I had a good reading month. Some of my October reads carried over into Spooky November 👻, and that was fun.

Joe Hill's King Sorrow was an amazing dark fantasy discovery.

Cider House Rules was a reread and an old favorite.

Katabasis was a bit disappointing.

Looking forward to a murdery (reading) holiday. 🔪🩸🎄🎁

Unpopular opinion:

I have mixed feelings. The book is very dark academia oriented, but I found the characters unlikeable, and Hell had a lot of boring moments. I wanted a scary, richly detailed, demonic Hell. This is not that, but it did make the professors look like monsters. It struck me as a little pretentious. I will have to sit with it for awhile.

#sundaybuddyread Thank you @TheBookHippie for bringing this book to our attention!

I learned a lot about Picasso from this book. If he wasn't a famous artist, he would have been labeled a creeper. His art was amazing. The man himself was a narcissist man-baby. Gilot's writing flowed well, and I was absorbed into her story. I would have liked a book about her later years. Her personal evolution was fascinating. She grew so much.

I reread this book after over 20 years in preparation for Queen Esther coming out. It is brilliant! It is even better the second time around. The characters are the quintessential John Irving type--endearingly strange. The message of the book is very pro choice. It still holds up.

I liked this "cozy" sci fi but I wish I had read it in print instead of listening to it on audio. There were too many characters and little sub plots for my brain to keep up with without being able to refer back to a hard copy. But I did get into it.

I'm not sure I would have labeled it a cozy when there was mild torture and murder and an evil empire with familiar traits. It seemed too stressful in parts to be cozy.

While it was fun to be back in this world again, the pacing was a little off and the plot seemed like it was disorganized. It was a funny and creative book, but not the work of genius that the first two books in this series were. It's still a pick and I enjoyed it.

If you could communicate for only one night with just one person who has died, would you do it? Who would it be? What would you say?

This thought provoking story is centered around a teenaged facilitator who can make this happen for people. It is different. Some parts were heartwarming, some sad, and some bizarre, but all of the connected stories were interesting. I liked it a lot.

A delightfully subversive, witchy fantasy.

This book was probably funny, poignant, irreverent, and wise, but it didn't hit me at the right time in my life, and I couldn't enjoy it as much. I didn't want to read about death and the meaning of life and the average guy feeling sorry for himself. Not the book's fault. I read it for a book club.

I really just feel like reading about dragons or something.🐲

I really liked this author's writing style and her voice. This book had a wonderfully spooky atmosphere for Halloween, and the setting was perfect. I did find it a little slow and tedious in some parts, and I was not surprised by anything at the end. Also, some stuff was just gross, and that's not meant in a gory way.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A modern Arthurian twist with an evil dragon, and wow, that dragon is wonderfully diabolical. This epic tale was crazy good and has unexpected paths. The characters are fascinating and really stand out, and for such a long book, it feels like there is never a dull moment.

The audio is worth a listen. It is really well produced.

I had a fun time reading scary books for October. As a matter of fact, I'm still in the middle of a few, so my Halloween is just going to have to extend into Spooky November. 👻🦃

I had a blast this Halloween. We handed out candy to over 100 kids, ordered Chinese, and watched Rocky Horror. It was perfect. 🎃

Not in the Litsy database, but this author asked me to read and review his book, and I actually liked it.

It was an absorbing collection of horror/ sci fi-type stories. It was a fun read for Halloween. Some stories stood out more than others, but the characters were impressively drawn up in each story. A major theme running through a lot of them is grief. Most take place in Maine, so they reminded me of Stephen King with their own unique flare.

I read this book for the #SundayBuddyRead hosted by @TheBookHippie and really enjoyed dissecting it and guessing along with everyone else. At first, I had trouble switching back and forth between sisters so rapidly, then I adjusted.

There were so many obvious clues, and they all went over my head! This was an entrancing historical fiction mystery thriller set in 1930s Chinatown Los Angeles. It kept me guessing until the end. Definitely a pick.

This fun slasher takes place at a wellness retreat in the desert in California. It is the perfect setting for the creep factor. Yoga and a pickaxe, anyone?

I thought the Final Girl was written really well, especially since she was written by a man. Her temper was relatable, and everything that annoyed her about other people was familiar. One had to think, "These are her friends?"

I have mixed feelings about this book. The audio is definitely worth a listen because it's partially read in Dr. Goodall's comforting voice, and she has a lot of hope for the younger generations, and her work as a naturalist is awe-inspiring.

However, some of the parts about disabled people read as unintentional inspiration porn, and there was heavy emphasis on the spiritual/supernatural. Both of those things made it a lower pick for me.
3.5 ⭐️

I absolutely adore these characters! There is just something very comforting about them, and they are so well fleshed out. The plot to this 5th episode is well put together, easy to follow, and entertaining. I can't even pick a favorite character. I love them all so much!

This was compelling and entertaining. Trad wife influencers that got murdery. I don't have Instagram, so this is a culture I don't know, and trad wives are my opposites, so this was a really interesting behind-the-scenes look at influencing. A reminder that what you see on the internet isn't real, but people are.

I never lied on my Facebook account, but I never put my life mess on there either. I put it on Litsy instead. You're welcome! 💐

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A spectacular short horror frenzy! Don't cut your teeth on this one if you're not used to the genre. It was the perfect blend of disgusting, horrific, and diabolical. It was genius.

Small spoiler trigger warning in the comments, but it might be a deal breaker for some readers.

3.5 ⭐️
The book grew on me somewhat. I'm not actually a romance person, and this leaned heavily on the romance side. I read it for a book club. I was more invested in the second half when the other supernatural characters were introduced. I found some of the one-liners funny, and I like the idea of zombies who yell out remnants in French before they eat your brains. "Bonjour!"

Creepy book haul, y'all! I may be overly ambitious because I have other books to get to. I have a feeling Halloween 🎃 is going to bleed into November this year.

The ending to this missing person mystery is memorable. It caught me completely off guard. It is an intriguing detective story with two amateur sleuths who team up to find out what happened when their sisters disappeared 7 years ago. I found the characters to be completely unlikable, yet I really liked the book.

#WDNCW #WeDoNotCareWednesday @dabbe

We do not care about the vaccine scare. We got our flu shot and our covid shot yesterday, and we are grateful to science for them. Here's to not spreading deadly viruses to other people! 🍞

A former killer is forced out of retirement in order to stay out of prison. I'm a sucker for an elderly lady serial killer, and this woman was diabolical. I didn't know what outcome to hope for. The book was fun, not too serious.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What I really liked about this book was that it illustrates that multiple conflicting truths can be right at the same time, making it easy to gaslight people.

Clio wasn't a traditionally likable character, yet I really appreciated her evolution and humor.

The demonic house was fun, but it is, of course, less scary than the crappy parents. That tracks.

I loved it almost as much as Cackle.

The older I get, the slower I seem to read. Because I swear I did nothing but read all month, and I only finished 9 books. Although The Stand anthology was 800 pages. It doesn't really matter. I enjoyed the books I read, and I even learned some stuff.

This book was truly disgusting, as it was meant to be, and the prose was beautiful. I had to look up words I was unfamiliar with. I enjoyed the challenge. The novella was intriguing and gross. Perfect for Halloween if you want to fear mermaids.

TW: very graphic, includes eye stuff

This was cute. And that was the problem. It was too cutesy for me. Too much dating drama, not enough dismemberment. Although the monsters themselves were creative and fun. I think romance readers who like comedy and don't mind a little tongue-in-cheek violence would like this book. I appreciated the nagging decapitated mom head.

The best kind of surprise is book mail. A friend had this book shipped to me for my birthday next week. I was not expecting it at all. I've always meant to read Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and this book sounds perfect for Halloween. 🪄

4.5 ⭐️s

A wide variety of impressive authors contributed to this new 800-page anthology, which takes place in the world of Stephen King's "The Stand." I think the book did justice to King's masterpiece, and it is definitely worth the read if you are a fan.

This horror/ romance was great fun if you have a messed up sense of humor, which, it turns out, I do. There were some great twists in this psychopath HEA. Wait for it...

#WDNCW #WeDoNotCareWednesday
@dabbe

We do not care about medical reports from people who are not doctors and can not pronounce acetaminophen. We just bought ourselves a big ol' bottle of Tylenol for our chronic headaches. In solidarity with the company, it was a huge bottle.

(Also, keep your tiny/ wormy hands off of our friends who are on the spectrum! You don't know what you're doing!)

3.5 ⭐️s

This book was not a quick read, and in the end, I still wasn't sure what to rate it. It doesn't move fast enough to be marketed as a thriller, but I did find parts to be intellectually stimulating. The MC struck me as a complete sociopath, but I did appreciate some of her humor. I liked it, it was different, but I wouldn't rave about it.

The book had some pacing issues, but overall, it was pretty good. A dystopian, end-of-the-world horror novel in which the scariest parts are not necessarily the creatures but human behavior. I thought the theme had a good point. It was a creative slaying of society with good lgbt representation and a beautiful acceptance of transformation. At least, that's what I took from it.

#realhistory
@Librarybelle

I learned a lot of history that I wasn't previously aware of, and the diverse group of folks written about were very inspiring.

This book was well composed and entertaining (there was an incident with the whalebone piece of a corset). I thought it was written thoughtfully. There was also a little bit of the author's snark peppered occasionally throughout. It left me with a feeling of power and hope.

This was Holly Jackson's first venture into adult thrillers, and it was good, suspenseful fun. The main character sometimes made frustrating decisions and acted a little dense, but she had a good excuse. I liked her. She was snarky about her very dire predicament.

#WDNCW
#WeDoNotCareWednesday
@dabbe

1. We do not care if we receive dirty looks. We are wearing a mask in public now because Covid is on the rise, and the federal government isn't letting everyone get vaccinated because one foolish man doesn't understand how vaccines work. 💉

2. We don't care that it is early September. We have already started celebrating Halloween. Hence-- cute, spooky, surgical masks! 👻🎃 😝

I managed to read 10 books in August. It was just kind of a meh month, but I did love Chaos Terminal and Beautyland. I'm looking forward to a solid two months of scary books.🎃👻

I'll admit, some of the mirror bits struck me as a little convoluted. Maybe they would have come across as easier to understand in print rather than audio. But the snarky talking cat totally makes up for that, as snarky talking cats always do. I liked Anja and her humor, and the creatures were very creative.

I didn't like this as much as I did the other books that I've read by Ashley Winstead. Maybe it's because I am not a big fan of Twilight. This book was a bit melodramatic for my taste. Some parts held my attention, but the plot was just too much for me.

Pick! Pick! PICK!

This book has me convinced that I am really an alien. Adina's perception of things strikes me as astute and humorous, especially the part about lobsters. 🦞 She asks why something is instead of just accepting it, and so she is considered weird by some. So yeah, beam me up! 👽

#SummersEnd
#readathon
@Bookwormjillk

I want to finish these books before Labor Day, but especially Beautyland because I have a book club about it Sunday evening. I am way behind this month. I've enjoyed what I've read, but my brain has been really sloooowed dowwwwn by brain fog. It's a little frustrating. Anyway, looking forward to a weekend filled with books, tea, and dog snuggles. 📚🫖🐶

#WDNCW
@dabbe

1. We do not care that we missed Wednesday.

2. We do not care that our sectional sofa has a huge tear in the fabric and little dog bites in the foam. We are too cheap to buy new furniture, and so we ordered this book nerd blanket off of Etsy to cover up somebody's shame. We like it better than a new couch anyway!

To be fair to the author, I really am not in the mood for dystopians these days, but I read it for a book club. I had trouble concentrating on it, and I did not connect with the main character. I thought she was pretentious and a martyr. This book seemed really slow and without much plot. The best part was Mauro, the little boy. He had a syndrome, which made him unable to feel full after eating, and everyone kept discounting him because of it.

This was an intense university mystery/ thriller. It kept me riveted to the very end. It was one of few things I've been able to concentrate on lately. It kept me distracted from stress. That is just one thing I love about books.

I liked this book for the inclusiveness it represented for the #riseupreads group. However, it is a low pick for me because there were certain things that just didn't work for me in the plot. I will save the rest of my opinions for @Catsandbooks when we go over it together as a group.

I read this book for the second time for book club because I completely forgot what it was about, even though I had just read it in April 2024. I hate it when my brain dumps information!

It did come back to me as I was reading it, and I enjoyed it even more the second time. It's historical fiction about female witches told throughout different generations. I'm really looking forward to reading this author's new book, The Sirens.

#WDNCW #WEDONOTCAREWEDNESDAY
@dabbe

We do not care when there is more "breaking news" before bedtime. We do not read headlines or listen to NPR after 8:00 pm. We are winding down, snuggling with Latte, hoping to sleep and avoid nightmares. The world will still be on fire tomorrow when we wake up. At least it's been consistent. ?‍♀️

No kink shaming, but Linda wants to marry an airplane. I'm not sure I quite grapsed the allegory there, but the book was delightfully weird, and it kept me entertained the whole time. Flying will never be the same.

This is a low so-so. It was my least favorite Ruth Ware novel to date. I've loved all of her other work. But the women in this book were whiney, witless, and annoying, and I did not have the patience for it. Maybe it was better in print than audio. I love Imogen Church, but she can't do a New York American accent. The audio was over 15 hours long, and I slogged through it, leaving me disappointed.