October Reads #BEDN

The last of the catch up reading posts! And we'll be back on schedule for the year (not that there's a lot of the year left!). Let's jump right in.

October Reads

Darkmouth Worlds Explode by Shane Hegarty

 This is the second book in the Darkmouth series by Irish author Shane Hegarty. I read the first one back in May as part of the Children's Book of the Month and I loved it. Finn is a legend hunter (monster hunter to you and me), just like his father was and his father before him and so on. But Finn's a bit rubbish at training, he'd rather be a vet! This book picks up at the end of the last one, so I won't say much to spoil it, but Finn returns along with Emmie, his best friend, and they must save the day again. It's packed with those cool drawings too, just like the last book, and I loved the humour. It's a great series for 12 year old, boys and girls and I love supporting Irish authors. I'm looking forward to book three, I must find out when that is out!

More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell

I also read the first book, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops, in May. I really enjoyed both books, working in a bookshop has made so many of these ring true (questions like 'I'm looking for a book, it has a blue cover. Oh you know the one!' or 'The book had a girl who falls for this guy but it doesn't go that well but it does in the end. Does that sound familiar?') but I think all book lovers would enjoy these quotes and stories. The other week I was in a bookshop, just when The Girl in the Spider's Web came out, so the other books in the series were also on display. I heard a man turn to his friend and ask him 'Should I read that book? The Girl with the Magic Tattoo?'. Sounds like a delightful book to me!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This was the very first book I ever marked to read on Goodreads and when I saw the reading challenge that was to read the book that had been on your TBR pile the longest (or something to that degree) I decided I should really read this one. Luckily it popped up in my Audible Daily Deals and I got it for a steal. Most people would have heard of this book but it tells the story of Skeeter, a 22 year old from Jackson, Mississippi, who decides to write a book about 'the help', the women and maids who raise children in families just like the one she grew up in. She gets Aibileen (her friend Elizabeth's maid, who's raising her 17th white child) and Minny Jackson to help her. These three women take turns to narrate the story and we learn all sorts about these women, their friends, their relationships and especially the way black people were treated in the South in 1960s. I really enjoyed it, I cried in places too which isn't a surprise as I'm a big sap. If I had one really criticism I would have shortened it a tiny bit, it was just a touch too long. I know this book is not without it's faults as well but it is worth the read.

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

This was my first Anne Tyler book, I'd requested it off NetGalley when I heard some people say good things about it in the run up to the Man Booker Prize. It's a family story that starts with this generation of siblings and tells of their life and family dynamics for over half the book. It then goes back to when the parents were young and then after that to when the grandparents first met. In the first half, the family joke that there's only 2 stories in the family, neither of them particularly interesting, and that they don't really know much family history. As we look back we see there are secrets, secrets that would make much better family stories but were hidden of the years. I did enjoy this book in one sense, I like family sagas, where nothing too exciting happens but this dragged at times and made me so reluctant to pick it up. It sped up a bit once we started going back in time but it took way too long in the book to do that. It wasn't until 60% through that we went to the second story of Red and Abby (the parents).

Mog the Forgetful Cat by Judith Kerr

The Reading Challenge had a category that was to visit an old childhood favourite and so I picked this book. I had never read it before but as a child my aunt gave me Mog in the Dark, which I loved (and still have somewhere). So when my aunt's child turned one, I present I gave was this Mog book and a Mog plush teddy. I enjoy this book, I like Mog as a children's book character and of course, now with the Sainsburys Christmas ad featuring Mog, I'm sure she's going to be very popular this Christmas!


Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

This is the third Cormoran Strike book, by Robert Galbraith (aka. J.K. Rowling) and even though it wasn't announced to be coming out until the summer time, I still put it in my most anticipated books of 2015! The story kicks off when Cormoran's assistant, Robin, receives a package in the mail with a severed leg in it. Due to some of the clues left in the package, Cormoran narrows the list down to 3 people from his past. I really enjoyed this, I downloaded it on Audible so I could listen to it going to and from work. Cormoran and Robin investigate all 3 of these men, leading them to all sorts of stories and trouble, and it really had me guessing until right near the end, which I love in books. There is a lot more emphasis on Robin and Strike's relationship in this and I really hope they don't end up together as it's such a cliche. But I will continue reading this series, it really helped reignite my love of mysteries and thrillers that I've had since being a child. If you liked book one and two, go pick this up now!

October Stats

Number of books read- 6

Ratio fiction to non-fiction- 5:1

Male to Female authors- 1:5

Number of eBooks- 2 (A Spool of Blue Thread and More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops) 

Number of books borrowed from library- 1 (Darkmouth Worlds Explode)
Number of Audio Books- 2 (The Help and Career of Evil)

Reading Challenge Completed

A Book at the Bottom of Your To-Read List- The Help
A Book From Your Childhood- Mog the Forgetful Cat
A Book with a Colour in the Title- A Spool of Blue Thread

And that's it! October was quiet enough but November has made up for, which you'll see in my next reading post. And there's still a few days to add to it too!