Rearview Mirror // October 2021

Ack! It’s 2022!! What is happening?!

Well, if you wish time wasn’t going so quickly, enjoy a little trip down memory lane back to 2021 LOL

Favorite October Read

Gotta go with Aurora Burning for this one.  This series is just fantastic – it’s definitely one I’m going to purchase/reread at some point.

Most Disappointing October Read

I actually had a couple of bum reads this month, but Emily’s Quest was probably the one that disappointed me the most.  I didn’t end up particularly enjoying this series overall, and the final book just really sealed the deal, with Emily spending the entire time waffling between two honestly not-that-great marital choices all while acting like she’s super independent and adventurous.  Boring and repetitive, and I didn’t really like anyone.  A bummer of a book from an author I generally love.

Other October Reads

• 2.5*
  • Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys
  • Disclaimer by Renee Knight
•  3.5*
  • The Birdwatcher by William Shaw
  • Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves
  • Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde
  • The Ex Hex by Erin Stirling
  • The Ghostway by Tony Hillerman
  • The Jackal’s Head by Elizabeth Peters
  • Real-Life Organizing by Cassandra Aarssen
  • The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda
  • Snow White & Rose Red by Patricia Wrede
  • The Third Victim by Phillip Margolin
  • Well Matched by Jen DeLuca
•  4*
  • The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
  • Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman
  • Fat Ollie’s Book by Ed McBain
  • Fiddlers by Ed McBain
  • The Frumious Bandersnatch by Ed McBain
  • Hark! by Ed McBain
  • Money, Money, Money by Ed McBain
  • Red Bones by Ann Cleeves
  • Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman
  • Talking God by Tony Hillerman
  • A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
  • White Nights by Ann Cleeves

October Stats

• Total Number of Books Read:  27 (none on Kindle)
• Total Pages Read:  7824
• Average Star Rating for October:  3.64
• Longest Book: Aurora Burning (495 pages)
• Shortest Book:  Cloaked in Red (127 pages)
• Oldest Book:  Emily’s Quest (published 1927)
• Newest Book: The Ex Hex and Well Met were published this year.
• Number of New-to-Me Authors:  6

October DNFs

None!!!

TBR Update

This I keep updated as I go, so it’s current as of today, rather than as of the end of October.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m weirdly obsessive with organizing the TBR, and have it on a spreadsheet divided into six different tabs:

• Standalones:  494 (holding steady)
• Nonfiction:  128 (holding steady)
• Personal (which includes all books I own (fiction and nonfiction), but lists any series I own as only one entry…):  637 (down five!)
• Series (each series counted separately, not each book within a series):  251 (down one!)
• Mystery Series (each series counted separately, not each book within a series): 110 (down two!)
• New Arrivals – (I have a lot of books that I have been gifted or that I pick up somewhere and they get put on my “oh I’m so excited about this shiny new book” shelf… and then of course don’t actually get read.): 152 (up 8… but we did just have Christmas LOL)

Current Reads

• The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel – this one is for the traveling book club and it’s okay, but the main character is definitely one of those “I’m abrasive because I don’t need no man” kind of characters, which definitely gets on my nerves a LOT
• Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly – I just started this one last night and am actually pretty into it – it’s a crazy mermaid story, but it’s quite engaging.  It’s the first book in the Waterfire Saga.
• 20hrs, 40mins by Amelia Earhart – I’ve had this nonfiction on reserve at the library since like September and it randomly came in, just when I was beginning to think it would never exist haha  So far I’ve only read the introductions, but I’m looking forward to Earhart’s story of flying (as a passenger) across the Atlantic.

Last Time on “Up Next…”

Did I actually read my probably next five reads from last time?

• The Dreamer Trilogy by Nora Roberts – Yes!! I really enjoyed these, actually.
• The Copenhagen Connection by Elizabeth Peters – Oh my gosh, no! Two months in a row it was in this slot and still hasn’t been read!!
• The House of Arden by E. Nesbit – Another one!! Two months in a row and still not read!!!  And it’s so short!!
• Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie – yes!!  A solid Christie read.
• Rosalind by Clarice Peters – another fail!! But I’ll get to it someday!

Up Next

The probable next five(ish) reads…

Sooooo I have tons of reading challenges starting in January and I’m VERY EXCITED and may do a post of my bullet journal pages for some of them!!!  We’ll see how well I do at actually sticking with them, but I’m really focusing on unread books from my own shelves!!

• Finish the Waterfire Saga books – there are three more after the one I’m reading
• Buddy reads for January – The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte – I haven’t tried Wuthering Heights since high school, so I supposed it’s time to give those Bronte girls another chance.  I really hated this one back when I was 15, though, and I’m not confident I’ll like it better now haha
• Another 2022 goal is to get some chunksters off the list – I’m significantly reducing my GR goal for the year so I feel less pressure to read a bunch of books.  I’m starting with Jennifer Armentrout’s From Blood & Ash which has been lingering on my shelf for quite some time.  I’m a little scared of it – it’s been a while since I just dove into a 500+ page book!!
• Dumb Witness is January’s Agatha Christie book – another one I don’t own, so I may pick up a cheap copy from eBay.

That’s the wrap for October – we’ll see how quickly I get around to writing November’s reviews!!!