October 2024 Wrap Up + November TBR List

October 31, 2024    

    Happy Halloween!! Welp, it's the end of another month. Spooky season has come to a close and I've done some damage to my TBR list. Let's talk about it

    Started this month with an absolute banger by finishing the final book in The Farseer Trilogy, Assassin's Quest. Robin Hobb, you have my whole heart. Hit me up girl. Banger book from a banger trilogy. Cannot wait to pick up the second trilogy in this absolute behemoth of a series. 4/5

    The second book I read was The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. While I recognize that this isn't a perfect murder-mystery, I still really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to picking up another book of this genre. Gimme some recs! 3/5

    After that, I decided it was time to read a witchy kind of book so I picked up Weyward by Emilia Hart. I absolutely ate this book up. Very impressive debut novel Miss Hart. I do want to say, however, that you should make sure to look up the content warnings for this book before going into it completely blind like I did. 4/5

    After Weyward I was FIENING for another book about witches. I then picked up The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow. . . . I dnf'd it at 30%.

    Anyway, I then picked up The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo. I had read Bardugo's other works such as the Shadow and Bone Trilogy which was a fantasy series that I really enjoyed. And so, naturally, I thought I'd enjoy this one as well. Newsflash, I didn't. Now, that's not to say I didn't see the appeal. But it was just not for me. Next! 2/5

    The next book I picked up was Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor. I had had this book on my TBR list for quite a while as the synopsis was very compelling. It felt like if The Night Circus and The Grand Budapest Hotel had a love child, and I really enjoyed it. I thought that it was a pretty good and enjoyable book that I would recommend. 3/5

    I then I decided it was time to get into a dark academia-esque book for the fall season. So, I picked up The Atlas Six. The synopsis made it seem like the vibes were all there: we had dark academia, a diverse cast of characters, and magic. Oh yeah, I thought I was gonna eat this up and leave no crumbs. However, the plate was as full as when it was served. I did not enjoy this book. Please read my review because if I talk about it anymore I'm afraid by blood pressure will reach an all time high. 2/5

    Thankfully, the next book I picked up wasn't as disappointing. All The Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater was an homage to the themes of magical realism that is seen in many Mexican folklore tales. While there were some issues that caused the rating to go down, they weren't enough to lower my overall enjoyment. 3/5

    The last book I read this month was Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek. I thought this was a really decent young adult romantasy book with some stellar imagery and world building. 3/5

    Overall, I think this month was incredibly successful. I also learned that I'm not a mood reader and I can stick to a set TBR list quite well. I guess we'll see how I do in November, onto to the TBR list!

    1. The first three books are a part of a series I started in September: The Dream Thieves, Blue Lily, Lily Blue, and The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. Yes, yes I know I'm late to this series please leave me alone. 

    2. I then want to read the second book of The Burning Kingdoms trilogy, The Oleander Sword. I ate up the first book and have been itching to start the second one.

    3. In order to remain in the fall vibes I plan on picking up If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. I hope that this isn't just a The Secret History wannabe because I will legit crash out.

    4. The next book I wanna pick up is A Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi. This month I really want to branch out and read more literature from different countries. This book is from Japan and the premise seems really interesting although I do suspect that it will make my blood pressure rise as it seems to have themes of misogyny. Wish me luck.

    5.  Next I want to read The Familiars by Stacey Halls. To be totally honest with you, I bought this book years ago on a trip simply because the cover was so nice. But it's been sitting on my shelf for so long and it's time that I read it. 

    6. The next book on my list is A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers. I've heard great thing about this book and it seems like a pretty quick read. I think this book barely reaches the 150-page mark so it shouldn't take me too long to read.

    7. The last book I plan on reading is Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel. Again, following my desire to read international literature, I decided to add a book from the mother country (Mexico) to my TBR list for the month of November.

    My list for November is a bit shorter than last month's because I don't want to over do it during the holidays. I'm also traveling for Thanksgiving so, I just want to take it easy. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to reading these books and giving ya'll my opinions!

Until next time,

A Lazy Reader