What I Read in October
October was a very special month - I went on my first actual leave-the-country vacation in YEARS. I went to Scotland and absolutely loved it! I'll have to dedicate a separate blog post just dedicated to what to do, see, and read in Edinburgh. It was magical and so, so needed.
I also caught COVID and was stuck in isolation for about a week when I got home. This would have been a great opportunity to knock some books off my TBR, but my brain would literally not let me read or listen to anything. The only thing I was able to do was binge Easy-Bake Battle on Netflix (which I highly recommend as a show to binge when you're sick).
Blew me out of the water; loved! (5 stars)
The Winners by Fredrik Backman: Very good and beautiful and even though it was nearly 700 pages I probably could have read 700 more, which is telling of an incredible series. I will seriously miss these people, this town and their stories.
I liked it! (4 stars)
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness: This was LONG, but I did like it. It's about a witch and a vampire who are star crossed lovers and have other vampire, witches, and daemons chasing them down because they're honing in on this magical book that gives insight into the creation of all creatures.
This may be a rare case where I almost vibe with the TV show more? Some of the writing was a bit cringey and over dramatic, but I let it slide because I love Matthew Goode (the star of the show). It was a very thematic book to read on holiday in Scotland, and I'll definitely be continuing with the series.
It was good (3 stars)
Hex by Jenni Fagan: This is a really interesting novella and way to show the witch hunt and murders in Scotland. A young girl is wrongfully held in jail for witchcraft and a crow visits her and speaks to her as she waits for her execution. It's incredibly sad knowing so many young women across the world went through this. I'm glad I ended up buying this one and got some more of the witchy context to some sites and history in Edinburgh.
The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling: I enjoyed this one way more than the first (The Ex Hex) and ended up listening to it because it was a free listen on Libro.fm. It was kind of a cute, slightly edgy Hallmark movie about rival store owners. We need a low stakes book every once in a while!
With Teeth by Kristen Arnett: What I can say that's positive about this book is that it got me through a slump - but it was boring?? Not as good as Baby Teeth or The Push if you're looking for books with messed up kids.
It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover: This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (given some of the early reviews I saw on the book). I'm glad we were told in the beginning that it was a happy ending, I really couldn't take a whole book not knowing if some conflict would throw off the whole thing. Sure, we didn't need this book, but it was still a good one to me!
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