Julie’s October Book Report

Suggested Reading for the Spooky Season

Hello everyone! I have been an avid reader from the day I learned to read – more than 50 years ago. When my sister asked me to write about books, I was thrilled! I love talking about books, suggesting books for others to read, buying books – everything books! While I am not a fan of e-books, I do have a couple saved on my phone for times when I find myself with time, but no book – like in the waiting room at the doctor. I do use the Goodreads app and have participated in their reading challenges since 2019. I try to read different genres, I like to read a couple classics each year, and I will read books that go with the season. I didn’t want to write book “reviews” – I don’t choose books based on what someone else thinks about them. However, after I finish a book, I will read the reviews to find others who feel the same way I do. With that being said, let’s move on to the books in this month’s lineup.

To start off my Halloween season, I started the month with The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell. This story takes place during the days of Prohibition and had “Single White Female” vibes to me. It was a good read – the ending left a lot to the imagination, which also felt like there was no closure.

Next, I read The Bones of Paris by Laurie R. King. I have a thing for Paris – I will buy a book just because the Eiffel Tower is on the cover. I did enjoy this one – some of it was quite disturbing – but it does keep you guessing. The story was a bit drawn out, and it took me a week to get through it. With books where the story is drawn out, I find that most of the excitement is packed in at the end.

I moved on to a bit of science fiction/fantasy with The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune. This is the first book in the Cerulean Chronicles Series. I have to admit that I picked this book because of its cover. Science fiction is not normally on my TBR list, but I do like to challenge myself to read different genres. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I did buy the second book in the series and look forward to reading it. I knew I had to be open minded from page 1, and I’m glad I stuck with it. The characters were written so that I really cared about them. I saw this book a couple of times at Barnes & Noble – I would pick it up and put it back – but I finally bought it and I’m so glad I did.

Next, I read The Fury by Alex Michaelides. After reading his first novel, The Silent Patient, which was so good, I was a little disappointed with this one. It was good – I liked the writing style. It was like Elliot, the narrator, was sitting at the kitchen table with you telling you his unbelievable story.

I mentioned that I like to throw in a classic, so for my next read I chose Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Oh my goodness, this was quite disturbing. It’s written almost like poetry – a little hard to follow at times. One of my favorite lines from the book is “…the air so cold they ate ice cream with each breath.” You know that’s cold. Another line that I loved is “she was as fair as this morning and fresh as tomorrow’s flowers and lovely as any maid when a man shuts up his eyes and traps her, in cameo perfection, on the shell of his eyelids.” Just a lovely description. Poetic. It was a struggle to read at times. I found myself having to reread lines to understand.

With that last one being so unsettling, I thought about moving on to something “lighter” like a cozy mystery, Instead, I grabbed Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. Stephen King – not exactly cozy, so far, so good – I just hope it’s not too scary, and I’ll be able to finish it!

Happy Halloween and Happy Reading!

Julie