October 2021 Wrap-up

October TBR Pile (19/30):

1. Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov ✓
2. The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare ✓
3. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (reread for book club) ✓
4. Bird Box by Josh Malerman ✓
5. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo ✓
6. Catherine House by Elizabeth Thomas
7. Sunshine by Robin McKinley (reread)
8. The Guide by Peter Heller ✓
9. The Woods are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins ✓
10. Bloodlust and Bonnets by Emily McGovern ✓
11. The End and Everything After by Matt Fraction
12. The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
13. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
14. Lady Killer by Joelle Jones
15. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter ✓
16. Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent
17. The Tea Dragon Tapestry by Katie O’Neill
18. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury ✓
19. Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
20. The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr
21. Dr. Mütter’s Marvels by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
22. Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn ✓
23. Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore ✓
24. The House that Fell from the Sky by Patrick Delaney ✓
25. House of Shadows by Darcy Coates ✓
26. House of Secrets by Darcy Coates ✓
27. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling ✓
28. In Love with a Haunted House by Kate Goldman ✓
29. Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse ✓
30. A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 5812 pages Pages Remaining: 445,962 pages

Current Read - Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune; Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Books Bought/Received (11) - At the beginning of the month, I had my bookish retreat. While I did try to limit myself to just a small stack of books bought at the stores that weekend, I still came away with a few to add to my shelves. And I acquired one during our book exchange. I also picked up two books from Book of the Month. For the first time, I bought books from the Indie Press List from my beloved Currently reading podcast. Their October selections were all spooky and just what I had been wanting! And a friend gifted me a book (TJ Klune) as a thank you for setting up the retreat.

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig (exchange)
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (retreat)
• Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (retreat)
• Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow (retreat)
• The City & The City by China Miéville (retreat)
• Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune (gift)
• Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore (BOTM)
• The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling (BOTM)
• A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow (Indie Press List)
• Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth (Indie Press List)
• The Night Gardeners by (Indie Press List)

UnRead Shelf Progress

• Starting Number: 283
• Books Read: 3
• Books Acquired: 11
• Books Unshelved: 0
• Finishing Number: 291

November TBR Pile: I often read nonfiction, but I’m going to try to increase my numbers for this Nonfiction November.

1. BOTM: TBD
2. Bookworms BC: Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon
3. Friend BC: Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
4. Nonfiction: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
5. Nonfiction: Girl Gurl Grrrl by Kenya Hunt
6. Nonfiction: Dr. Mutter’s Marvels by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
7. Nonfiction: The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
8. Nonfiction Bad Fat Black Girl by Sesali Bowen
9. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
10. Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
11. Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent
12. Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
13. Malorie by Josh Malerman

Movies watched - It was spooky movie month. I usually make a giant list from which we pick a movie most nights. We had quite a mix of movies watched this October.

• Lady of the Manor - A bit uneven
• Free Guy - Of course I loved this one
• Escape from Planet of the Apes - Very decent movie
• The Relic - This one actually holds up well
• The Shadow - Went with a Penelope Ann Miller run and rewatched this one. Very cheesy at parts, but a good adventure movie.
• The Dead Don’t Die - Loved it until the voice over at the end scene. Much too heavy-handed.
• Brazil - It’s been years. Still as weird as I remember. Love the ducts! We also watched the tv edit and the making of documentary.
• Touch of Evil - Somehow I had never seen this. Another amazing Orson Welles picture!
• Detective Pikachu - Arthur’s birthday movie choice. I really enjoyed this one.
• Brotherhood of the Wolf - J’s been trying to get me to watch this one for years. Pretty good supernatural-ish action movie.
• Dune - Oh goodness that was a beautiful movie. So glad that the sequel has been greenlit.
• North by Northwest - Haven’t seen this in years. Love it!
• Sleepaway Camp - Watched the sequel last year,

TV Shows watched 

• Last Week Tonight
• Lower Decks S2
• Archer S12
• Ted Lasso S2
• Foundation S1

Comments - Great reading month for October. I covered a ton of spooky books and really leaned into my moods. We didn’t watch 30 spooky movies, but had a decent showing of 14 movies watched (two versions of Brazil). And we finished a few seasons of television (Lower Decks, Archer, Ted Lasso).

Next up on the TBR pile: