In October I read five books, decided not to finish two, and watched somethings as well.

Books:

The first book I read was The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. This was a reread for book club and I have a full review posted. The Hollow Places is a fantasy horror novel where a portal to another world is opened in Kara’s uncle’s house/museum. She ends up exploring this opening and finding out lays beyond. I enjoyed this on reread but definitely feel like this is for fans of horror.

The Goblin King’s Mischief by D. Lieber is a fantasy romance following Lady Melody who wants the Goblin King to fall in love with her. I received a copy from the author and also have a full review posted. This is a charming fantasy romance that I feel would be great for fans of Elise Kova.

Next I read Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. Devil in the White City is a nonfiction book about the creation of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and H.H. Holmes actions around the fair. This does focus more on the fair before going into H.H. Holmes murders but his story is throughout as well. Erik Larson make history very readable and if you have any interest in the topics he writes about I would recommend his books.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers is a science fiction book where people are sent to space to explore but to adapt to the new environments they change how their bodies look and function. We follow the events of a four man crew but told by Ariadne as a log of events. Eventually, they find out that they haven’t received any messages from Earth and must decide if they should go back to Earth or continue on with the mission. I feel like the ending was meant to be hopeful and allows you to decide what you believe happens but I wanted more.

The last book I finished was Salvation in the Sun by Lauren Lee Merewether. This is a historical fiction novel set in Ancient Egypt during the reign of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. I do have a full review posted. The novel focuses on the Pharaoh trying to take back power from the Cult of Amun by changing the main god being worshiped to the Aten and how that change effects everything. I would recommend this to historical fiction fans and those with an interest in Ancient Egypt.

Books DNF(Did Not Finish):

The two books that I didn’t finish were Chimera by Mira Grant and The Starflower by K.A. Kenny.

Chimera by Mira Grant is the last book in the Parasitology trilogy and I generally like Mira Grant’s work. However, with this series I often felt like same things kept being retread and I found that I no longer cared about what happen.

The Starflower by K.A. Kenny is a science fiction novel following our main character Zim whose military call sign is Starflower. While fighting the Aldrakin she learns of a prophecy that she due to her call sign is supposed to be about her which will impact the universe. I received a copy from the author for review. While the writing was good and the premise interesting I found myself being confused at the beginning and not connecting with any of the character. However, If it sound interesting I would give it a try.

Movies and Shows:

This month I watched The Conjuring 2 as we are in spooky season and I wanted to continue watching the series.

The main show I watched was The Edge of Sleep on Prime TV. This show has the YouTuber Markiplier in it and that’s how I found out about it. The premise is that for some reason if you fall asleep you will die but the world was normal before. We follow a small group of characters that are trying to figure out what is going on. This is a very weird show but I enjoyed it and plan to listen to the podcast version. However, as I’m making this post very late it has since been removed from Prime TV and there doesn’t seem to be a place to watch it at this time.