As promised, here is my first post back after my hiatus – a wrap-up of my October reading. I know that it looks like a crazy amount to some people, but my normal reads can exceed 30+ books a month – so the 16 books seen here is definitely on the low-end of a normal month tally.

Favorite Books of the Month

Dopesick – I saw this was being made into a Hulu mini-series, but I knew that I wanted to read/listen to it before watching the adaptation of it – its also been loitering on my TBR pile for several years. Dopesick garnered one of my few 5-star reads of the year – yes, it was more of a human interest story, vs. hard-hitting reporting on the opioid crisis – but I was sucked in because I felt like I was rooting for the people who were featured, wanting them to kick their addiction. I was also surprised how much of it was set in the area where I went to college (Virginia Tech – Blacksburg, VA) because the epidemic was in that area while I was going to school and I don’t remember hearing anything about it.

Battle Royal – if you take Great British Baking Show, mix in a Rivals to Lovers theme and a royal wedding – then you would have the major thematic elements of Battle Royal. I was totally sucked in during the reading – I didn’t want to put it down, which resulted in a few last nights of reading and blurry eyes the next day in class. The author (Lucy Parker) is a new to me author, but not a new author – so I’m excited to check out some of her backlist.

Manners & Mutiny – I’m not sure why the last 2 books in the Finishing School series (this one and Waistcoats & Weaponry) hung out on my TBR pile for so long – in fact Waistcoats & Weaponry sat half-finished for several years until I picked it back up in September. These last two books wrapped up the series in a pretty bow – which is something I always appreciate because I don’t have to pick up another series to see what happens. But I can see how things that happened in the Parasol Protectorate were set up in this series. I can’t wait to read more books by Gail Carriger in the future (the next series up is the Custard Protocal)

Least Favorite Books of the Month

The Echelon Vendetta – As I was reading this, I quickly realized why it had loitered on my Kindle TBR pile for close to a decade (I picked it mostly for a challenge that involves reading books that have been on your TBR shelf for a long time). While the plot was semi-decent – it was just a bit ehhh for me…won’t be continuing the series, but glad to get it off my epic TBR pile.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before – While this was marketed as YA, I can’t help but think the actions of the protagonist were definitely on the very young side of the spectrum, even though she was supposed to be a junior in High School. I don’t know if she was supposed to seem that naive, but when compared to other YA written in the same time frame, with similar aged characters, her character just didn’t work for me. But I know other people who have enjoyed this book and the subsequent ones. Won’t be continuing the series and I don’t think I even want to try the movie on Netflix.

That about wraps up my October – How was yours? What good books did you read? Any recommendations for me?