slowly and who has lived through some very iconic historical events.  It is a little slow paced for my taste but I still enjoyed it.
• The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
• This was pretty entertaining.  We follow Gen, who is now King of Attolia but he really doesn't want to be King.  As with the previous books, Gen is full of his usual antics and surprises you at the the most unexpected times.  You always think he's not paying attention or he is going to do one thing and he does the complete opposite.  He really comes into his role as King.  I really enjoy how this series is progressing.
• Warcross by Marie Lu
• Review
• This fulfills my cyberpunk reading challenge prompt.  I loved this.  The romance was a little cheesy but whatever.  I really enjoy Lu's writing and this was no different.  This wasn't super technical, it was more focused on the characters and plot.  
• The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
• This has gotten a ton of hype and lots of great reviews.  They are all well deserved!  This is one epic fantasy.  I haven't delved into a good epic fantasy in a long time and this was worth every minute of my time.  There are some seriously brutal and violent moments, but it is so well written.  I highly recommend it, it is one of the best fantasies I've read in quite some time.  I can't wait for the next book.