What Makes the Perfect October Read?

There’s just something about October, isn’t there?

Even before our odd 2010s obsession with pumpkin spice and leggings, October had always been my favorite month. There’s just something in the air, this crispness, that isn’t there at any other time of year. Also, Halloween remains my favorite holiday, even (maybe) more than Christmas. I love costumes and dressing up, and there’s something so magical about the excitement on a child’s face when they get the perfect costume.

October is just the best.

The last few years I’ve been in the mood for a certain kind of book in October. It’s not necessarily a genre, though I know lots of people read mysteries, thriller, or horror in October. It’s more of a … feel. A mood. I don’t know if I can adequately explain it, but I’m sure going to try!

A little creepy or off

I don’t like scary books at ALL, but in October I love to read something where things are just a little edgy. There’s a tension, a creep-factor, missing from the average book. Enough to give you goosebumps, but not enough to keep you up at night. In October I eat that up.

Do I Have That Book? Tag

I saw this tag on Kristin Kraves Books forever ago. She always does the most interesting tags! She didn’t tag me, but it was just such an interesting post that I saved it! And then … never got to it. So here we are! This should be interesting because I have a lot of books, but not that much variety. Well, let’s see what happens, shall we?

1. Do you have a book with deckled edges?

Oh, thousands. The first one that comes to mind is Eragon, which I was absolutely obsessed with in high school. Personally I’m not that in to deckled edges (GASP!). I like to play with the pages while I read, and that’s a lot harder to do with deckled edges. But I’m not going to complain about them either.

Creatures of the Night Book Tag

I was perusing blogs this morning, and stumbled across this tag on Book Princess Reviews. She linked to the original post from Katytastic on youtube, which (get ready to gasp here) was my first ever booktube video! Might be checking out some more of that later today… I’ll try not to get sucked too far down that rabbit hole, lol.

ANYWAY, this tag seemed right up my ally, so I went ahead and tagged myself.

Basically, you just pick a favorite book featuring each of these monsters. Woo! I love monsters! He we go!

Vampire

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
I actually had a really hard time choosing here, because you all know how obsessed I am with Dracula. But I feel like I’ve gone on and on about that classic enough, and maybe it was time to talk about something different. Also, since it’s not scary, I probably like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter better, if you can believe it.

So for those of you weirdos who don’t know, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is written as Abraham Lincoln’s diary. The author is given the diary by a mysterious person, and is shocked and terrified to discover that it accounts Lincoln’s journey as a vampire hunter. It’s full of actual real-life research and true to history facts about Lincoln’s life, mixed in with the obviously fantastical element that he spent his nights destroying vampires. It’s hilarious, and creepy, and emotional, and everything that makes a novel great, in my opinion. If you like to laugh and you like vampires, I strongly recommend this book!

The Great British Bake Off Book Tag

Okay, confession, I’ve never watched the Great British Bake Off. I don’t actually enjoy cooking reality shows. *GASP!* I don’t know, if I can’t taste the food myself I don’t really care what the judges think. They’re strangely addicting though, aren’t they? I was at the doctor last week, and some c-list baking show was on, and I was so distracted from my book because even though it was stupid I couldn’t stop paying attention.

Anyway, thanks to The Orangutan Librarian for tagging me in this one! Even though I’ve never watched the show, I found the questions interesting.

Rules:

• Link back to the creator Zaheerah’s post.
• Tag people or don’t. Just have fun.

Ready, get set, Bake! (or tag)

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Amateur Baker

A book that is self published

I don’t technically know if Eragon even counts since it eventually got picked up by Knopf, but originally Paolini’s family created their own publishing “firm” just to publish Eragon. I adored Eragon in high school, because dragons. Even know, I don’t mind giving it a re-read from time to time, though I tend to ignore the sequels which are clearly less good.

Review: A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Series: All Souls Trilogy
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction
Maturity Level: 4.5
View on Goodreads
Rating: ⋆⋆⋆

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Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

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The first hundred pages of “A Discovery of Witches” had me saying things like “the best book I’ve read this year,” and “FINALLY! A fantasy novel that isn’t in love with vampires!” I loved the beginning, which was mostly about Diana doing research in a library and wishing she wasn’t a witch. I know several people who love libraries and love scholarly research, so all the stuff about manuscripts and Oxford had me nearly drooling. I was fascinated with the idea of Diana being born with power, but choosing to live without it because she wanted her work (and life) to have meaning. She didn’t want everything in life handed to her just because she was a Bishop and just because she knew magic. Some things, Diana knows, aren’t worth anything unless you’ve put in the work to earn them. When Diana first met Matthew, the mysterious vampire, and she was frightened of him nearly to panic, I breathed a sigh of relief knowing there would be no wishy washy, lovey dovey, GOOD vampires in this book.