My Bookish Month of October 2019

Hello and welcome to another monthly overview!  

I said it in my #Orentober closing thoughts post and I’ll say it again: what a crazy CRAZY month October was! Crazy tiring, AND crazy fun too! I’ve been posting every single day since 24 September and you guys, I have to tell you: I’m beat! You’ll be seeing nothing but cobwebs, dust bunnies and tumbling weeds here in the coming weeks! I exaggerate, of course, but I am planning to dial it down a notch (or ten) and spend a little more time reading and just plain old living, and a little less time glued to my laptop/phone. My brain hurts, my reviewing inspiration has shrivelled up and died and it’s high time I take a step back. Also, you must be sick and tired of me by now, so I’m giving you a break too!

Not a bad month in terms of reading. Frankly, that’s probably what kept me sane! I got to (re)read some fabulous Orenda books, and I managed to squeeze in some #Spooktober reads as well! Most won’t be reviewed here, so if you want to know more, give me a wave (I usually tell you to holler, but please don’t, think of my poor head!).

Anyhoo, here’s what I did last month, and some of what I’ll be posting this month:

What I read (full novels):

Foxfire, Wolfskin and Other Stories of Shape-Shifting Women, Sharon Blackie (review to follow)
Paranormal Intruder, Caroline Mitchell
The Home, Sarah Stovell (review to follow)
The Kingdom, Jess Rothenberg
Call Me Star Girl, Louise Beech
A Head Full of Ghosts, Paul Tremblay
The Unadjusteds, Marisa Noelle (review to follow)
The Lion Tamer Who Lost, Louise Beech
Slash, Hunter Shea (review to follow on the tour)
Haverscroft, S.A. Harris
A Dark Matter, Doug Johnstone
Lock Me In, Kate Simants (review to follow)
Attend, West Camel
Season of the Witch (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1), Sarah Rees Brennan
Devil’s Deal (Infernal Contracts #1), Tessa Hastjarjanto (review to follow)

What I read (novellas / short stories):

Crazy For You (Soho Noir #4), T.S. Hunter
They Come At Night, Nick Clausen
Blind Date, Nick Clausen
The Last Resort (Lori Anderson #0.5), Steph Broadribb

What I read (graphic novels):

Clockworks (Locke & Key #5), Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez
Alpha & Omega (Locke & Key #6), Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez

What I listened to:

The Fourth Monkey (4MK 1), J.D. Barker
Dracul, Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker
The Essence of Evil, Rob Sinclair
While You Sleep, Stephanie Merritt
The Bird Tribunal, Agnes Ravatn (review to follow)
House of Spines, Michael J. Malone
Pet Sematary, Stephen King

What I read earlier but reviewed this month:

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver
In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings
The Mountain in My Shoe by Louise Beech
Violet by SJI Holliday

I also had Music Mondays with Orenda authors David F. Ross, Doug Johnstone, Louise Voss and Paul Burston.
I had four #TuomainenTuesday posts, featuring all of Antti Tuomainen’s novels with Orenda Books: Little Siberia, Palm Beach Finland, The Man Who Died and The Mine.
I was Waiting on Wednesday with Yvo, Mart and Eva, and I had a few Throwback Thursdays (House of Spines, Good Samaritans, Turbulent Wake) and Throwback/Translation Thursday (the Chas Riley series).
I put some Series in the Spotlight (the Reykjavík Noir Trilogy, Lori Anderson, Sam Shephard)
I also had the honour and pleasure to interview some of my favourite authors: Johana Gustawsson, Louise Beech and Matt Wesolowski; designer artist Mark Swan and Momma Orenda Karen Sullivan.

And my book of the month… Not an easy decision, but I’m going with:

I’ll tell you why next week ? Thanks for joining me today, I hope you had a great October, and here’s to a brand-new bookish month ?