I had another great month of reading in October – it felt like a good mix of genres, and I really enjoyed so many of them! I keep telling all my friends about Female Fantasy by Iman Hariri-Kia, which is basically a love letter to romance novels, and was just an absolute delight to read. I read an older classic, My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier with a friend, and it was the perfect moody, vibey read for October. In This Faulty Machine is a memoir of someone with Parkinson’s written while she’s solidly in the middle of her time with the disease, which is a rare snapshot. And so many more – honestly, there were almost too many great books from October. Here’s everything that I read last month.
Female Fantasy by Iman Hariri-Kia
(Thank you Netgalley and Cosmo Reads for my ARC!) I really, really loved this book. It’s a loving satire of (and love letter to!) romance/romantasy. Joonie is trying to find her real-life Prince Charming, but unfortunately, no one in real life measures up to Ryke, the love interest from her favorite fantasy series. When she realizes that he was based on a real person, she goes on an adventure to find him, and make him fall in love with her. The book is interspersed with chapters from the fantasy series itself, and manages to fit an impressive number of tropes in it, too. I didn’t want to stop reading this because it was just so much fun, and really appreciated how it was a defense of the genre, too. It was so, so clear that Iman Hariri-Kia is a lover of all things romance.
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon.com
The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham
This is my first Elin Hilderbrand book, and it’s a special one because it’s the first that she co-wrote with her daughter Shelby. It’s a fun YA story set in a boarding school, which is always a must-read for me. It follows a whole group of students (and some of their teachers/administrators) at Tiffin Academy, and is kind of like a slightly more tame version of Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars. Shortly after the school year begins, a mysterious account starts sharing blind items about everyone at the school… and it turns out that they’re true. It’s a fun read with lots of drama and tension between all the students, and I think there’s going to be more books coming, too.
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon.com
In This Faulty Machine by Kathy Page
(Thank you to Libro.fm for my copy.) This is a memoir of an author who I wasn’t familiar with before, but I’m always interested to read things from someone sharing their perspective of disability/chronic illness. Kathy Page had just finished a book tour when she began having some strange symptoms, and after lots of follow-up appointments, advocating for herself, and testing, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. The rest of the memoir follows her as she learns more about the disease, begins treatment, and adjusts to her new life. As always, I’m struck by the fact that while our disabilities are not at all the same, the modifications we have to make to our lives are more similar than you might imagine! I thought this was a really honest – and really funny – memoir.
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon.com
Hazelthorn by CG Drews
(Thank you to Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends for my ARC.) This is a YA, queer, body and nature horror… which I know sounds like a jumble of words but worked together so incredibly well. For as long as he can remember, Evander has lived a very closed off life – most of it spent in his room in the Hazelthorn estate, where he’s kept for his own safety until he can recover from his “episodes.” It also keeps him away from Laurie, who also sometimes lives at the estate, and who tried to kill Evander years ago… but Evander’s memory remains hazy as to what really happened. When Hazelthorn’s owner dies suddenly and Evander is named in the will as the inheritor, he has his first taste of freedom in almost ten years, and he starts to try to inherit the mystery surrounding his life and his memories. It’s super moody and atmospheric, and I was never quite sure what was real and what was happening. I loved it.
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon.com
She’s a Lamb! by Meredith Hambrock
(Thanks to Libro.fm for my copy.) I don’t know how I felt about this one! It’s a dark comedy – it follows Jessamyn, a woman who feels that she’s destined to have the role of Maria von Trapp in her local community’s production of The Sound of Music. It’s going to change her life and project her into stardom. Except… she doesn’t get a role at all, and instead, she’s offered the job of “child minder” for the kids in the show. She delusionally decides that she’s being given the job so she can be an unofficial understudy… and that she can’t let anything get in the way of her eventually getting the part. I felt so much secondhand cringe while listening to this! I did enjoy it, but felt like it could have used a touch more nuance.
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon.com
Mate by Ali Hazelwood
This is the sequel to Ali Hazelwood’s first foray into fantasy/romantasy, Bride. While Bride follows Misery, Mate follows Serena, Misery’s BFF and a Were-Human hybrid. When Serena came forward publicly as the hybrid, it made her a huge target for those who don’t think hybrids should exist. So Coen, the Alpha of the Northwest Pack – and her Mate! – takes her in to keep her safe from attacks. The more time they spend together, though, the harder it is for Serena to keep the secrets she’s been trying hard to hide. I genuinely could not put this down – I finished almost the whole thing in one night because the tension was so good and I didn’t want to stop reading!
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon.com
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
It might be over 50 years old now, but wow, this really holds up (minus some language that is definitely of it’s time). It’s a gothic thriller, super moody and atmospheric and confusing at every turn. Philip has lived with his uncle Ambrose for as long as he can remember, and his uncle has been single for as long as he can remember. But once winter during his uncle’s annual trip away from England, Philip gets a letter from Ambrose saying that he’s gotten married to a woman named Rachel. His uncle decides to stay away for longer than usual, and them Philip gets a very strange letter from Ambrose that has Philip setting off immediately to go to him in Italy and find out what’s going on. It only gets more and more confusing from there, and the ending had me completely in shock.
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon.com
Still Bobbi by Bobbi Brown
I’ve been using some of Bobbi Brown’s original line of makeup products for years and years, and as someone who has always preferred a more simple, straightforward approach to beauty, I’ve always jived with her style. It was really interesting to learn about how she built her original empire, and how she pivoted and reimagined after she lost it. I will say that I’m not the biggest proponent of “clean beauty,” which I find to be more of a marketing term than anything real, but overall I really enjoyed this.
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon.com
These Bodies Ain’t Broken Edited by Madeline Dyer
This was a really cool disabled horror anthology, full of short stories by disabled authors (some of whom I was familiar with, and some of whom were new to me). So often in horror, disabled characters are portrayed as the villains. In this anthology, though, the disabled characters of the heroes of the stories, which I really loved – it was such an empowering thing to read. The different stories really ran the gamut in different genres of horror, and each one included a small explainer at the end about the disability of the character. You don’t need to be disabled to enjoy them!
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com
Grape Juice by Eliza Dumais
(Thank you to 831 Stories and Netgalley for my copy.) I really loved this romance about Alice, a sommalier who is sent to France to work on a vineyard’s harvest. She expects this to be a work trip and nothing more… until she meets Henri, who lives in Paris and is the nephew of the owner of the vineyard. I’m sure you know where this is going! Alice, though, is only in France for the season, to put in her time like her boss asked her to.The chemistry was delicious, and I loved the little references to the beauty of words throughout the book. Completely loved this!
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon.com
Spread Me by Sarah Gailey
This one… was weird. It’s a novella set at a remote research station, where Kinsey loves being away from the rest of the world. One day she brings a specimen into the station… only to learn it’s still alive. She knows this, and yet she does it anyway, as if she’s being compelled. That’s where things start to get weird, as if she’s being drawn to this thing… and she thinks she likes it? Honestly, I’m not sure if I liked this story, but I won’t be forgetting it any time soon!
Buy it on: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon.com
