I forgot to publish my October list so am combining the two months!

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods: This was a sweet concept of a mysterious bookshop that has only been seen a few times. The two different time jumps were interesting but it ultimately didn’t land well. I would have been ok with a little more “magical” in the story.

The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons: This took me a little bit more time to get into I think because it’s so similar to “A Man Called Ove” but ultimately I think I liked it better. The little girl character was so endearing and I really loved how it was wrapped up in the end.

This Spells Love by Kate Robb: This was a great use of time travel in a rom com I think. The main character wishes she had never met her recent ex boyfriend and wakes up year before with that reality but it also means her best (guy) friend doesn’t know who she is either. I really liked the elements that went deeper and overall enjoyed it. The only downside is I really didn’t like the main character…

Ghosted by Rosie Walsh: I liked this a lot. It was a thriller rom com that I read in just a few days. This was a story about two people who spend a week together and then the man stops responding completely. The main character thinks something happened because they had a great connection. There were some slow parts but I didn’t see the ending coming and I liked how it was pulled together. Makes you think a lot.

Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Muenter: This was a story about a teenager that grew up as an influencer and dives into some of the possible repercussions of that kind of upbringing. I mostly enjoyed it up until the end. The ending needed to be a different book. I didn’t enjoy the really apparent bias of the author and the middle was super slow. This does probably need to be a Netflix series though.

Long Island by Colm Toibin: Gah. I was so disappointed in this. I LOVED the premise as a follow up from the first book and was super hooked to find out what was going to happen. And then nothing does?! It was an actual cliff hanger with no resolution that I don’t understand at all.

November

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margo: I had higher hopes for this one. I thought the story had potential (young girl and old woman have combined years of 100 and tell their stories through art). It was very slow though and not enough happened. The back story for the younger girl wasn’t compelling or believable enough.

What Does it Feel Like? Sophie Kinsella: This was done really well (the fictionalized real life story of the authors experience with terminal cancer). But, it was super depressing. I tried listening to it but had to keep stopping. I eventually switched to the Kindle version so I could skim it a bit. She told the story well but you have to be in the right head space.

The Wedding People: This has had a lot of buzz and I was a little nervous at the beginning because I wasn’t sucked in right away. I gained momentum though and I finished it pretty quick. I’m not sure how much I like this topic of “depressed person is going to commit suicide but meets people along the way” that has been popular recently. There was some unnecessary rated R bedroom content as well just FYI.

The God of the Woods: I should not have read this one and the following one back to back. Too much young people violence in one go. Super compelling story of a family that has experienced loss. There as a ton of characters that I struggled to keep track of until the very end.

All the Colors of the Dark – Chris Whitaker: whoa this was a lot. I didn’t like it as much as his last book but it was still well done. The characters are so interesting. This was way too long though. The story (young people dealing with trauma told over several decades) would have been better with some serious editing.

Expiration Dates – Rebecca Serle: I just don’t know how I liked this one. The premise that this lady gets names and duration of relationship throughout her life was interesting but she didn’t dig into it enough. i had way too many logistical questions that were completely ignored. There was an unexpected depth towards the end that just didn’t follow through enough. There was a lot of potential for this one to be better but it fell short.