A BOOKISH WRAP-UP / OCTOBER 2020 – it’s starting to fell like fall

A BOOKISH WRAP-UP / OCTOBER 2020

Hello everyone,

It’s finally starting to “feel” like fall. Here in the Bay Area it never really looks like fall. We don’t have enough trees that actually change colors, most stay green all year long. BUT the temperature has dropped significantly this week. Suddenly it’s cold enough during the night to pull out the comforter. AND it’s getting darker much earlier and it’s still pretty dark in the morning.

And although it was October – I barely read any thrillers this month. All I managed was two YA thrillers, 🙁 a bit disappointing, but at least both books were entertaining and great reads. And maybe a bit late, but I also started the audiobook of They Never Learn by Layne Fargo, and I might be able to finish it in time with this blog post’s publication.

All in all I read around 16 books, including 5 audiobooks.

FAVORITE OCTOBER BOOKS

The audiobook of NONE SHALL SLEEP was fantastic. I had no idea what to expect, except that I loved how the blurb sounded, and in the end it reminded me a lot of Criminal Minds, just with juvenile profilers, and I really hope the author writes more.

FATAL FRAUD has been one of my highly anticipated novels this year. It’s the 16th novel in the Fatal series. And it’s actually the end of an area, and the beginning of something new. I love this series. It’s like the JD ROBB series only with more romance. So if you love romantic suspense, pick them up, you won’t regret it. Sam and Nick are a POWER COUPLE!!!

I read Dear Martin earlier this year and was immediately impressed by the author’s talent of writing powerful stories in a compact format. Justyce is 288 pages long, Dear Martin only 224 – but both were impactful and thought provoking.

A BOOKISH WRAP-UP / OCTOBER 2020

RE-READS OF THE MONTH

Lately I’ve been re-reading more and more of my favorite books. Maybe because I’m still struggling mentally, but re-reading old favorites has helped me stay sane and it’s a way to forget what’s going on for a few hours each day.

This month I decided to re-read the entire THE OTHERS series by Anne Bishop. I started with books 1-5, revisiting Meg and Simon, afterwards I read Wild Country (which is book 7 but connects with the first five books), and then I concluded the series with Lake Silence. They were SO GOOD!!! Just the remembering how good it felt to revisit my favorite Courtyard makes me smile. 7 books in 7 days – I was definitely loving it!!

I also decided to re-read an OLD favorite of mine, FAMILY MAN by Jayne Ann Krentz.

I devoured all of her books many years ago, like 15 years, and the one book that I always come back to is the FAMILY MAN. It was written in 1992, so you can only imagine that it probably wouldn’t go down as well in 2020, but I still get the same enjoyment out of it as I did 15 years ago. A grumpy hero, a dog, a younger brother, and the author’s trademark writing makes it a favorite.

OTHER BOOKS I READ

FAMINE was entertaining but also a bit repetitive. I was wondering why that was, and I can only think that after reading three books in this world they all start to sound the same.

I finally finished YOU HAD ME AT HOLA, it’s been a long time coming. It still has one of the prettiest romance covers I’ve seen this year, and I really enjoyed the telenovela setup.

WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT is a wonderful friends to lovers romance. It’s not my first book by Aly Martinez, but it was my first with this author collaboration and it was much more fun than expected.

SEPTEMBER AUDIOBOOKS 🎧

As I said above, NONE SHALL SLEEP was one of my favorite books this month. The audiobook really pulled me in, and I think I finished it in a couple days, couldn’t put it down!!!

THE EXILES was heartbreakingly emotional at times. But also so incredibly well written. And I felt like I learned something by reading this book, since it’s based on facts and real events. It’s one of the historical fiction novels to read this year.

THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY was an audiobook that made me THINK!! A little too much if you ask me, but that’s also a sign that the author did a marvelous job. Because clearly, I didn’t think I needed to change anything in my life until I read this book. So, job well done!!!!

THE INHERITANCE GAMES was my second YA thriller this month. Entertaining story and I’m actually looking forward to reading more in this series. It’s being compared to KNIVES OUT and if you love solving riddles – this book is the one for you.

DEAR JUSTICE was as impactful and powerful as DEAR MARTIN. The author is becoming a favorite of mine. She writes beautiful stories about important topics and her audiobooks are so very well done!

THEY NEVER LEARN was my last audiobook of October. And I’m happy that I actually managed to finish it in time for this blog post. What an interesting thriller, the atmosphere was dark and twisted – overall an excellent listening!

BOOK READING GOALS

I’m close to have read 200 books so far, and I bet I already reached the number because I haven’t tracked all of my re-reads in the last few months. I had an idea that I’ll get to 200 books early this year. I just have so much time on my hands, and the one thing that keeps me sane is reading. So that’s what I’ve been doing.

NETGALLEY PROGRESS

I’m embarrassed to say, but there has been NO change since last month. I’ve not added any books, and I only read and reviewed one book from my list. So at the moment I have 13 books on my NetGalley shelf, and my ratio is sitting at 90%.

BOOKS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO IN NOVEMBER

A BOOKISH WRAP-UP / OCTOBER 2020