What We Read in October

October was a more "normal/average" month for me in terms of volume. I read 7 books. 4 books were 5-star reads and another was a 4-star read. There were only 2 "just ok" books this month so it was a successful month!

Best reads:

All of these books were excellent! Carrie Soto is Back is Taylor Jenkins Reid's newest release. It's about a tennis pro who comes out of retirement to defend her grand slam record. This book made me want to learn to play tennis and that is really saying something since I generally avoid sports that involve balls. Ha. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was such a nostalgic read for me as much of it is set in the 80s/90s. It's about 2 best friends who develop video games, but you don't have to be a gamer to enjoy this (I'm certainly not - I haven't played video games since I was a child but boy did I love the original Nintendo and the Mario Bros games back then!). All My Rage is technically YA but I would only let a mature teen read this. It's about 2 teens of Indian descent living on the margins in CA. Trigger warnings abound! Corrections in Ink is a memoir about the author's time in prison. She was a pairs figure skater that competed in nationals but she falls from grace and ends up using drugs and dealing heroine in college. It was an alarming inside look at womens prisons. Lastly, Bad City is a stranger-than-fiction book about the dean of the school of medicine at USC. He was found on the scene of a young 20-something overdose but nothing comes of him being on the scene where there is meth and all manor of other paraphernalia. It's about all of the cover-ups that resulted in this awful person leading a medical school and practicing medicine. It also uncovers some other controversies at USC. Man that school has had some series issues in the last several years! This book got 4 stars because it drug a bit at the end when the author went into things that were happening at the LA Times. The other 4 books were 5-star reads!

Meh/Just Ok:

The Roughest Draft is an enemies-to-lovers romance that was pretty good, but was needlessly long and drug quite a bit at the end, which knocked my rating down to 3 stars. The Book of Goose was loved by a reliable recommendation source but I just didn't get the appeal. It's about a female friendship in the post-WWII era of France. But it felt flat for me and was a 3-star read.

The boys' reads:

The boys really enjoyed reading the Halloween books that I pulled out on October 1st. Will especially loved the Little Blue Truck Halloween book since it has flaps! He is all about books w/ flap or touch and feel books. Here are some other gems we got from the library!

Dear Abuelo was something I randomly pulled off the shelf. It's a collection of letters from a little girl who immigrates to the US from Mexico. It's a very bittersweet book about adjusting to a new country.

I found out about this book from my subscription to Can We Read (highly recommend this substack newsletter! I get so many recommendations from it!) Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue is the first in a series about a little girl whose mom is a super hero. It's a chapter book but there are pictures throughout so it held Paul's attention. I requested the other books in the series. I love picture books but am enjoying introducing Paul to chapter books! 

We love Julie Donaldson (she's best known for Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo). So I requested everything she's written. This was our favorite of the ones we're read recently. A little monkey lost his mom, so the butterfly is helping him find his mom. Is it this elephant? Is it this parrot? They finally find the dad at the end and the butterfly says - why did you tell me your mom looked like you. As a butterfly, her babies look very different since they are caterpillars. Donaldson's books are so fun to read because they all rhyme! 

Did you read anything great this month?