 Hello friends, how are we all doing? Today is time to talk about all the books I read in October and October was a pretty good reading month. Looking back at all these books I feel like I had a good variety in genre, in types of books, in the way I felt about the books so I'm excited to chat about them with you. I got some good disappointment surprises and hits to sink our teeth into. We've got lots of either end of the spectrum this month. If you've not watched my reports before, the way I format them is I go through my reading statistics then I tell you all the books I read this month with their rating and then I go more into depth on my disappointment surprises and hits because most of these books I've spoken about in a vlog or I'm going to speak about in a vlog at some point. So I don't want to spend too long going over each and every one of them again so shall we just get into it? Let's just get into the stats. I'm we're getting straight into it this month. So in October I read 13 books which is pretty much my typical per month I would say. I'm going to have to read more in November and December but I'd say 13, 11, 12, 13 is kind of what I end up hovering around every single month. I read 4,104 pages which averages out to 132 pages per day which is great. You're girls reading. An average book link of 315 which is a little bit higher for me I think or the kind of you know that's like an average book like really isn't it? 315 pages. My average rating was a 3.69 for like the past five months. I've been at like a 3.6 or 3.7 every single month. At the start of this year I had a few 3.8, 3.9 but alas we've been 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 for like the whole you know rest of this year so that is kind of where my average rating sits and the average time a book had spent on my TBR was 12 months which is a little bit longer. We had quite a few books that I read this month that I'd had on my TBR for quite some time and we finally got them off which is always good you know because otherwise books there's some books on my TBR I don't even want to think about how many months I've been on there. Like how long? It's been 84 years. So in terms of genres I read one classic, one contemporary, two fantasy, three horror, five mystery and one thriller which is a pretty good mix listen. She's in her classics era she's reading one classic and really I read like another book where I classed its subgenre as classic but that was um an Agatha Christie which technically I think is a classic but I always class them as a mystery when I read them. In terms of the source of the books one was an audiobook, six were physical and six were mixtures which means I had the physical and the audiobook. In terms of ratings I had one one star I said we had both ends of the spectrum today uh one one star one two star four three point fives four four stars and three five stars guys oh my god we're so back baby we are so back three five stars are you kidding me and I feel like today the future starts so it's a good day I'm excited. I am actually only gonna be able to talk to you about two of those today because one of them is for a reading vlog that's coming up this weekend and I don't want to spoil it. In terms of audience 11 were adult one was middle grade and one was YA I just read adult now guys um in terms of format one was a graphic novel ten were novels one was a novella and one was an anthology. In terms of series stats seven were stand-alones one was part of a series two were first in a series and three were last in a series. I'm amazed by you. What were the two series that I started? Am I continuing both of those? No I'm only continuing one of those series so although we read two first in series only one of them is actually added to my series spreadsheet. In terms of where the books were from one was from audible four were gifted seven I bought myself and one was gifted from the publisher and in terms of author status three were debuts eight were from authors I'd read from before and two were authors that were new to me okay I think that's all of our stats shall we get into all the books I read this month and their ratings. First I read Emma by Jane Austen which I gave five stars Mr Magic by Kirsten White which I gave four stars. All The Rage by Courtney Summers which I gave four stars. The Secret of Chimneys by Ekater Krissie which I gave 3.5 stars. The Anti-Cunters Guide to Murder which I gave two stars. The Marlowe Murder Club by Robert Thurragood which I gave four stars. A Very Lively Murdered by Katie Watson which I gave four stars. Pine by Francine Toon which I gave 3.5 stars. Sleuth It by Brom which I gave five stars. The Strange Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin which I gave one star. And then three other books that I can't tell you about I asked my patrons when I'm getting ahead of my reading in these last two months of the year do you want to know what ratings I gave the books that are going to be in vlogs or do you not want to know so there's three books that will be in this weekend's weekend I said that word weekend's this weekend's log which I can't tell you about but they they're there and one of them is a five star that's what I'm gonna say okay let's get into our disappointment surprises and hits first disappointment and probably my biggest disappointment of the month even though it isn't the lowest rated I've read this month is The Anti-Cunters Guide to Murder I'm just gonna shut down and I don't want to talk about it this isn't out yet this comes out in 2024 I think in January or February February 2024 and this was one of the books I was most excited for this year if you watch a lot of my videos you know I never fucking shut up about this book I was mentioning all the time about how it's perfect for me because I love bargain hunt I watch every episode of bargain hunt ever to exist not ever to exist and this is about antiques and like a murder surrounding antiques and I wanted to love this I really did but I just couldn't I couldn't bring myself to I found this incredibly boring there are literally I said like I said in the vlog there's literally five scenes in this book nothing happens you know in a in a mystery I'm out of mystery I want there to be a lot of like variation in what's happening and like a lot of little different scenes when I think of ones I love like the Thursday amount of copies like there's there's such a good pacing to that this one they're in a town for like hundred pages and they arrive to a house and they have dinner in the house and they look around in the evening then something happens in the morning and then they're somewhere in the afternoon that's like literally all that happens I don't understand how it takes up this amount of pages so they're at this stately home for a lot of this and I feel like it's kind of playing up on oh my god we're like isolated the characters think they're trapped there but they're not like you can come and go at any time I don't know it seems a bit insular but not for a good reason like I love like a isolated murder mystery where they're stuck in a house for some reason but like the characters just never left so it was kind of like isolated but like anyone can come and go at any time and I feel like it defeated the purpose of it and honestly just the more that I read this the more and more disappointed I got and more downhearted I felt and like what's the point what's the point hello I'm actually at the end of my tether um I don't know whether I spoke I've actually I've had enough and I'm about to blow if a book can have this synopsis and I could love it and I think it's going to be a pretty big release next year and I could dislike it this much I don't think about it we're never going to speak about it again I put it on every tbr every book's I'm excited to read books I think could be a five star probability yeah all of it I put it on all of it and I'm not willing to fake I like this is painful for me I'm not willing to face up again to how disappointing it was so yeah this is probably my biggest disappointment of the month and then my other disappointment was the one star and that was The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M Matlin I read this for Gabby's book club which I'll link down below I was a co-host very kindly invited me I felt so honored but yeah I gave this one star this is about an influencer but she's not an influencer that the whole influencer thing annoyed me will get into it who buys a murder house and is going to renovate it and sell it for some money and document it on her social media and but it's haunted is basically it and she's a therapist as well she is not an influencer just have her be a therapist the whole influencer thing in this or it really pissed me off I'm so sorry she's writing on a blog or maybe Instagram and she'll like tag publicly like brands and be like maybe we should work together on this want to do a collab want to do a sponsorship I'm like no one does that send it in the emails girly like it was just it annoys me when an author does something with kind of like a new what's perceived as like a new career right be an influencer or be it something like oh we have characters on Love Island like a fake Love Island murder mystery I've read from before or like stuff like that and doesn't do it realistically that it pisses me off and I'm sure a lot of other people feel this about other jobs like I'm sure like if you're a therapist like her being a therapist and there's probably just loads of things that therapists would never do you know what I mean but it just pisses me off I'm like that is not how influencing works girly like this is not how it works but it was more than anything the writing really annoyed me the main character was so annoying there's loads of spoilers I could get into the whole book was so annoying I listened to the audiobook exclusively for this and there's like this reoccurring motif of this line saying don't kill me don't kill me and the way it just good keep popping up right throughout the book like even in situations where it didn't necessarily have any bearing it's like a throwback to there was like a met the original murder that happened in the house right and there's a girl who's going don't kill me don't kill me and every time that appeared out of nowhere on the audiobook I wanted to throw my phone across the room like don't kill me don't kill me what she said it was so annoying if I could give you one piece of advice it would be shut the fuck up and yeah the main character with me there's no interesting characters on this the relationship is a goddamn mess and not in a good way it makes no sense so much in this book to me makes no sense so I hated it I gave it one star I get one star I absolutely hated it it's got pretty low rating I don't think a lot of people have been loving it but my god that Gabby put me through it four surprises we've got two soft surprises I'd say these are my four stars but my first one is Mr Magic by Kirsten White because last month or a month before and I think it was last month I read another Kirsten White which I gave 2.5 stars so I was a bit nervous going into this but I way preferred this so this is this one's difficult to pitch it's a horror about this classic children's show that was shut down there's no records of anywhere there's nothing on YouTube the Wikipedia pages sparse anyone who tries to talk about it gets shut down and we're following some characters who were on this show as kids now really this whole book is an allegory for something and in my vlog I didn't say what it was because I don't know if it's like you only really realize it in the last 100 pages but then I've seen other people say what it was I'm just gonna say what it is now and talk about it a bit but if you don't want to know just skip ahead to where I'm no longer holding this book so this book is really an allegory for religious deconstruction and Kirsten White growing up Mormon and I just think I think if you want to read this book I think knowing that the whole book is an interest a far more interesting way to view it I think I actually skipped ahead and read a bit of the author's blurb and then was reading it through that lens for the last 100 pages even though that is kind of when that starts coming together but I think that is it does add another element to this book and I think I think I personally think it would be more interesting to read it going into that because I think it actually does a wonderful job of unpacking it and kind of like a surreal and absurdist way so I think this is a really interesting book it's a very very weird book like go in like you're gonna go into this book and you're gonna read it and be like what the fuck is going on like it is strange you guys are so weird oh my god you guys are so weird I know everything is weird it is you know detached from any kind of like semblance of normality and like the rules of the whole stuff with mr magic and the show is like completely disconnected from reality right like this is kind of a fantastical horror but I really enjoyed this I thought it was very compelling it was weird it wasn't a five star for me but I really was surprised by a how much I enjoyed it having not enjoyed the dark descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein and b how unique it was it's a very unique interesting book I don't think it's going to be for everyone but I would recommend giving it a go and then my other surprise again it's a soft surprise is the Marlowe murder club by Robert Thurgood this is we're following 77 year old Judith Parts who's a little bit of a little bit of a wild girly I don't know she wears a cape but she's like she's certainly got a kind of personality a certain kind of personality and she witnesses her neighbour be murdered and she's like I'm gonna solve this crime it's like a classic cosy not classic like your typical cosy murder mystery and I just think I know this was published so close to Thursday Metaclubic probably isn't the rip up of it unless you know publishers got wind and we're like we need to fucking bring out stuff when Thursday Metaclubic is similar because it is very similar it's old person solving murder mysteries and it's got the same kind of humour and tone to it but I was just surprised I always have a little bit of a prejudice against books like this that like seem very similar to the Thursday Metaclub and I just really really enjoyed this I thought the characters are great again compared to the antique hunters guide to murder where there was like five scenes there was so many things happening in this book and the pace was again moving along at a great notch so yeah this is a soft surprise go watch the vlog if you want to hear all of my thoughts but I'm definitely going to continue on with this series I really liked the audiobook I loved the setting I love the cast of characters it's like a lovely small town murder mystery so I would definitely recommend and then lastly we've got to get into my hits the month the first is absolutely Emma by Jane Austen I loved this guys I read it for my Patreon book club so there's a whole discussion live show and a reading vlog for over there if you want to check that out but I loved this I loved Emma so so so so much so for your reference I read Pride and Prejudice and I was like 10 but I can't really remember the experience of reading it that much I growing up whenever I was ill I'd always watched the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth it's like a comfort watch for me it reminds me of my childhood I would just sit there on the sofa in like a blanket and watch this Pride and Prejudice I'm talking like a primary school age and then I read Persuasion a couple years ago and didn't love it but I loved this Emma is such a delicious character right all you need to know about Emma really is that she's a girlie who like likes meddling in other people's romances she thinks herself a bit of a matchmaker but this I would say is Jane Austen well my perception is is that this is her funniest book this is like humor and Emma's an ununlikable character Jane Austen I can't remember the exact quote but basically said to her brother like I'm gonna write a character but that nobody but me likes and honestly I admire Jane for that because when I first meet Emma in this book you're kind of like girl get out like she's meddling in people's romances you don't want her to be and you're like Emma but then I kind of like I kind of got into it and I got into the drama and the camp of it all and I loved it it's so funny this book is so funny there's so many funny characters in it that I ate it up Jane Austen you are a funny lady you are a funny lady you know and I think because I love watching Prime Princess and I was younger and stuff this kind of setting feels very nostalgic for me and very like a comfort setting Emma's long it's a bulky book and I was just shocked by how much I enjoyed it it was so funny I can't describe to you like Jane Austen I imagine her writing that'd be like well got jokes babes you know and when I have fallen down a Jane Austen rabbit hole I've mentioned this in another video but I have fallen down a rabbit hole where I'm watching loads of documentaries about her and she kind of didn't keep her writing a secret like I think her sister and like close friends knew but she also kind of kept it a secret she didn't publish under her own name when she was alive and she would like not really like them knowing that she was writing so she kind of wrote in secret at home just the idea of her doing that and just the image of her life I think adds so much to this as well you know and I just love her love you Jane love you Jane she's an icon she's a legend and she is the moment now come on now so you know I think this is a very accessible classic I think Jane Austen in general if you want to get into classics is one of the most accessible places you can start because also I'd recommend getting an audiobook alongside because it helps you know having someone read it out to you with the tone of voice that things are said helps you kind of judge the context behind some things that maybe would be a bit more difficult to understand um so I did have the audiobook for this as well but I loved it I cannot wait to read more Jane Austen next year is going to be my classics era like I've said and I am very yeah I'm very excited because this was wonderful and my final hit like I said I had another five star this month that I just can't tell you about yet maybe I'll include it in November's hits depends how many hits we have in November I was struggling the hits I'll put it in November's hits but my other hit is Slew Fit by Bram I read this recently where I read the highest rated horror on my tbr and this was that and I loved this oh my gosh we're following Abitha who lives in this old Puritan village she was shipped over from London as like a child bride well like a bride for like all these men who have just come over to the US she is very much seen as like an outcast or she's judged as being you know too mouthy too noisy she lets her hair show sometimes oh my god the horror and one event leads to another and she is alone and struggling and she kind of befriends the devil Slew Fit I loved this the writing is impeccable the setting is impeccable the plot is impeccable I could not put it down guys you need to read this it is so good it's so compelling and I think and I said a lot of the witchy stuff I read is more modern and I enjoyed reading something really from like the witchy era like oh my god they're gonna hang her for being a witch or they're gonna burn her for being a witch or they're gonna drown her you know like I don't read a lot of stuff from that era I read like modern witches who are just like you know no consequences but I enjoyed this kind of dark and really brutal era that this is set in and I just thought the characters a bit up so well and the mythology around the kind of spirits and demons and whatever that we have in this was so compelling you know and it is a big example of women's stories matter they just matter women's stories matter yeah they just matter like this is a woman's story and it matters she's gonna do what she's gonna do I support her in everything Abba thought I am in your corner so yeah I just absolutely loved it guys I absolutely loved it I cannot recommend picking up Slew Fit enough it's perfect for this time of year read it today like literally read it right now you need to read it right now so that was my October wrap up I hope that was interesting please let me know what you thought of any of the books I read this month and let me know how your October went I want to hear how did your October go did you read a lot of horror mystery thrillers are you not really like a seasonal reader did you have any good five stars this month please let me know any of your disappointments surprises and hits and I will see you very soon in another video bye