October has been very busy for me. Between October Mysteries & Thrillers: Part III on Instagram, a work conference, and taking an acting class. I'm not sure how I found time for anything else. This blog is mostly a long list of the books I checked out and returned to take pictures and share them on Instagram. However, I did finish reading four books this month, and actually all the books I have completed came from my library.

READ

Marvel Rising: Heroes of the Round Table by Nilah Magruder, illustrated by Roberto Di Salvo - A children's graphic novel about a team of lesser-known superheroes. I picked this on up because it has Daisy Johnson, Quake in it. She is my favorite part of the book. It had a simple plot, colorful illustrations, but even though it had a full story arc across all five stories, I didn't feel like there was any actual characterization, i.e. character growth. ★★★☆☆ IG Review
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein - I read this at my sister's recommendation, Reb's Recs. She loves the puzzles and book references in Grabenstein's series. I listened to it as an audiobook. It is a fun library story packed with book references, great for getting kids interested in their local library. I wouldn't recommend the audiobook because, the puzzles didn't translate well. ★★★★☆ Listened to on Libby
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater - I thought a Werewolf book would be fun for October. I listened to this as an audiobook and enjoyed both narrators that read Grace and Sam's split narrative. A lot of worldbuilding went into this young romance, most of it was in the first tenth of the book. After I got past the first hour in the audiobook, the story began to pick up, and by the end I was in tears hearing Grace and Sam work together and fall into a forbidden love. This is another title for 12 Recs From 12 Friends. CONTENT ADVISORY: Occasional strong language, violence, death, and romantic embraces including implied s*x. ★★★★☆ Listened to on Hoopla
Ready Player Two by Erenest Cline - Continuing Wade and his friends adventure from Ready Player One, readers are introduced to a new headset that allows people to connect their minds directly to the Oasis. It has once again revolutionized their world. Three years later a new contest is set into motion and rogue computer program holds the world hostage. My co-worker convinced me to give this a try. It was so much better than the first book. This could be a master class in how to improve as a writer. CONTENT ADVISORY: Strong language, violence, kissing and LGBTQ+ characters. ★★★★☆ Listened to on Libby

Currently Reading

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Climbing Rejection Mountain: An Actor's Path to Success, Stability, and Self-Esteem by Nick Wyman, Michael X. Martin
The Grim Reader: A Pharmacist’s Guide to Putting Your Characters in Peril by Miffie Seideman

Checked Out, To Be Read

Going Dark by Melissa De La Cruz
It Watches in the Dark by Jeff Strand
Descent by Roland Smith
Codependent No More: how to stop controlling other and start caring for yourself by Melody Beattie
Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris
Genesis Girl by Jennifer Bardley
Aliens DVD IG Post
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray
Underworld DVD
Tell Me No Lies by Andrea Contos
Beautiful and Terrible Murder by Claire M. Andrews
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver
Girl Forgotten by April Henry
Difficult Girls by Veronica Bane
Cut Off by Adrianne Finlay
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
10 Hours to Go by Keely Parrack
Wednesday: A Novelization of Season One by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Sanctuary by Caryn Lix IG Post
The Pioneer by Bridgit Tyler
Ruthless by Carolyn Lee Adams
Miss Austin Investigates: The Hapless Milliner, a novel by Jessica Bull
Murder Land by Carlyn Greenwald
The Wilde Trials by Mackenzie Reed
Power Rangers: Force of Chaos by Diana Ma
White Fox by Sara Faring
There's No Way I'd Die First by Lisa Springer

In The Reservation Queue

Famous Anonymous 1 by Morgan Baden
Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby
How to Survive a Horror Movie by Scarlett Dunmore
Some Like It Scot; a novel by Pepper Basham

On Hold, To Be Picked Up

None at this time.

Returned Unread

Going Dark by Melissa De La Cruz - Over on Instagram I've shared October Mysteries and Thrillers all month, and I don't really get that many new books in one year, so I absolutely turn to my local library (system) and get most of the books from them for my posts. However, since I can only check out so many books at one time, I returned books throughout the month to make room for more books. Other books that were checked out and returned for this reason will simply be noted as "October Mysteries and Thrillers."
It Watches in the Dark by Jeff strand - October Mysteries and Thrillers
When Summer Ends by Jessica Pennington - I wanted to read this book during the summer, but I had too many others to finish that I couldn't get to this one.
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout - October Mysteries and Thrillers IG Post
Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris - October Mysteries and Thrillers
Prey (DVD) - I watched this horror movie at the suggestions of my friend The Drum Show (Check out his awesome drum covers out over on YouTube). I don't watch stuff with ghosts, demons or the occult, so he enjoys the challenge of finding great horrors that don't have those, but do have interesting stories, relatable characters, and the most creative plot twists. We've done this for four years now and the movies are always so good! This is my favorite one, from this year so far. It has a strong but relatable female lead and a monster with a unique and terrifying motive. I enjoyed the way it delt with girls being underestimated, and how the MC proved them all wrong. IG Post
Genesis Gril by Jennifer Bardsley - October Mysteries and Thrillers.
You, Me, and Our Heartstrings by Melissa See - I picked this up a while ago and didn't get around reading it, but I love a good romance about musicians.
The Agathas by Kathleen Glasglow and Liz Lawson - This is mystery I would like to read because it's about two friends written by two authors. It's been too far down the TBR backlogs for too long and I had to return it.
Seven Days in Utopia (DVD) - This is a sweet Christian movie based on a book with the same name. I've seen it before, but I was watching Netflix's Daredevil recently and saw that Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) plays in the main character's love interest in this movie and it was a good excuse to give this movie a rewatch.
Write Fearless, Edit Smart, Get Published: a master class for fiction writers by Lisa Mangum - I have a 300+ page messy first draft that I need to read through to turn it into a cleaner second draft, but I haven't really read this book to figure out what to do for my second draft.
Make a Living Living by Nina Karnikowski - I read some of this one. It's about the courage and planning that goes into turning a hobby or passion into a livelihood. I was fascinated by the concept.
Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray - October Mysteries and Thrillers
Tell Me No Lies by Andrea Contos - October Mysteries and Thrillers
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson - October Mysteries and Thrillers
Difficult Girls by Veronica Bane - October Mysteries and Thrillers
The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver - October Mysteries and Thrillers
Girl Forgotten by April Henry - October Mysteries and Thrillers
Cut Off by Adrianne Finlay - October Mysteries and Thrillers
The Descent (DVD) - This is the second movie The Drum Show recommended for October. If I understood correctly, this horror movie is from the UK. It was unique from most American monster movies, and I liked how in the beginning the six ladies, trapped while cave exploring, supported and cared for each other. Unlike in Prey, I felt like the monsters' motives were unclear, unless they were only protecting their territory. The ending was also very abrupt, but The Drum Show explained that that is the American ending and UK ending is better.
10 Hours to Go by Keely Parrack - October Mysteries and Thrillers
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney - October Mysteries and Thrillers
Ruthless by Carolyn Lee Adams - October Mysteries and Thrillers
Murder Land by Carlyn Greenwald - October Mysteries and Thrillers
The Pioneer by Bridgit Tyler - October Mysteries and Thrillers
Marvel: Powers of a Girl: 65 Marvel women who punched the sky & changed a universe by Lorraine Cink - I checked this out to use this for Instagram back in May, but I didn't end up using it, I thought it would be some fun reading because the illustrations are gorgeous. I don't know if they are, but they look like acrylic paintings.
Wednesday: A novelization of season one by Tehlor Tay Mejia - October Mysteries and Thrillers

This month as been very busy, and I meant to get this blog done on Monday, but I was too tired last Saturday after the work conference. Then on Sunday I was at work all day. I've been working on this blog a little at a time this week. Additionally, I haven't had much time for reading, this month's books were mainly audiobooks (3 out of 4) and the other was a comic book compilation. Next month is Novel November, so I will be busy writing 50,000 words. I don't know how much time I will have for reading, I may take a month off from this blog, but I hope to be back to do December. Maybe I'll even finally get a new fiction piece posted, either here or on a fanfiction site. That would be a real holiday treat!

Over on Instagram, I've mostly been posting mystery and thriller books this month. It's my third time doing this, so I've called it October Mysteries & Thrillers: Part III. I explain each book in three parts. Besides that, I've written two book reviews this month, Marvel Rising: Heroes of the Round Table is my most recent. The link to that review is above and the other review is Spider-Man: Secret of the Sinister Six by Adam-Troy Castro. Since I always include another piece of writing, I'll share a short piece. It's a rant about some research I did while I was writing Fairy Troubled. I was hypothesizing as to the science behind why fairies can fly in "Failed Scientific Arguments for Fictional Cases." Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy!

#LoveYourLibrary

Thank you again, Rebecca for coming up with this blog challenge and I have enjoyed making it an important part of my writing life. Check out her blog Bookish Beck

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Inspirational Skai

Friday, October 31, 2025