It’s time to discuss what books I read in October. I say this every month, but man didn’t October really fly by?! We’re approaching a super busy couple of months, so I’m hoping I can keep my reading up as we approach the Holiday’s!
Have you missed my previous Reading Lists? Get caught up now! I’m trying to update my Reading List/Book page for Simply Stine every month. I list all of the books that I’ve read and I announce my pick for the next book of the month!
WHAT BOOKS I READ IN OCTOBER
I didn’t get as many books read in October compared to previous months, BUT that’s mainly because the two books that I did read were over 500 pages a piece. They were some hefty sized books. The good news is that one of them I loved. The bad news is that one of them I was bored almost the entire book. Can’t win ’em all can we!
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Alright, this was my book of the month for October and dang I am so happy that I picked this book. It was so good. I really got hooked into this story after starting it again. There are a lot of complaints that this book is boring; I didn’t find it that way at all. It is a long read, BUT I got very into it pretty quickly.
It’s got everything you need. Romance, witches, vampires, daemons, and conflict. If you’re hoping for sparkling Vampires like Edward in Twilight, you will be sadly disappointed. Matthew is nothing like that. However, I felt some similarities in the story lines at times.
Diana is a powerful witch and historian who decided that she wasn’t going to use her magic. That all kind of changes when she comes into contact with a manuscript called Ashmole 782. This “book” is supposed to contain secrets about witches, vampires and daemons. Since she found it, all sorts of people have been after her looking for it. This leads to her run in with Matthew de Clairmont, a vampire. Let’s just say that their relationship is not one that a lot of people are happy about and it’s a wild ride throughout the whole book.
As this is a trilogy, there are two other books in the series. I enjoyed this book so much that I started the second book as soon as I finished the first one. Thoughts on that one next…….
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
I wish I could say that I loved this book as much as I did A Discovery of Witches, but that sadly isn’t the case. I did read it and finish it, but y’all, I struggled. I just couldn’t get into this book. There were so many people involved that I got easily confused and had to re-read chapters over again to figure out what I missed the first time. There were parts that I enjoyed, but others I felt like I just wanted to skip pages.
Shadow of Night picks up right where A Discovery of Witches left us. If you watch Outlander (which just premiered last night!!) you’ll feel right at home with the whole time travel story line. Diana and Matthew time-hop back to Elizabethan London, searching for Ashmole 782. Also, Diana is wanting to work on her magic and improve her skills.
I won’t give anything away, BUT I agreed with so many other reviews I read about this book. Not horrible, not great. I did love how the author showed the relationship and how it changed throughout this book. I also loved how the importance of everything that happened in the past, is still important and connected in the future.
While I didn’t love this one as much as the first book, I am still curious enough to continue to read the third book in the series, The Book of Life. I look forward to learning more about this story and how it all ends.
November Book of The Month Pick
I really struggled with what book to have as the Simply Stine Book Club November Book of the Month. There have been so many good book releases and other books I’ve been wanting to read. After a lot of debating, I finally chose the The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian. My friend Ricci mentioned this book on her book review post a while ago and I it sounded really good! It’s been a minute since I’ve read a good mystery book!
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest Room comes a spine-tingling novel of lies, loss, and buried desire–the mesmerizing story of a wife and mother who vanishes from her bed late one night.
GoodReads
When Annalee Ahlberg goes missing, her children fear the worst. Annalee is a sleepwalker whose affliction manifests in ways both bizarre and devastating. Once, she merely destroyed the hydrangeas in front of her Vermont home. More terrifying was the night her older daughter, Lianna, pulled her back from the precipice of the Gale River bridge.
The morning of Annalee’s disappearance, a search party combs the nearby woods. Annalee’s husband, Warren, flies home from a business trip. Lianna is questioned by a young, hazel-eyed detective. And her little sister, Paige, takes to swimming the Gale to look for clues. When the police discover a small swatch of fabric, a nightshirt, ripped and hanging from a tree branch, it seems certain Annalee is dead, but Gavin Rikert, the hazel-eyed detective, continues to call, continues to stop by the Ahlbergs’ Victorian home.
As Lianna peels back the layers of mystery surrounding Annalee’s disappearance, she finds herself drawn to Gavin, but she must ask herself: Why does the detective know so much about her mother? Why did Annalee leave her bed only when her father was away? And if she really died while sleepwalking, where was the body?
Conjuring the strange and mysterious world of parasomnia, a place somewhere between dreaming and wakefulness, The Sleepwalker is a masterful novel from one of our most treasured storytellers.
I’ve got super high hopes for The Sleepwalker. After reading the description, I was hooked! I hope you’ll read along and let me know what you thought of the book as well!
I shared what books I read in October, so now I want to know what books you read!! I’m always looking for suggestions for new books to read!
Leave a Reply