11 Books I Read in October
11 Books I Read in October
By: Brittany Shields
This was another big month for me!
I read five new releases, finished two different trilogies, and checked off two more categories for my 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards Reading Challenge.
I read a variety of genres: suspense/thriller, Christian Living, romance, YA, fantasy, and historical fiction.
This may be the first month where I liked every book I read!
October is a good month to read horror stories or scary books. I guess I missed the boat on that one. I do still have my horror book category to fulfill in the next month or two, but this month was a lot more easy-going.
Check out my October reads and see if you want to pick one of these up from your library tomorrow!
Spotlight of the Month
It was hard to pick a spotlight this month because I liked them all.
But I think I will narrow in on Talking About Race by Isaac Adams. This was on my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2022.
I’ve read so many books on this topic but I thought this was a unique take on it.
I love Adams’ pastoral tone and his ability to see and acknowledge the complex feelings coming from a variety of people in this complicated and personal discussion.
No book is perfect and there were places I still had questions, but I think his book will definitely equip people in the church to converse about race in a more edifying and encouraging way that unifies the church instead of divides it.
Would definitely recommend this book!
1. Always and Forever, Lara Jean (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #3) by Jenny Han
Genre: YA/Romance
“Right now, today, he’s still a boy, and I know him better than anybody, but what if it isn’t always this way? Already our paths are diverging, a little more every day, the closer we get to August.”
Final book in this trilogy!
Sad to see it end. It was a mostly good, light-hearted read about young love. This final book has all the nostalgia of picking a college and preparing to head off to a new world.
Can Lara Jean and Peter’s love survive it?
Definitely a fun series to read since you can then watch the movies on Netflix.
Read my full review for more plot info, my feelings about the characters, and a book and movie comparison!
2. Talking about Race: Gospel Hope for Hard Conversations by Isaac Adams
Genre: Cultural/Non-fiction/Christian Living
“Friends, just because we’re honest, doesn’t mean we’re edifying; just because we’re hurt, doesn’t mean we’re right.”
I wanted to read this book because I find myself getting frustrated when I think about conversations about race.
What I liked most about Talking About Race is that Isaac Adams gets it. He has a good grasp on the nuances and perspectives people bring to the topic and recognizes the complexities of a person. He communicates encouragement and gracious admonishment to all sides. No group is immune from sin. We all need more of Jesus in how we treat people.
Isaac Adams writes this book with the flavor of pastoral counsel. He is wise and caring and it shows.
It’s insightful, it’s fair, it’s perceptive, and it’s gracious.
It’s not going to immediately make every conversation easy and productive and edifying. After all, we’re still selfish sinners. But it gives us a really good starting point with both practical questions and statements and a proper mindset as we go into these conversations.
Read my full review for more info on the purpose/audience for the book, three important questions, a discussion on color-blindness, and some other random comments and quotes.
3. The Boy from the Woods (Wilde #1) by Harlan Coben
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
I accidentally read book two (The Match) BEFORE this one. Don’t be like me. Read them in order!
I’ve always enjoyed Harlan Coben’s books. He writes a good thriller and they’re usually pretty clean.
I think what makes this series unique are the characters. (More on that in my review)
The main character is Wilde. He was found as a young boy surviving in the woods with no knowledge of his parents or how long he had been there. Now he is an adult, living a disconnected and noncommittal life.
But one of his few connections is the son of his deceased best friend. Matthew is concerned about a girl at school who has disappeared. Wilde has agreed to help find her.
Definitely a series worth reading!
4. Jesus Through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord by Rebecca McLaughlin
Genre: Theology/Christian Living
“Through each of these women’s eyes, we see Jesus as the one who brings healing to the sick, life to the dead, welcome to the outcasts, and honor to the scorned.”
Rebecca McLaughlin is the author of several books including The Secular Creed and Confronting Christianity. Most of her books tackle controversial issues or questions that the general public bring against Christianity.
This book is no different.
“Some see Christianity as, at heart, misogynistic: silencing, sidelining, and trampling on women.”
This is a popular belief. But it is unfounded.
McLaughlin has written this book to show us that the way Jesus treated women was revolutionary and counter-cultural. A true reading of Scripture reflects Jesus’ care, love, and respect of women.
As usual, she brings the truth, and I would highly recommend this book!
Read my full review to read more about the themes and content of the book, some things I’d never realized, a discussion on sexual freedom, and some quotes.
5. The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
Genre: Historical Fiction
“Everyone costumed up, ready to step on to the stage. I wonder where we will be when the curtain falls.”
“For a fortunate few, war allows us to rise in ways that would otherwise be impossible.”
This book had been on my list for awhile but to be honest, I wasn’t super excited to read it. The title and the book cover weren’t as appealing as some of the other books I had.
But I’m glad I did!
This is a historical fiction family saga that takes place on the shores of England. There are themes of art and acting, magical exploration and discovery, love, family dynamics, and gender and class differences.
It is the story of three siblings—Cristabel, Flossie, and Digby— and how they grow from play-acting on the beach to doing undercover work during WWII.
It’s not an intense read and it’s fairly long, but it still held my attention. I was surprised how much I wanted to keep coming back to it.
Would make a good book club book— read my full review for some book club discussion questions and to find out what ‘batman’ means!
6. A Deadly Education (The Scholomance #1) by Naomi Novik
Genre: Fantasy/YA
“You don’t ever get anything in here without paying for it. Ever.”
I finally started this series and I’m really enjoying it!
This is a story of a wizarding school and the creatures who want to eat wizards.
It’s like a more cutthroat version of Harry Potter and instead of a naive, eager, friendly male protagonist, we have a female protagonist (Galadriel) who is one part Captain Marvel two parts April from Parks and Rec.
I will say that it took a hot minute at the beginning to grasp what was happening. There is no context or background to the world we’re being dropped into. There’s jargon you have to figure out. And the way all of the magic works is a bit confusing.
But if you push through the first few chapters, you will be rewarded.
Read my full review for a fuller preview on the summary of the book and a glossary of terms.
7. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Genre: Romance/Humor
“I love being the one who makes him weird.”
This one lived up to the hype!
It’s a funny, feel-good rom-com about two best friends who clearly love each other, but it takes them decades of vacationing together to finally figure it out.
This was my first Emily Henry book.
I’m not big into romance novels, but this book focused more on their friendship and the trips they took, the banter they shared. There was clear attraction but thankfully the book wasn’t a compilation of sex scenes and fantasies.
I’m a big fan of best friends falling in love. Even more so when they’re both weird and don’t care what normal people do.
If all of Emily Henry’s books are like this I’ll have to keep reading them!
Read my full review to see what I liked best about these two characters and get a content advisory.
8. The Prisoner by B.A. Paris
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
“I should be more afraid. But I’m not scared of dying, not anymore. Not after everything.”
So far I’ve read B.A. Paris’ The Breakdown and The Dilemma. I enjoyed both of those but I think I liked this one better!
This was a totally different vibe than those two books. The Breakdown is a slow burn psychological thriller and The Dilemma is more of a thought-provoking familial drama.
The Prisoner is all action! I read this book in a span of 24 hours I think. It’s short and suspenseful and Paris is not afraid to kill off characters.
The basic plot is that Amelie, young and recently orphaned when her father dies from cancer, is trying to make her way on her own and is desperate enough for money that she is naively (and stupidly) willing to marry her insanely rich boss for just a month, thinking it’s above board and mutually beneficial.
And then she finds herself the victim of a kidnapping.
If you want a fast-paced thriller and like a good kidnapping, you’ll like this book.
Read my full review for my two criticisms.
9. Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Genre: YA/Mystery/Fiction/#OwnVoices
“I never thought about secrets being like a bull’s eye. The smaller the circle, the bigger the secret.”
This one ‘Best YA Fiction’ in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards and was nominated for ‘Best Debut Novel.’
To be honest, when I first started this book I was a little overwhelmed. I was confused and asking ‘Where am I?’
The bird’s eye view of the book is: a science-minded, hockey-playing Ojibwe girl helps the FBI investigate a meth ring in her tribe and nearby town in the Upper Peninsula (Sault Ste Marie) while also struggling with grief from the loss of several people close to her.
This is a long and complex story— meaning it has a lot of threads woven together— that is insightful and engaging.
It covers lots of important topics like addiction, grief, sexual assault, cultural differences, suicide, and family dynamics. And because it’s a YA novel, we also get a bit of romance.
It would make a good book club read, but I didn’t feel qualified to come up with any questions for this one. Plus I think it’s being turned into a limited series on Netflix.
Read my full review for more details on the different threads Boulley weaves and some comments/observations.
10. A Burning Obsession (Abby Mullen Thriller #3) by Mike Omer
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
“She was going insane. The only way she could know peace was with Moses behind bars. Abby would chase Moses Wilcox to the ends of the earth to protect her children.”
I finished another trilogy and would definitely recommend this series!
This is a good fast-paced series with a likable female protagonist— a talented crisis negotiator who is still haunted by the events leading up to her escape from a cult as a young girl.
Her past is not fully behind her and in this final book she has a showdown with the man who has been haunting her dreams and threatening her family.
Read my full review to see why this book is a bit different than the first two and read some of my other comments.
11. A Spacious Life by Ashley Hales
Genre: Christian Living
“We are lonely, exhausted, and unsure what success or joy even looks like anymore.”
Hales poses:
“What might happen if we tried embracing our limits as gifts for our flourishing rather than barriers to our success?”
She goes on to say:
“[After the fall] We began to believe the good life is a life without limits. More fruit, more knowledge, more suspicion, more work, and more on our to-do lists to try to earn for ourselves the things we had already been given: a name, a relationship, a life, a purpose.”
If you’re feeling like your life is full but empty, this book will resonate with you.
Ponder what a spacious life looks like.
Read my full review for more of how Hales suggest we reorient our life in a way that creates space for the things that actually bring freedom and fullness.
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