And now, the end is near, and so I face the final day of #Orentober…

Hi and welcome to the final day of #Orentober!

31 days of posting at least once a day, of sharing other #Orentober posts and talking Orenda Books on social media, I am knackered, but in THE BEST way!

Frankly, this year has sucked, and as several countries, including Belgium, are back in various stages of lockdown, I don’t think it’ll get better any time soon, so this year I’m even happier to have outstanding books to take my mind off things, and it couldn’t be more rewarding to show support to a brilliant indie publisher.

I want to give massive thanks for sharing the Orenda love to everyone who joined the #Orentober initiative in whatever way. For picking up an Orenda book, for sharing posts or tweets, for commenting, you are truly awesome and without you #Orentober wouldn’t have been the massive party it has been.

I am also extremely grateful to everyone at Orenda Books, for taking the time to answer questions, share posts, write up guest posts, going the extra mile.

It’s been busy and my brain has turned to mush and I’m about ready to throw my laptop out the window, BUT it’s been so much fun! I’ve loved seeing your posts, checking out your Orenda shelfies and seeing how much you love Orenda Books too, and I hope that we’ve convinced those of you who are new to Orenda to pick up an Orenda novel, and that we’ve helped Orenda lovers and newbies alike to find some new and exciting reads!

Let’s have a look at my #Orentober stats:

I found myself some new Orenda treasures to listen to:
Deadly Game and End Game by Matt Johnson, so I now have (finally!) finished the Robert Finlay trilogy.
I continued the Varg Veum series with Wolves in the Dark by Gunnar Staalesen, and I couldn’t resist getting the I Am Dust audiobook so I could revisit this amazing story by Louise Beech in another format. I also revisited Hydra by Matt Wesolowski, still my favourite audiobook, Orenda and otherwise.

I also had a reread of Good Samaritans by Will Carver and I think I loved it even more the second time around!

I shared some new reviews:
We Were the Salt of the Sea, Roxanne Bouchard
Epiphany Jones, Michael Grothaus
Welcome to the Heady Heights, David F. Ross
The Seven Doors, Agnes Ravatn
The Coral Bride, Roxanne Bouchard
Betrayal, Lilja Sigurðardóttir

I had five First Lines Fridays (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and I introduced #ScandiSaturday, talked about Varm Veum, Henning Juul and the Oslo Detectives. I had Q&A Sundays with Jane Slavin, Rachel Ward, Will Carver and Vanda Symon, I talked to Eve Smith about bringing out a book about a pandemic in the middle of another pandemic, and to Momma Orenda Karen Sullivan about bookish serendipity. I also revisited last year’s Q&A with jacket designer Mark Swan and my Hinton Hollow Death Trip review. I had Music Mondays with Matt Johnson and Doug Johnstone, I waited on Wednesday for Deity and Smoke Screen, I shared a poem by Michael J. Malone, The Wishbone, and I revealed the (drop dead gorgeous) cover of Simone Buchholz’s Hotel Cartagena.

Thanks for joining me on this last day of #Orentober, and thanks again for all your love this month, you’ve made my heart glow, and I’m immensely grateful 💜