October Wrap Up

This month was pretty ambitious.  I went into October expecting to get a bit behind.  I knew if I could get through the Smartypants books I might be OK.  I got through 19 books this month, which is pretty impressive.  I got through the 6 Smartypants books that came out in October, and I've got all the November ones on deck.  

I participated in Spook-a-thon, which was really fun to read some things that have been on my TBR for a while.  And finally, I knocked off a few prompts for my two reading challenges this month.  I've got 2 prompts left for Read Harder (I'm about halfway done with one of those already), and I've got 6 left for Popsugar.  With the help of audiobooks I think I'll make it.  I had to do some shuffling, but fortunately I've read a ton of books so far this year and some of the books I've read fit nicely in to the prompts.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris
• Review
• This was published October 1st.  This follows Cilka, one of the main character's from The Tattooist of Auschwitz, during her time in Vorkuta a Russian prison camp.  We learn of the horrors she suffered both at the hands of the Russians and the Germans from the time she was until her eventual release.  This is the story of a strong, compassionate woman who lived through some pretty horrific things.  She did what she needed to survive.  This is a work of fiction, but it is based on true events, real people, interviews, and accounts from various sources about Cilka and her time in Siberia.  Much like Tattooist, I liked it but it was missing something.
•  The Furies by Katie Lowe 
• Review
• This one came out October 8th and is a YA Thriller.  The cover and synopsis made me think of the movie The Craft.  While it has a dark tone and deals with 4 girls at a private school dabbling in the occult, it is not The Craft.  I unfortunately didn't really like this book.  The thriller element was OK, but the fantasy/magic element was lacking in my opinion.  I also didn't care for the writing style which seems to be a new type of prose on the market.  It is just not my style.  It also seemed to glorify the use of drugs and alcohol which I don't support.  This just seemed to use abusive and toxic situations more for their shock value instead of using what was a really good idea to tell a really good story.  
• Verity by Colleen Hoover
• This has been on my TBR since it came out earlier this year.  Spookathon was the perfect time to read this dark thriller.  This book is really messed up.  It is really creepy for a domestic thriller because you aren't really sure what is actually happening.  I found parts of it fairly predictable while other parts were very creative.  If you like domestic thrillers, I recommend it.
• Spell on Wheels by Kate Leth, Megan Levens, Marissa Louise, Jen Bartel, and Nate Piekos
• This was a really fun graphic novel. I hope there are more coming.  It follows three friends who happen to be witches.  When their apartment is robbed they head out on a road trip of paranormal proportions to get their stuff back.  Hijinx ensues.  I really liked it.
• Shadows by Kristen Proby
• Review
• This released on October 29th and is part of  a new trilogy set in New Orleans.  This follows three sisters who are all witches with different abilities.  This one focuses on the eldest sister who sees the dead as shadows.  When the shadows begin following her and haunting her dreams, she knows that she has to help somehow.  She teams up with a handsome FBI agent who happened to be on one of her ghost tours of the city and helps her discover that she's is the ultimate target of a serial killer.  This is a fairly dark paranormal romance with a pretty creepy thriller element.  I'm looking forward to the next installment.  
• Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
• I don't normally pick up children's books for the challenge.  This was recommended by Book Riot for this prompts so I grabbed it from the library, and I'm so glad I did.  It is a beautifully illustrated book about a Mexican immigrant who discovers the library and the wonders of books with her child despite the language barrier.  It isn't very long but it is gorgeous.  This fulfilled the prompt for a children’s or middle grade book (not YA) that has won a diversity award since 2009.
• Kiss Me Again by Emma Hart
• Review
• This was my least favorite of the 3 books in the series.  It was still funny, but Ava starts out so over the top aggressively miserable and combative against Ethan it took away from the humor.  She eventually chills out a bit and the story proceeds with an epic prank battle between Ethan and Ava until they realize their feelings for each other.

Smartypants Romance  Releases

I'm not going to summarize these as I've written full reviews on each of them.  I'm also going to write a dedicated summary post for the 2019 releases.

• Code of Conduct by April White
• Review
• Weight Expectations M.E. Carter 
• Review
• Sticking to the Script by Stella Weaver 
• Review
• Happy Trail by Daisy Prescott 
• Review
• Love in Due Time L.B. Dunbar 
• Review
• Stud Muffin Jiffy Kate
• Review

Audiobooks

• Song of Susannah and The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
• I'm continuing my audio reread of the Dark Tower series.  This series is weird but I love it!  The Wind Through the Keyhole was a new read for me and it was an interesting story within a story.  While it didn't directly tie to Roland and the gang's journey, it is still a valuable and entertaining read.  I have the final book to go in my reread and I plan to get to it before the end of the year.
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
• This is not what I expected.  I kind of expected it to be about January going through the doors, but it is not that kind of adventure.  This was actually kind of disappointing for me.  It is a story within a story about portals and lost love, but lacked the action and adventure I wanted.
• The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman
• This is so sad.  Tom is an honorable man who has to do things by the letter of the law.  He loves his wife, so when a boat washes up on the island where Tom is the lighthouse keeper he is persuaded to not report it right away.  See his wife has just suffered a stillbirth and there is a baby in the boat.  The baby's father has died.  Tom and Isabella raise the child as their own but the guilt of not reporting the incident eats at him.  When he crosses paths with his daughter's biological mother, he has to confess his sin even if it will tear his family apart.  This is a story of love, loss, guilt, and heartache.  It is very somber, but worth the read.
• The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Manhke
• This is an audiobook I got for free on Volumes, which is Penguin Random House Audio’s app. They periodically do free audiobooks. This is a compilation of stories either from a podcast or inspired by the Lore podcast and TV series. I'm not big on short stories or podcasts, so this is a perfect fit. I also love learning about the history of spooky stuff. It also has a red cover.  This was fantastic and I loved learning all of the creepy facts behind some of the monsters we see in pop culture, movies, and the history of haunted places.
• There Will Come A Darkness by Katy Rose Pool
• This book has alot going on in it.  It is a very slow paced fantasy.  It follows five different perspectives, which is not my favorite.  I think because it follows so many characters none of them really felt well developed.  The plotline is interesting as is the magic system, but I had a hard time keeping up with what was going on with all the switching back and forth between characters.  I feel this would have been more enjoyable for me had it only followed 2 characters and the plot would have felt more developed and connected.
• A Hero Born by Jin Yong
• Review
• This book was published in 1957, but was just released in the US in September.  This is a Chinese fantasy, historical fiction set in the time of Genghis Khan.  I received a print ARC of this but it is a slower paced fantasy, so I opted to listed to the audiobook so I could get my review out sooner rather than later.  The audio is excellent!  This follows the son of a revered patriot as he learns Kung Fu at the hands of 7 masters.  It is a really interesting story, but you may get lost in all of the names and martial arts references.  I still enjoyed it and am looking forward to the remaining books.
• Rebel by Marie Lu
• I read the original trilogy quite a while ago.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about authors revisiting series that are complete.  This would have been fine had it just been about Eden, but it really felt like it was Lu's attempt to give readers the June and Day happy ending that they didn't get at the end of Legend.  Overall the book was OK, but not amazing.
• Indigo by Beverly Jenkins
• I picked this up for the Read Harder challenge for a historical romance by an author of color.  I'm not a big traditional romance reader, so this category was a struggle for me.  The book I initially picked out was a bit over the top and too swoony for me.  This was a perfect fit.  This follows Hester, a freed slave woman who works on the underground railroad.  When she nurses fellow conductor, Galen back to health, a romance ensues.  I really enjoyed the historical aspect of this, and their romance was excellent.  The steamy intimate scenes felt a bit disjointed from Hester's pious nature and the prudish nature of the times.  They were well done.   This was one of Book Riot's suggestions for the prompt and I'm glad I went with it.  The audio narration is excellent and I highly recommend it.  
• Drive by Daniel H. Pink
• I picked this up for a prompt to read a business book on the read harder challenge.  I really enjoyed it.  Alot of the concepts make alot of sense and the author gives alot of concrete and real world examples.  I think every executive and manager at every company should read this, even if they don't implement any of these concepts.  I can also see some of these concepts working with parenting, especially with goal setting and incentives.  It was really interesting.