Today’s post covers the second half of the books I read in October 2023. I shared what I read in the first half of the month here. I shared my five star reads here. (I do have one more 5 star reads to share today!) The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: Being Ace
Author: Madeline Dyer (ed.)
Genre: YA Short Stories
Publisher: Page Street Kids, 10/10/23
Source: Storygram Book Tours
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (Rounded up to 4)
This book of short stories contains a range of genres, though many of them were sci fi and fantasy and I could not get into those! I enjoyed the contemporary stories, as that is a genre I like in general.
“From a wheelchair user racing to save her kidnapped girlfriend and a little mermaid who loves her sisters more than suitors, to a slayer whose virgin blood keeps attracting monsters, the stories of this anthology are anything but conventional. Whether adventuring through space, outsmarting a vengeful water spirit, or surviving haunted cemeteries, no two aces are the same in these 14 unique works that highlight asexual romance, aromantic love, and identities across the asexual spectrum.”
I found it interesting that some of the stories weren’t about being ace, but highlighted platonic love in general. All of the authors identify as ace, which is essential for representation.
Title: You’re Gonna Die Alone
Author: Devrie Brynn Donalson
Genre: Memoir in Essays
Publisher: Blackstone Press, 10/3/23
Source: Bibliolifestyle Tours
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3 Stars
This book is full of stories, essays, and poems by TikTok celeb Devrie Donalson, who I had not previously heard of. The book is supposed to be funny, but it wasn’t really.
“A refreshingly honest, wonderfully humorous, and entirely inspiring exploration of change, fear, and what it really means to be alone, from everyone’s favorite TikTok oracle, Devrie Donalson.
Dear Reader Just Doing Your Best,
Give me a minute, and I’ll tell you a story.
I’ll tell you about my junior high soulmate, my haunted house, and running away to Scotland to lose my virginity. I’ll tell you about my ardent belief in the power of cheese and the goodness of pigeons, the rules for attending my funeral, and my struggle to reconcile feminism with Brazilian bikini waxes. I’ll tell you about my greatest failures and the many ways I have suffered because of my fear. I’ll tell you about my greatest triumphs and exactly how I figured out how to be a person I’m proud of. If you’ve ever felt the visceral fear of being abandoned or the anxious anticipation of change, you might find something here like hope or validation. If you’ve ever wondered if you had it in you to start over, or if you’ve found yourself questioning what you’ve always believed, you might find a road map to navigating both. I can’t say I know a lot, but my life has been one of many lessons. The wisdom I have managed to collect while the universe desperately chased me down, clobbering me with things to learn while I scurried around like an oblivious rat in search of abandoned street pizza, I happily share with you now. What I hope you find in these pages is a little laughter, a little healing, and permission to be okay. I hope you find the courage to embrace change and the sudden joy of believing you have always, always been enough. Above all and against all odds, from one pizza rat to another, I hope you feel seen.”
I enjoyed the stories from the writer’s life and her poems a lot. And I have to agree with her love for cheese! But, her love for pigeons I’m not so sure about. I also found the self help sections to be a little too full of prose. This book addresses feminism, the patriarchy, fatphobia, and being single.
Title: Stars In Your Eyes
Author: Kacen Callender
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Hachette Audio, 10/10/23
Source: Libro.fm
Why I Read It: Sounded good
My Rating: 4 Stars
I loved Kacen Callender’s book Felix Ever After. This book is adult rather than YA, and it contains a lot of difficult content, including childhood trauma, assault, suicidal ideation, racism, colorism, and homophobia. This is about Logan, who is considered a bad boy, and Mattie, a golden boy. These two Black and gay actors are cast together in a movie and are asked to enter a fake dating situation.
“Logan Gray is Hollywood’s bad boy—a talented but troubled actor who the public loves to hate. Mattie Cole is an up‑and‑coming golden boy, adored by all but plagued by insecurities. When Logan and Mattie are cast as leads in a new romantic film, Logan claims that Matt has ‘zero talent,’ sending the film’s publicity into a nosedive. To create positive buzz, the two are persuaded into a fake‑dating scheme—but as the two actors get to know their new characters, real feelings start to develop. As public scrutiny intensifies and old wounds resurface, the two must fight for their relationship and their love.”
I liked this book but I did find it difficult with the above mentioned content that made the story more serious than fun. I thought the meta story was fun – the two were acting in a film about characters that were falling for each other as they were actually falling for each other. Also, the book contains articles, fan fiction, etc. to supplement the main story and the audio had a full cast narration.
Title: People To Follow
Author: Olivia Worley
Genre: YA Thriller
Publisher: Wednesday Books, 10/31/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I’m really into the locked island concept and this YA version was a lot of fun. 10 influencers head to an island to film a reality show. People start dying and secrets get exposed.
“Welcome to ‘In Real Life,’ the hot new reality show that forces social media’s reigning kings and queens to unplug for three weeks and “go live” without any filters. IRL is supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime, watched closely by legions of loyal followers. But for these rising stars–including Elody, an Instagram model with an impulsive streak; Kira, a child star turned fitness influencer; Logan, a disgraced TikTok celeb with a secret; and Max, a YouTuber famous for exposés on his fellow creators–it’s about to turn into a nightmare. When the production crew fails to show up and one of their own meets a violent end, these social media moguls find themselves stranded with a dead body and no way to reach the outside world. When they start receiving messages from a mysterious Sponsor threatening to expose their darkest secrets, they realize that they’ve been lured into a deadly game…and one of them might be pulling the strings. With the body count rising and cameras tracking their every move, the creators must figure out who is trying to get them canceled–like, literally–before their #1 follower strikes again.”
This has been done before but I thought this was well developed and I wanted to keep reading to find out why the group was really there. It was a fun read!
Title: Farther Than the Moon
Author: Lindsay Lackey
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 9/19/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This sweet middle grade book is about brothers who dream of going to space. Houston, the older brother, gets selected to go to a Junior Astronaut Recruitment Program. But his younger brother Robbie has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and Houston wonders if Robbie will actually be able to fulfill their joint dream.
“All thirteen-year-old Houston Stewart has ever wanted is to become an astronaut. His dreams feel like they’re finally coming true when he’s accepted to the highly-competitive Junior Astronaut Recruitment Program – if only he could bring his little brother, Robbie, with him. Ever since their dad left, Houston and Robbie have been inseparable. It’s hard to tell where Houston’s love of space ends and where Robbie’s begins. But Robbie’s cerebral palsy and epilepsy mean he needs medical attention at home, so Houston is forced to take this giant leap for the two of them all on his own. At camp, Houston is quickly drawn into the orbit of new friends, cosmic adventures, and a long-lost grandfather. But as Houston struggles to meet the program’s rigorous demands, he’s forced to reckon with the truth that Robbie may never visit space like the brothers have always hoped. But Houston is determined to honor Robbie’s dream, even if it seems like an impossible mission. So, like a good astronaut, he dares to make a new plan ― one that shoots for the stars.”
I really enjoyed the relationship between the brothers and following Houston and his new friends as they learned about going to space. There is great disability and neurodivergent rep and I think young readers would enjoy this book a lot.
Title: Whalefall
Author: Daniel Kraus
Genre: Literary Thriller
Publisher: MTV Books, 8/8/23
Source: Tandem Literary
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3 Stars
Whalefall is about Jay, whose father died via suicide. Jay blames himself and wants to make amends with his mother and sisters by recovering his father’s remains. Unfortunately, he gets swallowed by a whale.
“Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year. The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out—one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.”
While trapped, Jay revisits his relationship with his father, who seemed to be abusive, and comes to forgive him. This bothered me, because Jay is only 17 and shouldn’t have to take responsibility for his father’s actions. I think this was meant to be somewhat of a Jonah retelling – the family Jay was staying with was even named Tarshish! (Jonah in the Bible is from Tarshish.) This book was a little too character driven for me but will appeal to those who enjoy literary thrillers.
Title: The Only Girl In Town
Author: Ally Condie
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Dutton Books For Young Readers, 9/19/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I read this book in a day and was quite invested in finding out what was actually happening as July finds that she is the only person in town.
“For July Fielding, nothing has been the same since that summer before senior year. Once, she had Alex, her loyal best friend, the one who always had her back. She had Sydney, who pushed her during every cross-country run, and who sometimes seemed to know July better than she knew herself. And she had Sam. Sam, who told her she was everything and left her breathless with his touch. Now, July is alone. Every single person in her small town of Lithia has disappeared. No family. No Alex or Sydney. No Sam. July’s only chance at unraveling the mystery of their disappearance is a series of objects, each a reminder of the people she loved most. And a mysterious message: GET TH3M BACK.”
Through flashbacks of the past year, we see what happened to July with her friends, cross country team, and boyfriend. This is a story about grief and loneliness and although I may not have understood the ending completely, this is a book that is meant to leave you thinking.
Title: And Don’t Look Back
Author: Rebecca Barrow
Genre: YA Thriller
Publisher: Margaret K McElderry Books, 10/3/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (Rounded up to 4)
And Don’t Look Back is about Harlow and her mom, who are always on the run. When Cora is killed in an accident, Harlow is left on her own. She returns to her mom’s home town to try to find out about her past.
“Harlow Ford has spent her entire life running, caught in her mother’s wake as they flit from town to town, hiding from a presence that Harlow isn’t even sure is real. In each new place, Harlow takes on a new name and personality, and each time they run, she leaves another piece of herself behind. When Harlow and her mom set off on yet another 3 a.m. escape, they are involved in a car accident that leaves Harlow’s mother fatally wounded. Before she dies, she tells Harlow two things: where to find the key to a safety deposit box and to never stop running. In the box, Harlow finds thirty grand in cash, life insurance documents, and several fake IDs for both herself and her mom—an on-the-run essentials kit. But Harlow also finds a photograph of her mom as a teenager with two other girls, the deed to a house in a town she’s never heard of, and a handful of newspaper clippings discussing the disappearance of a woman named Eve Kennedy, Harlow’s grandmother…relics of a part of Harlow’s life she never knew existed. With these tantalizing clues about her mother’s secrets and the power to choose her own future for the first time, Harlow realizes she has two choices: keep fleeing her mom’s ghosts or face down the nebulous threat that’s been hanging over her for her entire life.”
I found some of the twists to be somewhat easy to predict. I also found this to be slow for a thriller!
Title: Thicker Than Water
Author: Kerry Washington
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Little Brown Spark, 9/26/23
Source: Library Audio
Why I Read It: Used to be a fan
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (Rounded up to 4)
For awhile I was a huge fan of the show Scandal and was quite interested in the lives of the cast members. One thing Kerry Washington was known for was for wanting privacy, to the point of being secretive about her life off set. Suddenly, she decided she wanted to go public with the story of her parents and her upbringing, even though she states in the book that her father begged her not to do so.
“While on a drive in Los Angeles, on a seemingly average afternoon, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. In an instant, her very identity was torn apart, with everything she thought she knew about herself thrown into question. In Thicker than Water, Washington gives readers an intimate view into both her public and private worlds—as a mother, daughter, wife, artist, advocate, and trailblazer. Chronicling her upbringing and life’s journey thus far, she reveals how she faced a series of challenges and setbacks, effectively hid childhood traumas, met extraordinary mentors, managed to grow her career, and crossed the threshold into stardom and political advocacy, ultimately discovering her truest self and, with it, a deeper sense of belonging.”
For some reason, Kerry’s publicity team spoiled the big family secret before the book’s publication. Kerry always thought her parents were too secretive with her and as an only child, she felt isolated often. In this book, she tells of the childhood sexual abuse that she suffered at the hands of another child – who she protected by not reporting him. She also talks about her love of swimming, her disordered eating, the films she has been in, and adds a few mentions of her husband and children. Mainly, the book is about her parents and her relationship with them growing up and now. As far as the audio goes, Kerry’s narration was pretty annoying – she tends to enunciate weirdly, in my opinion!
Title: Plan A
Author: Deb Caletti
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Labyrinth Road, 10/3/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
This book is about Ivy, who finds out that she is pregnant after an assault. She hasn’t actually had sex, but she was assaulted and what happened is eventually explained. She lives in a small town in Texas, where abortion is illegal. Thankfully, her mother is supportive and sends her to her grandmother in Oregon with her boyfriend. She is able to access her necessary health care there.
“Ivy can’t entirely believe it when the plus sign appears on the test. She didn’t even know it was possible from . . . what happened. But it is, and now she is, and instead of spending the summer working at the local drugstore and swooning over her boyfriend, Lorenzo, suddenly she’s planning a cross-country road trip to her grandmother’s house on the West Coast, where she can legally obtain an abortion. Escaping her small Texas town and the judgment of her friends and neighbors, Ivy hits the road with Lorenzo, who, determined to make the best of their ‘abortion road trip love story,’ has transformed the journey into a whirlwind tour of the world: all the way from Paris, Texas, to Rome, Oregon . . . and every rest-stop diner and corny roadside attraction along the way. And while Ivy can’t run from the incessant pressure of others’ opinions about her body or from her own expectations and insecurities, she discovers a new world of healing and hope. As the women she encounters share their stories, she chips away at the stigma, silence, and shame surrounding reproductive rights while those collective experiences guide her to her own rightful destination.”
As Ivy and Lorenzo travel, the stop in fun named towns and wherever sounds like a great roadside attraction. Ivy connects with various women who tell her their own stories about choices they made. She comes to realize why history matters and how choice is so important. I was so excited when I read about Ivy and Lorenzo visiting a lighthouse in Oregon that we visited when we were there! I loved Ivy’s brother, who was funny and sweet, and I loved all the support Ivy received from her mother and extended family.
Title: The Blonde Identity
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Avon, 8/8/23
Source: Publisher and Book Club Girl
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This book was a lot of fun. A woman wakes up in Paris with amnesia and is mistaken for her twin sister. She is rescued by a hot spy, as she finds that people are trying to kill her. They end up pretending to be on their honeymoon and of course falling for each other.
“It’s the middle of the night in the middle of Paris and a woman just woke up with no memory.
She only knows three things for certain:
1. She has a splitting headache.
2. The hottest guy she has (probably) ever seen is standing over her, telling her to run.
And oh yeah…
3. People keep trying to kill her.
She doesn’t know who. Or why. But when she sees footage of herself fighting off a dozen men there’s only one explanation: obviously. . . she’s a spy! Except, according to Mr. Hot Guy, she’s not. She’s a spy’s identical twin sister. Too bad the only person who knows she’s not the woman they’re looking for is this very grouchy, very sexy, very secret agent who (reluctantly) agrees to help her disappear. Which is easier said than done when a criminal organization wants you dead and every intelligence service in the world wants you caught. Luckily, no one is looking for a pair of lovesick newlyweds on their honeymoon. And soon they’re lying their way across Europe—dodging bullets and faking kisses as they race to unravel a deadly conspiracy and clear her sister’s name. But with every secret they uncover, the truth shifts, until she no longer knows who to trust: the twin she can’t remember or the mysterious man she can’t let herself forget…”
I enjoyed this read and found it amusing. The European setting was fun and the characters were too. There is of course some suspension of disbelief needed, but this book definitely kept me entertained.
There you have it, the rest of my October reading! This post included 11 of the books I read in October. Of these books, 9 were print and 2 were audio books. Genres included short stories, memoir, thriller, rom com, and contemporary. 5 were YA, 1 was middle grade, and 5 were adult reads.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?