October TBR
Hello lovely people of the Internet!
Apologies for putting this list out a whole ten days late - I know you were up at night wondering when you'd find out what my reading list for this month looks like (and if you weren't, then that's just rude).
Anyway, even though I'm a week-plus, late with my October reading plans, I've still got a really hefty reading goal: 16 books total, mostly new releases, including Jen DeLuca's second novel, Well-Played, the second book of her Renaissance Faire romance series. I've got five total romances on this TBR, which might be a bit bold of me considering that I'm still reeling from a pretty brutal break-up and still can't listen to any music that touches on love or relationships (I haven't listened to any of my favorite Taylor Swift songs for weeks, but I can't even listen to the opening strains of any of the songs I love from Lover or folklore without bursting into tears, so we're just gonna let that sit for a bit [I'm not even joking. I wasn't quick enough on the uptake to switch away from 'illicit affairs' on the Eurostar back from France and the amount of loud, copious weeping was EMBARRASSING to both myself and the people in my train carriage]). But ho hum pig's bum; if cutesy, kitschy, unrealistically simple love stories can't help heal a broken heart, then I don't think anything else really can. And I did some big, hefty reads while I was at my grandma's, therefore I am now behind schedule on my Goodreads reading goal, and romances are the definition of a quick, easy read I just breeze through when I need to get back on my reading game - so, there's five of them on this TBR and if I end up in a teary mess at the end of it because I miss him and he still hasn't texted and oh God why, that's what friends and wine are for.
I've also got a couple of new new thriller/mystery releases on here: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, which is about a group of friendly retirees who stay mentally fit by deciding to create a murder-solving club. It's been reviewed as Agatha Christie meets Golden Girls, and I've never heard anything so appealing since "Shall I just pop to the pâtisserie and get you some cake, darling?"; and Anxious People, by Frederik Backman, which is about a bank heist gone wrong because the robber finds the hostages such insufferable people (his A Man Called Ove is one of my favorite books of all time and I would like you to read it immediately, please), and I'm really excited to watch Backman take his writing style in a completely different genre and explore some new stories and narratives.
I'm also continuing my read through of the Booker longlist, with How Much of These Hills is Gold, and I've got some historical fiction on there as well, both new releases (Silver Sparrow) and an oldie but goodie about PIRATES and STEAMY, FORBIDDEN ROMANCE in Regency England (Daphne du Maurier, of Rebecca fame); and one about witches at the court of Louis XIV because, I've said it before and I'll say it again, nobody does pulpy historical fiction quite like the modern French.
Lastly, I'll also be reading along with the FictionMatters book club this month - I've had my eye on Alice Hoffman's trilogy of Owens siblings witch books for a while, and so this is the perfect excuse to finally bite the bullet and dive in. There's a fair few 'witchy' books on here, actually - I'm not big of a 'seasonal' reader, but October is still my month for magic reads. Watch this space for another musings post on seasonal/mood reading.
On an unrelated note, I think I'm going to have to rein in my book-buying in the next few months as I'm planning a trip home for Easter and those airline tickets are going to be spenny so might need to start saving up for that... (and then I'll be able to finally, FINALLY, read the BOTMs that are piling up at my friend's house and that I have been missing fiercely in covid pandemic lockdown times).
Anyway, here is my TBR list for the next three weeks - and if I don't make any plans with anybody for the month, it's because I've got a lot of books to power through and/or I've drowned myself in a wine goblet. Maybe send round a welfare check.
Frenchman's Creek, by Daphne du Maurier
Silver Sparrow, by Tayeri Jones
Rainbow Milk, by Paul Mendez
How Much of These Hills is Gold, by C Pam Zhang
Une sorcière à la cour, by Philippe Madrigal
Changer l'eau des fleurs, by Valérie Perrin
La Belle de Venise, by Emma Mars
Anxious People, by Frederik Backman
The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman
Well-Played, by Jen DeLuca
The Roommate, by Rosie Danan
You Had Me at Hola, by Alexis Daria
Beach Read, by Emily Henry
Not the Girl You Marry, by Andie Christopher
The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman
The Once and Future Witches, by Alix E. Harrow
Let me know your thoughts on any of these, if you've read them, or if any of them strike your fancy.
Happy reading,
Amélie xx
