October Reads

Book Review Day!  Unfortunately, I feel like I struck out this month.  I read 5 books.  4 were just okay.  And 1 of them, I abandoned 40% of the way through.  Ugh!  I need some good book recs immediately to get me out of this slump.  If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments below.

The Black Witch – Laurie Forest (A)

I picked this one up thinking it would be a fun Halloween read in that it centers around witches.  But it is really more about tensions between class systems, race ideologies, and prejudices. Very slow start and the main character really bugged me for the first half of the book.  But then the the main character sheds her naivety and storyline picks up.  I feel like this first book was such a setup for the second book; so I would expect the second book to be better. But I have not decided if I will read the second book.    2.5/5 stars

Fates & Furies – Lauren Groff (A+ B)

So many thoughts about this book.  It started off so strong. I started reading it on my kindle and found myself having to reread sections because my mind was drifting.  So I switched to the audio version thinking that I could speed up the on-and-on prose.  It still did not pull me in and I found myself getting very annoyed with the unrelatable characters that whined about their “poor” envious lives.  I found it to be too pretentious. I got through about 40% of the book and then just gave up.  It is not for me and life is too short (and my TBR pile is too high) to spend time on books you do not love.  I really hate writing this about any book – because I recognize that author spend so much time and heart on their writing. But it is an honest review.  DNF 1/5 stars

The Chanel Sisters – Judith Little (A)

I had such high hopes for the book as it has always been rumored that Coco Chanel had ties to the Nazi’s and could have potentially been a spy.  This book was about absolutely none of that. I found myself bored with the writing and unable to connect with the characters.  Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I would have read it instead of listened.  2/5 stars

Serpent & Dove – Shelby Mahurin (B)

After reading all of these other books that were kind of a miss for me, I just needed something easy and fun. I call a book like this a “palette cleanser book”.  It is not necessarily impactful literary fiction, but it is enjoyable and entertaining nonetheless in its predictability.  And this book did just that.  It is fantasy that centers around a witch named Lou who is hiding her powers and a man named Reid who has dedicated his life towards eliminating witches and of course there is a romantic storyline. I will most likely read the second book. 3/5 stars  

While Justice Sleeps– Stacey Abrams (A)

Here’s the setup – young law clerk, Supreme Court Justice who suddenly falls into a coma right before a critical swing vote, and the FBI who is trying to determine suspicious intent.  The premise is strong for a page-turning legal/political thriller.  And as someone who is impressed by what Stacey Abrams has accomplished in her political life, I was intrigued to pick up this book. I really wanted to love it; but ultimately, I just thought it was ok. However, I think this would make a great TV series (kind of like the 24 series)! So maybe we just go straight to production rights?  2.5/5 stars

B – Physical Book

A - Audiobook

As always, you can see a consolidated list of all my book reviews HERE.

Now it’s your turn – what book have you recently read that you can’t stop thinking about?  I don't know about you, but I need some solid book recommendations to get me through the next few months.  Something that will pull me in immediately and keep me going through to the very last page.  So tell me in the comments what you are reading, what you are loving, and what book recs you have for me.

The following post contains affiliate links and I may make a small commission if you make a purchase using my links below. Again, thank you for supporting And Other Adventures Embroidery Co!