Month in Review: October 2024

 

October was a busy month for us!  We went to Family Day at Tom's work - it was so crowded, but we all had a fun time.  Tom and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary (and 21 years together!).  We spent a Saturday with some of my family, going to a brewery (and yes, all the kids came, too - they have a great outdoor area!) and then back to one of my brother's houses for pizza and s'mores.  Henry continued with his music classes - it's so fun to hear him sing the songs he's learning when we're at home!  My stepmom hosted her annual Halloween party for the grandkids - she packs so much fun into one afternoon!  Lots of crafts, snacks, and costumes!  For Halloween this year, Henry is being Spiderman, but the Miles Morales/Spin version from Spidey & His Amazing Friends, one of his favorite shows.

The Books

Mexican Gothic // Ready or Not // Ghost Station // Haunt Sweet Home

The Night Guest // The Night Swim // Bride // The House on Biscayne Bay

Vampires of El Norte // The Golden Spoon

The Posts and Reviews

Can't-Wait Wednesday: From Here to the Great Unknown

Fiction/Nonfiction Quick Reviews

Michele's Monday Picks #57

Quick Reviews

Guest Blogger: My Favorite Audiobooks #2

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Christmas With the Queen

Quick Reviews

Michele's Monday Picks #58

Spooky Quick Reviews

Nonfiction November 2024: My Year in Nonfiction

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Author's Guide to Murder

How are you doing?

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Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Author's Guide to Murder

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating!

The Author's Guide to Murder

Lauren Willig, Beatriz Williams & Karen White

Expected publication date: November 5, 2024

Agatha Christie meets Murder, She Wrote meets #MeToo in this witty locked room mystery and literary satire by New York Times bestselling team of Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.

There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead—under bizarre circumstances—in the castle tower’s book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in…or, possibly, one of the castle’s guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for this literary American show-off (or Americans in general), finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists. 

The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky, sexy erotica writer; Cassie Pringle, a Southern mom of six juggling multiple cozy mystery series; and Emma Endicott, a New England blue blood and author of critically acclaimed historical fiction. The women claim to be best friends writing a book a historical novel about the castle’s lurid past and its debauched laird, who himself ended up creatively murdered. But the authors’ stories about how they know Brett Saffron Presley don’t quite line up, and the detective is getting increasingly suspicious. 

Why did the authors really come to Castle Kinloch? Is the murder of the long-ago laird somehow connected with the playboy author’s unfortunate demise? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death? 

A crafty locked-room mystery, a pointed satire about the literary world, and a tale of unexpected friendship and romance—this novel has it all, as only three bestselling authors can tell it! - from Goodreads

Nonfiction November 2024: My Year in Nonfiction

 

We might officially still be a couple days away, but it's time to start celebrating Nonfiction November!  Last year I skipped this blogging and reading event because I barely read any nonfiction.  This year I wanted to make a point to read more nonfiction, since I really do enjoy it, so I made a goal at the beginning of the year to read 6 nonfiction books - I know, it doesn't really sound like that much, but it was a good starting point!  I've read 10 nonfiction books to date this year, with plans to read a few more in November, of course!  The first week of Nonfiction November is hosted by Heather at Based on a True Story and is all about our year in nonfiction - what we've read, what were some of our favorites, etc.

My year in nonfiction has been pretty great, with reads ranging from 3.5 to 5 stars!  Most fall in the 4 star category.  As far as topics, they really run the gamut, from celebrity memoirs to royalty to space to the ancient and natural worlds.  Here are some of my favorites from the year so far:

 

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World // The Wave

 

Being Henry // Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come

 

The Third Pole // The Six

My goals for Nonfiction November are to see what everyone else is reading, find some more interesting books for my TBR, and to celebrate the genre of nonfiction!  I might not stick solely to reading nonfiction this month, but here are some I definitely want to get to:

  

The Demon of Unrest // The Big Bang Theory // The Palace

What are some of your nonfiction highlights from this year?

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Spooky Quick Reviews

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher (2023)

Sam is excited to spend some time with her mom, but when she arrives, something is off - her mom has lost a lot of weight, made odd changes to the house, and seems very anxious.  As Sam tries to figure out what's going on, she makes some startling, and frightening, discoveries.  This was a quick read with plenty of gory and spooky moments, although not everything worked for me.  I appreciate the length and pacing of this novel - it kept the action moving with very little filler.  We are thrust pretty quickly into this unnerving old home and can see right away that something is off with Sam's mom, although she tries to play it off.  There is a lot packed into it, sometimes to its detriment - it often felt like there were too many things going on, between bugs and roses and haunted houses and vultures and witches and mother-daughter relationships and family secrets.  Sam was another issue for me - her attempts at humor felt lame, like she was trying too hard.  I'm sure some people will find her funny and charming, but I didn't.  But, I don't read a ton of horror and there were some good moments of that here.  3.5 stars

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes (2024)

Dr. Ophelia Bray, amidst personal and professional issues, joins a space exploration team during a visit to an abandoned planet.  Bray researches an illness called ERS, which is a space-based illness that can have disastrous effects.  She wants to work with the team to prevent further problems, but the crew is more concerned about exploring the alien planet and figuring out what happened to the previous research team - and hiding things from Dr. Bray.  Barnes' previous space horror novel was a hit for me, so I was excited for this one.  Although I felt the pacing was very slow, I still enjoyed this one.  I love stories set in space - it just makes everything feel more tense, and the abandoned nature of the planet only adds to this.  As we learn more about Dr. Bray, she does come across as somewhat of an unreliable narrator, as if she can't even trust herself.  The other team members are not as well fleshed out, which is kind of a bummer since the real action of the story takes so long to happen.  Once it does, though, it moves along very quickly, and I was swept up in finding out what would happen to the crew.  It does get a bit gory at times, so be wary of that.  4 stars

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Michele's Monday Picks #58

Angela is so generous to let me pop in with my little series, Michele’s Monday Picks!  I’m not a blogger or bookstagrammer, but I love getting excited about new releases with the rest of you.  Here I’ll be sharing new books I’m really looking forward to!

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Where the Library Hides

By Isabel Ibanez

Expected Publication: November 5, 2024

From Goodreads:

The stunning conclusion to the story that started in What the River Knows. A lush immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, and a rivals-to-lovers romance like no other!

1885, Egypt

Inez Olivera is left reeling from her cousin Elvira’s murder, and her mother’s betrayal, and when Tío Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she’s left with only one option to consider.

Marriage to Whitford Hayes.

Former British soldier, her uncle’s aide de camp, and one time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt. With her heart on the line, Inez might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secret plans could ruin her.

What the River Knows was a fantastic read and I have high hopes for this sequel - do you think you’ll be picking this one up?

Quick Reviews

A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing (2023) 

Ivy and Wes have had an on-again, off-again relationship for 10 years - even though they've had some good times, it's a mostly toxic, dysfunctional relationship.  Years ago, during one of their many blow-out fights, an innocent bystander paid the price - and now, a detective is looking into it.  I'm slowly stepping back into the mystery/thriller genre, and this was a good one!  Wes and Ivy are so terrible together, but they just can't help themselves, and now their bad deeds are coming back to punish them.  I liked that the story moved back and forth between Ivy and Wes, because we definitely needed both of their POVs.  The pacing was really good, as well, although the story didn't have as many twists as I expected.  While there were some little surprises, it was a bit predictable - the main draw was watching how Ivy and Wes tried to stay one step ahead of the detective who seems determined to bring them down.  4 stars

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez (2023)

After her parents' tragic deaths, Inez travels to Egypt to find out what happened to them and maybe even also continue their work, despite the efforts of her uncle and his assistant to stop her.  This one was a bit of a mixed bag.  Let's start with the things that didn't work for me - the fantasy elements and magic system.  I knew this was a fantasy going in, but much of these elements just felt hokey to me.  Everyday objects are imbued with magic and memories - the memories thing was cool, especially when Inez was able to access memories from Cleopatra, but the random objects that did magical things, like a shoe bursting into flame like a torch?  It felt silly.  The "romance" also felt a little off to me; Inez comes across as very young and naive, and her reactions to Whit were often immature.  But, I loved the setting - traveling through Egypt with Inez and the other characters, the archaeological dig, the history.  Parts reminded me of The Historian, which features another young woman searching for her father, history, and some mystical elements.  I think there were some good twists, and it definitely sets itself up well for the next installment.  4 stars

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Can't-Wait Wednesday: Christmas With The Queen

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating!

Christmas With the Queen

Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb

Expected publication date: November 19, 2024

’Tis the season! The Crown meets When Harry Met Sally and Bridget Jones’s Diary, in the latest heartwarming historical novel from Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, bestselling authors of Meet Me in Monaco and Three Words for Goodbye.

December 1952. While the young Queen Elizabeth II finds her feet as the new monarch, she must also find the right words to continue in the tradition of her late father and grandfather’s beloved Christmas Day radio broadcast. But even traditions must move with the times, and the Queen faces a postwar Britain hungry for change. 

As preparations begin for the royal Christmas at Sandringham House in Norfolk, two old friends—Jack Devereux and Olive Carter—find themselves reunited for the festivities. A single mother, typist at the BBC, and aspiring reporter, Olive leaps at the opportunity to cover the holiday celebration, despite self-doubts. When a chance encounter with the Queen presents an exciting opportunity, Olive begins to believe her luck might change. 

Jack, a grief-stricken widowed chef originally from New Orleans, accepts a last-minute chance to cook in the royal kitchens at Sandringham. When he bumps into a long-lost friend, an old spark is reignited.

Despite personal and professional heartache, Jack and Olive’s paths continue to cross over the following five Christmas seasons and they find themselves growing ever closer. Yet Olive carries the burden of a heavy secret. 

Christmas Day, December 1957. As the nation eagerly awaits the Queen’s first televised Christmas speech, Olive decides to reveal the shocking truth of her secret, which threatens to tear her and Jack apart forever. Unless Christmas has one last gift to deliver… - from Goodreads