It seems like every October, I start losing steam and have a hard time reading. This October was no different. It was just slow going. I didn’t even finish a book until the very end of the second week in October. SpookAthon helped me add some books to the finished pile and I at least ended the month on a strong note with a 5 star read.
I’m thinking I want to make this wrap up a little more organized, especially going in to the new year, so let’s start off with some stats.
Monthly Stats
Books Read – – 7
Pages Read – – 2,240 or 72 pages per day
Star Ratings
5 Stars – – 3
4 Stars – – 2
3 Stars – – 1
2 Stars – – 1
1 Star – – 0
DNF – – 2
Format
Physical – – 3
Audio – – 4
Genre
Mystery/Thriller – – 3
Middle Grade Fantasy – – 2
YA Horror – – 1
Contemporary – – 1
What I Read
Let’s start off with what I read for SpookAthon, since I already have a wrap up HERE. You can read my more in depth thoughts there.
But for the quick review:

I listened to, via Hoopla Undone by Karin Slaughter. This is the 3rd installment in the Will Trent series, and as with the other two, I gave it 5 stars. This series is excellent and I am so sad I cannot find the 4th book on audio. But no fear, I have a physical copy. (But the audiobooks are so so good.)
I also listened to Tunnel of Bones by VIctoria Schwab, also through Hoopla. This was okay for me. A decent middle grade novel. Fast, east and rather entertaining. I thought this was slightly better than the first in the series and I gave it 3 stars. I will continue on when the next one is released.
Lastly, I grabbed a copy of Small Spaces by Katherine Arden from my local Library. I adored this middle grade novel. I will actually be picking up a copy for myself and nephew. I thought this was written a little better than Tunnel of Bones and I liked the story a little more. This got 5 stars from me.

The first book I finished in the month of October was If We Were Villains by M.L Rio. I grabbed the audiobook of this from Hoopla (Hoopla was my best friend this month). I tried to read this physically, but was not into it, so I figured why not try the audio before officially DNFing it. I am glad I did. I liked the characters in this as well as the mystery. The Shakespeare references and quotes I struggled with, but it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story. I won’t give my star rating as this was part of my 5 star predictions post and I will follow up with a more in deoth post when I finish reading all of them.
I also read Deceptions by Judith Michael. This book was loaned to me by a client who thought I would enjoy it. And I very much did. This was not a book I would probably have picked up on my own so sometimes I need someone putting it into my hands telling me to read it.
This is about twin sisters who, when reaching college age, went very different paths from each other. When on a trip to China, they twins decide to go home to the others lives, just for a week. To live the life the other sister has. But something unexpected happens, something no one could have saw coming, and nothing will be the same again.
I really did enjoy this. It is an older title, but it is like nothing I have read before. I feel like today, stories are continuously recycled. Even though this is a very backlist title, it felt new and refreshing. Each character had a distinct personality, even the very minor characters. No one got lost in the shuffle. The writing was very good. Nothing felt unbelievable, even though it could be argued that the plot itself was a little unbelievable. I felt the characters were very true to real life. This book did take me quite awhile to get through. Not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but because it was very dense. A lot is packed into this book. The ending was a little open ended, however there is a sequel to it, which I plan on reading by the end of the year. I ended up giving this 4 stars.
To finish off my audiobooks borrowed from Hoopla, I read Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. This was for the Facebook group The Page Turners monthly buddy read. I did not enjoy this one at all. I found myself half listening to it, just so I could finish. To be fair, I think it was because of the audiobook and not the actual content of the book. The narrator, in my opinion, was not good at all. The character voices were terrible and it took me right out the story. The one thing I will say about it is that I very much disliked this romance. It was just a little strange to me and I could not get behind it. I ended up giving this 2 stars. Initially, I thought I might go back and physically read it, because I have seen this recommended so much. Plus, I have really been enjoying this authors other work with Three Dark Crowns. But after some thought, I think I am going to let this one go and skip the rest of it.
To end my month, my hold for The Whisper Man by Alex North FINALLY came in from the library. I feel like I was on hold forever. This book had a lot of hype around it. I was a little hesitate to read it, and didn’t initially plan to read it. Mostly because I have not had good luck with new release thrillers. However, this book absolutely lived up to the hype. I loved the heck out of this book. I was hooked after about 30 pages. It was so creepy. And it has what I love in thrillers, short chapters. Chapters that always ended on a cliffhanger, where I found myself going “just one more chapter” over and over again. The subject matter of the book does involve children, so if harm to children is a trigger for you, I would skip this. However, that does not bother me and I found this to be something I could not put down. 5 Stars for this one.
I did end up DNFing two books. American Predator by Maureen Callahan was an audiobook I picked up on Scribd. I was really feeling it so I decided I was just going to be done. I also DNFed The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay. This may be another case of a bad audiobook. I may try to physically read this in the future. But I did not want to risk another reading slump so I put this aside for the time being.
If you are still with me, and read my lengthy wrap up THANK YOU! I have been a little absent on here, but my goal is to be more consistent.
Have you read any of these? Let’s chat in the comments!



















