October was a good in between month. I didn’t have too much going on this month. September was my birthday month and I was surrounded by social outings. For November, I am going on vacation for a bit so my amount of reading is probably going to drop dramatically. So, in between month October, was the perfect month to get all those fall books finished. I participated in Spookathon and read a bunch of spooky books. Overall, I finished 14 books which is absolutely crazy to me, considering I read the longest book of the year this month too (about 720 pages!). Here’s what I read this month:



The Magician’s Lie by Greer Macallister (3.5 stars): I adore books that have magicians and magic in them. So, I went into this with high expectations. This was my first novel I read by Macallister and as much as I loved her writing, the story wasn’t that enticing.

Maximum Ride Forever by James Patterson (2 stars): I was cringing the whole time but at this point, I just wanted to finish the series. This book was completely unnecessary. 

The Steel Prince by V.E. Schwab (3 stars): It’s not a secret that I loved the Darker Shades of Magic series so I was so excited to hear about this spin-off graphic novel series that follows Maxim, the King. It was a solid first book but I didn’t care for the art, the shading seemed a bit off.


The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston (4 stars): This is the companion to Geekerella that I definitely needed in my life. It’s a retelling of the Prince and the Pauper. It was absolutely magical. And everything about it was precious and lovely. It was so good!

Shutter by Laurie Faria Stolarz (4 stars): I was very hesitant to start this since I saw Stolarz herself rated it 1 star on Goodreads (she has since removed the rating, so maybe it was a mistake). However, I really enjoyed this one. Shutter follows a girl who unknowingly photographs a runaway criminal, and things spiral from there. Stolarz is one of my favorite authors of all time so I’m happy to say that Shutter did not disappoint.

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi (5 stars): So it’s been a good five years since I read the first book, Shatter Me. And it’s been a goal of mine to try and continue in the series and finally this month, I decided to give the sequel a try. And I loved it! Also, I distinctly remembering being hardcore Team Adam in the first book but I think I may be changing my tune and leaning more towards Team Warner.


Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine (4 stars): This was such a great installment in the series! It’s book 13 of the Morganville Vampire series and I am slowing making my way through it. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I’ll be finished with all the books. Bitter Blood just gave me a big kick in the feels. It was heartwrenching and you get to see a side of characters, we haven’t yet seen which was fun.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (4 stars): I’ve been trying to read this one for a while but it’s so huge and the font is so small that I never get past 50 pages. Well, this time I powered through and I am so happy I did. It was so worth it. This book isn’t just a book, it’s an immersive experience between the layers of stories, including the pictures, interviews, experimental prose, and more. I highly recommend. Plus, it’s perfect for this spooky time of year.

Blackbird by Anna Carey (2.5 stars): I liked Anna Carey’s other series, Eve, so for the Spookathon, I decided to give this a go since it was super short. It had a lot of potential and it did catch my interest a few times. However, it was in second person which really stole from the entire flow of the book. It was jarring. So much so, that I even tried the audiobook to see if it was better that way and the whole second person perspective just wasn’t for me.


The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar (2 stars): I primarily picked this up because of the gorgeous cover and lovely end pages. However, what I found inside was an extremely slow story that could have been 100 less pages. The writing was fine but the plot just wasn’t for me.

The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige (4 stars): Dorothy Must Die was my favorite book I read last month so I was hoping to find another favorite with the sequel. Instead, it was okay but it read like a sequel which isn’t necessarily a good thing.

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera (3 stars): I finally read a solo Adam Silvera book (I read his collaboration book with Becky Albertalli in the beginning of the year, What If It's Us). This one hurt my heart; it was absolutely heartbreaking in the best way possible. I thought it was a bit slow at times which is why I rated it a little lower. However, I did appreciate the writing and the gorgeous story. I’m looking forward to reading some more of his work.


The Fledgling Handbook 101 by P.C. Cast and Kim Doner (3 stars): I finished the House of Night series a month or two ago and I had this on my shelf still. It was pretty small and had pictures so I decided to kick off the Spookathon Readathon with this. It took me about an hour or two to complete it and it was fine. If you’re a fan of the series, this is a nice addition for your shelf.

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood (3 stars): Witches in books are not really my thing anymore. However, I was keeping this around because I loved how well the colors on the cover worked together. It turned out to be a good book. I didn’t expect it to be in the historical genre so that was surprise. And where most witch books deal with newfound powers, Born Wicked actually focuses on this family of witches who’ve known they were witches for a while and must conceal their powers from the outside world. It was a different take on witches that I haven’t read about before. However, I don’t think I’ll be continuing in the rest of the series.



Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater (11/5/19): Finally! We will have the Ronan spin-off in our hands! I loved Ronan in The Raven Cycle and always wished to know more about him. I have such high expectations.

The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White (11/5/19): It’s a new series from Kiersten White! I cannot wait! Plus, it’s a retelling of King Arthur. I absolutely loved her Paranormalcy series, and as much as I adored her writing in And I Darken, I didn’t quite love the story. However, I am ready to give this one a try. Plus, that cover, so gorgeous!

The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness by Susannah Cahalan (11/5/19): I’ve been low key wanting to read her other book, Brain on Fire, and just haven’t gotten the chance to yet. However, this one sounds even more incredible. It’s about a study that sent several healthy individuals to mental hospitals, where they had to prove their sanity to be released. I rarely read nonfiction but this sounds so promising, I may give it a try.




This month, I rented a few movies and started some new television shows. I made sure to rewatch Zombieland so I could go see the sequel, Zombieland Double Tap. It was comedic and entertaining. I like the first one better but that’s usually how sequels work. Also, I was able to rent some movies from the library: Toy Story 4 and Yesterday. Toy Story 4 is probably my least favorite Toy Story yet but there were definitely some tear jerk moments. Yesterday was a bit slow but interesting nonetheless. Mr. Robot finally rejoined television in its final season. And I started watching Nancy Drew, a new show on the CW. I’m a big fan of the Nancy Drew PC games so I was looking forward to loving the show. After giving three episodes a try, I don’t think I will be continuing. Somewhere along the lines, they lost the vibes from the original content. Overall, a solid watching month!