“I wish that every day was Saturday and every month was October.”
Charmaine J. Forde
October was a slow month for reading, a good month for hibernating and getting ready for the closing in of winter, but a slow one for books….
But, before we get into that – did you know, that The Saxons called the month of October Wintirfyllith because it had the first full moon of the winter season? Or that October, unsurprisingly, was originally the eighth month of the Roman calendar. It comes from the Latin word “octo” meaning eight.
There are all kinds of strange and wonderful holidays celebrated in October – the 21st in the UK is designated as Apple Day, although I must admit – I don’t know of anyone who does anything specific to celebrate! It’s also the month for celebrating both bats and raptors, as well as embracing all things spooky with Halloween closing up the month. Did you know that many Halloween traditions were thought to have been influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain.
But, lets talk books – here’s what I completed this month.
Books Read:
| Title | Author |
| Beautiful Animals | Lawrence Osborne |
| A Sunrise Over Bali | Sandy Barker |
| Wild Things | Laura Kay |
| Chasers of the Light Poems from the Typewriter Series | Tyler Knott Gregson |
| What You Are Looking For Is In The Library | Michiko Aoyama |
Total keeping: 2 out of 5
First up is Chasers Of The Light by Tyler Knott Gregson – I love this little book, it’s been in my collection since it was first released just over 10 years ago. I first came across Tyler’s work on Instagram, but I believe he may have had a following on Tumblr and Twitter before moving into traditional publishing. This book has the most aesthetically pleasing photography, speaks to my inner angsty teenager and has some great shortform poetry for tired souls. For me, it’s a perfect decompression book, you can pick it up and read from cover to cover, or dip in and out as you need. There are some seriously mixed reviews on this, which was surprising to me – I thought it was a great read.
As someone who listens to music constantly, this extract stuck with me:
You walk
Like you were born
With a soundtrack
What You Are Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama has been on my shelf for a few months, I remember seeing it pop up on my social media and thinking it sounded interesting – I only wish I had read it sooner!
I’ve written a whole blog post on just this book alone [you can find it here] – it’s one of only a very few books I’ve read this year that I couldn’t get out of my head. I absolutely loved the story of this one, each chapter follows a different character, although they are all loosely interlinked. Much like Before The Coffee Gets Cold, I’d class this as a gentle book, perfect for the slower months of the year. That’s not to say it isn’t thought provoking – but it’s a beautifully calm book, I highly recommend sitting down with a favourite drink and comfortable chair, and dedicating an afternoon to the story.
If you have any recommendations for books like this one, or similar in vein to Before the Coffee Gets Cold, please let me know – they are two of my all time favourites this year.
Total heading for new homes: 3 out of 5
Beautiful Animals by Lawrence Osborne. Phew, this one was tough, I really struggled with getting through it. It is described as a psychological thriller, set on the island of Hydra and was a New York Times best seller when it was released in 2017, as well as receiving a whole host of accolades. I wanted to love it, but honestly, I just didn’t. I found the characters shallow and vapid, which I think was part of the plot, but for me it just made finishing each chapter a chore. I found that on putting the book down for a couple of days I couldn’t even recall the storyline, far less the names of the people involved. Ultimately, I ended up searching a synopsis and classing it as a DNF. I’m sure this is a perfect read for someone, but that someone sadly isn’t me. I’ve since donated this one – hopefully it will find a new home with someone who appreciates it.
A Sunrise Over Bali by Sandy Barker was a welcome relief after Beautiful Animals. I actually borrowed this one from the library after unashamedly being drawn to the cover; on reading the first chapter I realised I’ve actually read it before! This forms part of the Holiday Romance series by Sandy Barker and is an absolute beauty of a book. It is lighthearted and heart warming, we follow the story of Jaelee as she leaves a high flying career in Miami to ‘find herself’ in Bali. Whilst that sounds cliched [and it a tiny bit is], it’s just such a lovely relaxing read that it will make you feel like doing the exact same thing! Sandy has a way of writing characters that makes them seem very real, it’s clear that Jaelee has some less than perfect traits and yet it’s impossible not to root for her.
The whole series of books that extend either side of this one is brilliant – absolutely perfect for summer days, or winter escapism to warmer climates!
I know I should be focusing on books I already own, but every time I’m in the library I see books that look so much more interesting, maybe it’s a sign I should downsize my own collection even further.
Wild Things by Laura Kay, again – isn’t this such an appealing cover? I know we’re not supposed to be led by that, but sometimes I feel like the design just nails it, and this one captures the feel of the story so well.
This is such a great read, it follows the story of El as she embarks on a year of Wild Things, to try to spice up her life and move on from her crush on Ray. Ranging from trying drugs, to attempting a threesome – things take an exciting turn when El, Ray and two of their closest friends decide to ditch the big city and escape to the English countryside. Settling into a new life in the country gives El just the Wild Thing she was looking for, although living alongside the unrequited love of your life isn’t quite as simple as she may have hoped.
I realised I haven’t read many novels that are not hetero-romance based, but clearly I’ve been missing out! This is my first book by Laura Kay but I’m looking forward to reading more of her work, I love the way she writes her characters and I know there will be more than a few 20 somethings who would love to follow Els lead.
Although this was a slower month for reading physical books, I did read a few on my Kindle, but mostly I enjoyed the slowing down of the year – reading What You Are Looking For Is In The Library was a real highlight and it was nice to sit with it for a while.
As always, let me know if you have any recommendations.
Nx
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