Hey, lovelies! Another month is gone and this past one was a great one for my reading. I had lots of family visiting this month, so I had lots of time to read. I also got lots of new books while they were here because they love the book store too. I will share a haul post in November.
Physical Books The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes The Yosemite Six by Tess Sharpe The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochran
eBook Stay Awake by Megan Goldin Please Join Us by Catherine McKenzie
Audiobooks The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
These are all the books I read this month! Are any of these on your tbr?
Hello! We’re back for another round of five-star predictions. We will be back with a wrap up during Blogmas. We’ve both gotten some new books since the last time we did one of these.
Amanda’s Predictions
Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Antonia’s Predictions
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers The Choice by Nora Roberts Children of Ragnarok by Cinda Williams Chima
Check back in December to see our thoughts! Have you read any of these? If not, read them with us!
Hello, lovelies! I did a post a while back where I talked about how Vampire books never died. So check out that list too. I love a good vampire story, so I figured I would share some of the ones I love for spooky season.
Hey, lovelies! I thought that it would be fun to come up with a list of series you could marathon for spooky season if that’s something you like to do. I’ve done a few of these posts without a theme. So, obviously, I had to do a themed one too.
Hi, lovelies! In the last two years, I’ve gotten into the horror genre. I’ve read some really great books that I was surprised to love. I’m excited that I gave horror a chance because I’ve found some really amazing stories to love. I’ve also chosen to DNF quite a bit of horror. I’m definitely learning what kinds of things I can and can’t read about when it comes to horror. I’m not super into gruesome and graphic horror, but I can read a bit of it if it’s relevant to the rest of the story.
Middle Grade
The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf
Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega
Young Adult
The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo
Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
Adult
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Sundial by Catriona Ward
Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist
Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar
The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
I didn’t realize how much more adult horror I’ve read until making this list. I definitely added some new middle-grade horror to my tbr. For YA, I read a fair bit, but often they have endings that ruin things. Do you have any favorite horror novels?
October 4, 2022 The Wolves are Watching by Natalie Lund “The night little Madison disappears from her crib, Luce sees a pair of eyes–two points of gold deep in the forest behind her house–and feels certain they belong to a wolf. Her town, Picnic, Illinois, is the kind of place where everyone knows one another and no one locks their doors. It’s not the kind of place where a toddler goes missing without a trace, where wolves lurk in the shadows. In town, people are quick to blame Madison’s mom. But when Luce’s English teacher shares an original script about the disappearance of another little girl in Picnic back in 1870, Luce begins to notice similarities that she can’t ignore. Certain that something deeper is going on, Luce tracks the wolf she saw into the woods and uncovers the truth about her town: magical animal-women, who have remained hidden in shadows for centuries, have taken her cousin for their own purposes–and they have no intention of bringing her back.”
October 4, 2022 Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle “Bettie Hughes once knew the comfort of luxury, flaunting a ridiculous collection of designer shoes and a stealthy addiction to CBD oils. That is, until her parents snipped her purse strings. Long obsessed with her public image, Bettie boasts an extravagant lifestyle on social media. But the reality is: Bettie is broke and squatting in Colorado, and her family has no idea. Christmas, with its pressure to meet familial expectations, is looming when a drunk Bettie plays a vinyl record of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” backwards and accidentally conjures Hall, an unexpectedly charming Holiday Spirit in the form of a man. Once the shock wears off, Bettie knows she’s stumbled upon the greatest gift: a chance to make all her holiday wishes come true, plus a ready-made fiancé. But as the wiles of magic lose their charm, Bettie finds herself set off-kilter by Hall’s sweet gestures. Suddenly, Bettie is finding her heart merry and light. But the happier she gets, the shorter Hall’s time on earth grows. Can Bettie channel the Christmas spirit and learn to live with goodwill toward all men? Or will her selfish ways come back as soon as the holidays are over?”
October 4, 2022 The Last Hope in Hopetown by Maria Tureaud “Twelve-year-old human Sophie Dawes lives a good life in Hopetown. There, vampires and humans live in harmony and Sophie and her adoptive vampire moms are living (or unliving) proof. There are a lot of rules that vampires must follow to keep the humans they live around feeling safe, but if regular visits from child protective services and abiding by a nightly curfew keeps their family together, Sophie will do anything to stay with her loving vampire parents. But then, normal, law-abiding vampires begin to go rogue. After Sophie’s own mother— the sweetest person she knows— goes rogue, Sophie decides it’s up to her to find a cure. But taking matters into her own hands might be way more than she bargained for if it means braving a secret council of vampires, executing epic heists, and facing the true bad guys head on. With her best friend by her side, Sophie will fight for hope, freedom and a family bonded by a love that’s thicker than blood.”
October 4, 2022 The Lords of Night by J.C. Cervantes “Fourteen-year-old Renata Santiago is the most powerful godborn of them all, a bruja with the ability to manipulate shadows and a magical rope that controls time. Ren is also a girl with ordinary hopes and dreams. She’s always been convinced that there’s a connection between aliens and the Maya civilization, and she wishes her blog about extraterrestrial activity would garner more respect. When Ren receives an email about a possible alien sighting in Kansas, she thinks it could be her chance to prove her theory. It could also mean that the cinco—five renegade godborns—are up to no good. Soon Ren finds herself embroiled in a quest to prevent the troublemakers from awakening the nine Aztec Lords of Night and overthrowing the Maya gods. None of Ren’s usual friends are available to help, including her bestie Ah Puch, the god of death, so Ren has no choice but to team up with two strangers: Edison, a teen demon hybrid, and Montero, an eleven-year-old Aztec hunter. Will this oddball trio have what it takes to succeed? This isn’t just another challenge. It could well be an impossible one that leaves Ren questioning her very existence.”
October 4, 2022 The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler “Rumors begin to spread of a species of hyperintelligent, dangerous octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. Marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them. The transnational tech corporation DIANIMA has sealed the remote Con Dao Archipelago, where the octopuses were discovered, off from the world. Dr. Nguyen joins DIANIMA’s team on the islands: a battle-scarred security agent and the world’s first android. The octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence. The stakes are high: there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of the octopuses’ advancements, and as Dr. Nguyen struggles to communicate with the newly discovered species, forces larger than DIANIMA close in to seize the octopuses for themselves. But no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. And what they might do about it. A near-future thriller about the nature of consciousness, Ray Nayler’s The Mountain in the Sea is a dazzling literary debut and a mind-blowing dive into the treasure and wreckage of humankind’s legacy.”
October 11, 2022 Where the Lost Ones Go by Akemi Dawn Bowman “Eliot is grieving Babung, her paternal grandmother who just passed away, and she feels like she’s the only one. She’s less than excited to move to her new house, which smells like lemons and deception, and is searching for a sign, any sign, that ghosts are real. Because if ghosts are real, it means she can find a way back to Babung. When Eliot chases the promise of paranormal activity to the presumably haunted Honeyfield Hall, she finds her proof of spirits. But these ghosts are losing their memory, stuck between this world and the next, waiting to cross over. With the help of Hazel, the granddaughter of Honeyfield’s owner (and Eliot’s new crush), she attempts to uncover the mystery behind Honeyfield Hall and the ghosts residing within. And as Eliot fits the pieces together, she may just be able to help the spirits remember their pasts, and hold on to her grandmother’s memory.”
October 11, 2022 Ithaca by Claire North “Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom. Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus’ empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids, can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive. This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before. Beyond Ithaca’s shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses— that will change the course of the world.”
October 11, 2022 The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal “Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between the Moon and Mars. She’s traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her spouse. Armed with banter, martinis and her small service dog, Tesla is determined to solve the crime so that the newlyweds can get back to canoodling—and keep the real killer from striking again.”
October 11, 2022 Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner “When Cassie Klein goes to an off-campus bar to escape her school’s Family Weekend, she isn’t looking for a hookup—it just happens. Buying a drink for a stranger turns into what should be an uncomplicated, amazing one-night stand. But then the next morning rolls around and her friend drags her along to meet her mom—the hot, older woman Cassie slept with. Erin Bennett came to Family Weekend to get closer to her daughter, not have a one-night stand with a college senior. In her defense, she hadn’t known Cassie was a student when they’d met. To make things worse, Erin’s daughter brings Cassie to breakfast the next morning. And despite Erin’s better judgement—how could sleeping with your daughter’s friend be anything but bad?—she and Cassie get along in the day just as well as they did last night. What should have been a one-time fling quickly proves impossible to ignore, and soon Cassie and Erin are sneaking around. Worst of all, they start to realize they have something real. But is being honest about the love between them worth the cost?”
October 11, 2022 The River of Silver: Tales from the Deavabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty “Now together in one place, these stories of Daevabad enrich a world already teeming with magic and wonder. Explore this magical kingdom, hidden from human eyes. A place where djinn live and thrive, fight and love. A world where princes question their power, and powerful demons can help you…or destroy you. A prospective new queen joins a court whose lethal history may overwhelm her own political savvy…An imprisoned royal from a fallen dynasty and a young woman wrenched from her home cross paths in an enchanted garden…A pair of scouts stumble upon a secret in a cursed winter wood that will turn over their world… From Manizheh’s first steps towards rebellion to adventures that take place after The Empire of Gold, this is a must-have collection for those who can’t get enough of Nahri, Ali, and Dara and all that unfolded around them.”
October 18, 2022 Partners in Crime by Alisha Rai “Indian Matchmaking meets Date Night in this fun, romantic adventure in which a match-made couple about to be engaged gets caught up in a caper that puts their future—and lives—in danger. At thirty-five, with a stable job as an accountant, Mira Chaudhary wants nothing more than to find a boring man to spend the rest of her life with. Having had enough excitement in her younger days and desperately trying to escape her dysfunctional past, she turns to a matching app specializing in Indian American singles to help her find someone to settle down with. Enter Naveen Desai. An English professor with an uneventful, normal, and—dare she say it, boring—life, Naveen is perfect. But just when things are going well, Mira receives news that her aunt has died. Suddenly a trip to Las Vegas to settle her aunt’s affairs turns into a mad dash to escape kidnappers, evade art thieves, and consorting with hackers who can decipher just what it was Mira’s aunt was involved with. Mira just hopes that Naveen isn’t chased away by the very same life of “excitement” that she’s been trying to get away from. But maybe, over the course of one wild night, Mira and Naveen will find the love connection that neither expected.”
October 18, 2022 Built to Last by Erin Hahn “Shelby Springfield has spent the last ten years trying to overcome her past, sanding it away like she does the rough spots on the vintage furniture finds she makes over. But as a former child star, it’s hard to forget a mediocre pop career, a meltdown widely documented by the paparazzi, and a huge public break with her former co-star Lyle Jessup. It’s also hard to forget her other co-star and childhood sweetheart, Cameron Riggs — the one who got away. Anytime Shelby has called, Cameron has come running… And then he runs right off again to chase stories around the world by making documentaries, too scared to admit what he really wants. But when Lyle stirs the pot, getting the two back in the spotlight with a home renovation show, Cameron can’t help but come on board. There’s something in it for everyone — almost. Cameron wants to come home and set down some roots. Shelby wants to prove to the world she’s not the messy party girl anymore. And Lyle wants to twist the screws on his two childhood friends who had more chemistry than he could dream of with anyone. Sparks and sawdust fly as Shelby and Cameron film the pilot for “Homemade” and battle Lyle’s shenanigans at every turn.”
October 25, 2022 The Scratch Daughters by Hannah Abigail Clarke “It’s been a wild year for Sideways Pike. After forming a coven with the three most popular girls in school and developing a huge crush on a mysterious stranger named Madeline, Sideways’ Halloween was ruined by finding out that Madeline wasn’t trying to make out with her, but to steal Sideways’ specter, the force that gives witches the ability to cast magic spells. From Madeline’s perspective, it’s not her fault: after a doomed relationship with one of the creepy near-identical Chantry Boys turned into a witch hunt, they took her specter, so, really, she’s only borrowing Sideways’ until she can recover her own and punish the Chantrys. The specter-less Sideways is in a horrid, distracted mood, unable to do magic and with part of her consciousness tied to Madeline’s, on the lam as she uses Sideways’ specter to hunt Chantrys. The other Scapegracers are much jollier, heading into the winter holidays having set up shop as curse crafters for girls in their school who’ve been done wrong by guys. When Sideways—through Madeline—gets a flash of how to track down both her foes at once, she asks the Scapegracers to help entrap them, only to be told her plan is unsafe and unwise. So if she’s going to find Madeline, her only ally is Mr. Scratch, the inky book demon currently inhabiting her as life support until she gets her spectre back. Sideways is used to being an outcast loner, and is desperate to do magic again, so she’s not going to let little barriers like facing an betraying crush and a family of six demented witch hunters practically alone stop her. But she and her trusty stolen bike are in for a bumpy ride…”
October 25, 2022 The Atlas Paradox by Olive Blake “Six magicians. Two rivalries. One researcher. And a man who can walk through dreams. All must pick a side: do they wish to preserve the world—or destroy it? In this electric sequel to the viral sensation, The Atlas Six, the society of Alexandrians is revealed for what it is: a secret society with raw, world-changing power, headed by a man whose plans to change life as we know it are already under way. But the cost of knowledge is steep, and as the price of power demands each character choose a side, which alliances will hold and which will see their enmity deepen?”
These are the books releasing this month that I’m very much looking forward to reading. I have Partners in Crime preordered and quite a few of these as eARCs (that I’ll hopefully have read by now). What new books have you excited this month?
Hello, lovelies! Welcome to the first day of Blogtober! It’s the third day of the month, I know, but I don’t post on the weekends anymore. This month I have some fun things planned. I have today a list of the books I’m likely to be choosing from to read for spooky season. I’m pretty behind with my NetGalley tbr, so I want to work on that. But I have some books on my physical tbr here too that piqued my interest for the reading mood I’m looking for this month.
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley The Yosemite Six by Tess Sharpe Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather The Walled City by Ryan Graudin The High House by Jessie Greengrass
NetGalley TBR
Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle When Life Gives You Vampires by Gloria Duke The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal The River of Silver: Tales from the Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty Little Eve by Catriona Ward Built to Last by Erin Hahn The Scratch Daughters by Hannah Abigail Clarke
I will definitely not manage to read all of these as I’m planning to do some prep work for NaNoWriMo next month. But I’m feeling the itch to read again, and my husband will be gone for a bit this month so, I’ll have more time to myself. What spooky books are you reading this month?
Hello, lovelies! It’s the end of another month and what a month it’s been. I read some great books and some not so great. But I’m happy with what I read.
What I Read
Physical Books The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi – 5 stars The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – 5 stars Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori M. Lee – 5 stars Into the Dying Light by Katy Rose Pool – 5 stars Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle – 4.5 stars
eBooks Cazadoraby Romina Garber – 3.75 stars The Death of Jane Lawrenceby Caitlin Starling – 3.75 stars Within These Wicked Wallsby Lauren Blackwood – 3 stars The Crown of Gilded Bonesby Jennifer L. Armentrout – 4 stars The Dating Dare by Jayci Lee – 3 stars Where the Drowned Girls Goby Seanan McGuire – 4 stars You Can Go Your Own Way by Eric Smith – 3.5 stars A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout – 4 stars Little Thieves by Margaret Owen – 5 stars Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao – 5 stars
Audiobooks The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young – 4 stars The Bones Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones – 4 stars The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave – 3.5 stars Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman – 3 stars My Contrary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows – 3.5 stars Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis – 3 stars
Summary: What was it like? Living in that house. Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism. Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.
Review: Here are five things I liked about Home Before Dark:
I really liked that the story was told in alternating chapters. We follow Maggie, present day, but we also get excerpts from her father’s book (which is heavily talked about by Maggie in the present-day chapters). I thought this was a creative and interesting way to tell the story. I think it worked right up until the big reveal about the book.
Along with how the story is told in both the present and the past, I thought it was really interesting how things that were happening to Maggie and Maggie’s actions were mirroring and reflecting many of the things that had already happened (or were claimed to happen in her dad’s book) in the past.
I was surprised to find that I actually sort of liked that I had no idea what was the truth and what wasn’t. I don’t usually like books where I don’t actually know what’s going on. But Sager did an excellent job keeping up the mystery and the suspense until the big reveal. I spent most of the book flip-flopping between firmly believing that the ghosts were real or that they were definitely all made up.
I listened to the audiobook which has two narrators. I liked both narrators. The male narrator that read Maggie’s father’s book did a great job and I will absolutely be seeking out more book narrated by him. I liked the narrator for Maggie as well. I think she did a great job telling the story and keeping up the emotion and suspense.
The big reveal. I liked it because like I said above, I went back and forth for the entire book between believing and not believing that the ghosts were real. So, to finally have confirmation one way or another was almost a relief. I liked how things all played out to put it vaguely so that I don’t spoil anything.
Overall, I really liked this book. I’m not surprised since I’ve liked all of Sager’s other books I’ve read. I also discovered (partially because of this book) that I really like the ‘but are the ghosts real or not’ trope for horror and mystery books. I would definitely recommend the audiobook for this one to any audiobook fans, but I’m sure the physical or digital book was just as good.
Summary: After the first season of her true crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall is now a household name―and the last hope for thousands of people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help. The small town of Neapolis is being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. The town’s golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping a high school student, the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season Three a success, Rachel throws herself into interviewing and investigating―but the mysterious letters keep showing up in unexpected places. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insists she was murdered―and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody seems to want to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved. Electrifying and propulsive, The Night Swim asks: What is the price of a reputation? Can a small town ever right the wrongs of its past? And what really happened to Jenny?
Review: I’m going to make this a list review because I’m once again feeling a bit burnt out on reviews. But I really loved this book. So, I still want to get a review posted for it. Here are five things I liked about The Night Swim.
I really liked the audiobook. We got a few sound effects and such for the chapters where Rachel was narrating her podcast. There was also more than one narrator. I think the audio was just all around well done and did a great job keeping me engaged in the story.
This book covers some series topics like rape and sexual assault. I think it did those things really thoughtfully and kindly. But it also did them realistically, which was heart breaking at times.
I really loved how the past of Hannah telling her sister’s story and the story of the present were woven together. I think this worked really well as a storytelling device. It’s not always a good way to tell a story, but it really worked for this book.
I liked Rachel. She loved creating her podcast, but she didn’t love the fame that came with her success. I thought her desire for anonymity was really interesting compared with how well her podcast did. I liked her as a character as well. She wasn’t really the focus of the story, but it’s told through her perspective so we got to know her and a bit about her past.
The pace of this story was excellent. I think because it’s about tough topics, I was immediately sucked in. But it was the way the story was told with the characters and the two different timelines that really made it feel fast paced. I listened to the audiobook in one sitting.
Overall, I would (and already have) definitely recommend this book. I wouldn’t recommend it for just spooky season either. I think this would be a compelling and interesting story any time of year.
Hello, lovelies! I know that there’s still a few days left in October. But I’ve managed to finish all of the books I was planning to read for Gothtober and I wanted to share that with you all! I had to change a few of my choices for the prompts because I DNF’d some of the books that were on my original TBR (you can find that here.)
Mythology Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori M. Lee
Omens The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling
Found Family The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi
Dark Romance A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout
LGBTQ+ Representation Into the Dying Light by Katy Rose Pool
Murder The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Classics Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood
BIPOC Representation The Dating Dare by Jayci Lee
Disability Representation The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
I’m pretty proud of myself for actually managing to complete all these prompts. I DNF’d two of my original choices, so it’s not identical to the TBR I shared at the beginning of the month. But I managed to read books for all the prompts and I think that’s what counts. How did you do?
Hi, lovelies! I feel like I haven’t done one of these in forever, so to close out one of the last few days of Blogtober 2021 I want to shout out some bloggers that I love.
Amanda- I’m currently reading Vampire Hearts & Other Dead Things by Margie Fuston. I’m listening to the audiobook Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis. I’m also diligently working on clearing my NetGalley shelf, so I’m reading The Boy With Fire by Aparna Verma.
Antonia- I’m currently reading Furyborn by Claire Legrand.
What did you read most recently?
Amanda- I most recently finished Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao and I loved it so much. Please read it right now.
Antonia- I most recently read The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson.
What will you read next?
Amanda- I have a few things I could read next, but I don’t have anything specific picked out because my November TBR is huge and I don’t want to be in the middle of anything when October is over.
Antonia- Next I think I’ll read Winterkeep by Kristen Cashore.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week we talk about our top ten with a different topic provided by Jana. This week’s topic is halloween freebie. I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about the things I’ve watched for spooky season.
Lucifer – Season 6 This final season was released in September and I quickly devoured it.
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – Parts 3 & 4 I watched the first two parts last year in October, but the final two parts weren’t out yet and I waited for spooky season to finish the show. I really love this show. I love the actress that played Sabrina and I loved the fun cameo from Aunt Hilda & Zelda from the other show. This show is a perfect example of the kind of stuff I like to watch for spooky season.
The Haunting of Hill House This show is actually pretty scary and I wasn’t expecting that. There were a fair bit of jump scares and just all around creepiness. I ended up watching most of this show during the day. I thought they told this story in a really compelling way. I loved that we saw what happened, but then we went further and focused on each sibling, seeing some parts of the story again and again through a new point of view each time. I’m a baby about scary things, so this was a day time show. But I really enjoyed it.
The Haunting of Bly Manor I really liked this show. It wasn’t as scary as Hill House and I think it had a more interesting plot. It definitely was still creepy and haunting, but there weren’t jump scares like there were in Hill House. I liked getting to see some of the same actors too and seeing how they did with different roles.
Things Heard & Seen This wasn’t on any of my original watch lists, but a friend and I watched it together. I was intrigued because it was based on a book and from the preview it looked like it had Home Before Dark by Riley Sager vibes. She really liked it until the ending but I’m not sure that I liked it at all. Both of the main adults in the movie were so beyond unlikable that it was hard to really care at all about what happened to them. It wasn’t creepy or spooky how I was wanting, but it was certainly weird as hell.
Fear Street Part One: 1994 I liked this. It’s definitely a teen slasher movie. But I liked it. There was emotional depth with the characters (also it was gay, so that’s always a plus). It wasn’t so much scary with jump scares, but it was definitely suspenseful and gory.
Fear Street Part Two: 1978 I love summer camp stuff, usually. I wasn’t sure how this would translate to slasher movies since that’s not a form of media I often consume. But I actually had fun watching this one. I really liked how it wasn’t a standalone movie. It connected to the first one. It was cool seeing the other things that had been briefly mentioned in the first part and learning more about the things that were purposefully left out of part one.
Fear Street Part Three: 1666 This one follows the infamous Sarah Fier. I loved learning about her backstory and how she was wronged. I wasn’t at all surprised to find that Sarah Fier was the victim, as was historically common in those times. I really loved that they recycled some of the actors. Seeing them play different sorts of roles, but also still in a slasher kind of movie was fun for me. Part three was the creepiest of all three of these movies. I think it might even have been my favorite.
Till Death This only caught my eye because it’s a new movie with Megan Fox in it and I haven’t seen her in anything new in so long. I actually really liked this. The suspense was really good. The build up of the story and the ‘what the heck is going on’ feeling was really well done. The only complaint I have is that there was no aftercare. We are left to assume that she survived without actual confirmation. I was left with so many questions about what would have happened after the police arrived. But overall, I still enjoyed the movie.
The Nightmare Before Christmas I watch this movie every year and I love it even more now that I get to watch it with my daughter. She actually sat and watched it with me this year and it was so adorable.
Did you watch anything for spooky season this year?
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