September Wrap-Up and October TBR

This month was a lot of me reading book I thought sounded fun and wound up just being meh.

Falling by T. J. Newman

Written by a former flight attendant, this thriller had excellent pacing. The quality of writing hovers between good and fine. I into slightly more detail on my Insta (JesseJaneReads). Fun but nothing earth shattering 3.5/5

Upwards by Laura Apgar Chandler

I didn’t fully finish this but read enough I’m counting it. Something about Chandler’s writing just didn’t connect with me. Maybe it was more religious than I expected or less funny than most other adventure memoirs I’ve reads. Either way, it was just fine 2.75/5

Worst Laid Plans edited by Samantha Kolesnick

An independent anthology of vacation horror. Overall, this anthology hovered somewhere between good and OK. Standouts were Summers with Annie, Deep in the Heart, The Cucuy of Cancun, and The Penanggalan. 3.5/5

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden

The second book in the Small Spaces middle grade series. Another a fun spooky adventure with three tweens fighting a bad guy from the other side. 4.5/5

Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shia Dusapin

This is the kind of beautifully written literary fiction that is lost on me. I got to end still wondering what was going to happen. It’s a lovely book but wasn’t for me. 3/5

Chesapeake Requiem by Earl Swift

A fantastic piece of nonfiction about the vanishing Tangier Island and the people who live there. 5/5

The Pants of Perspective by Anna McNuff

I go into detail here but it was just OK 3/5

Mean Girls: Senior Year by Arianna Irwin

A fun sequel that could have used a little bit more. More resolution, more backstory. The art style also made it hard to tell some of the characters apart. 3.5/5

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I live for the cool weather of fall and spooky season. 🎃

October TBR

The Halloween Moon by Joseph Fink

I’ve recently realized spooky middle grade is in my wheelhouse and decided to incorporate more of it. This is by one of the creators of Welcome to Night Vale. I’m excited.

The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale

I asked some folks on the internet for some recommendations for spooky nonfiction and this one came up a couple of times. It takes place during the 1930s when spiritualism was popular so this should be quite interesting.

I’ve got several ideas for spooky fiction I want to try but I’m very much a mood reader so I want to give myself a chance to follow where the autumn winds blow me.

The Long Pathway

I started this book back in August, feeding my addiction for memoirs of people having grand adventures. I dipped in and out before committing to finishing it this month. In order to shake up her life, Anna McNuff decides to run the Te Araroa trail.

According to GoodReads, this book has less than 340 pages. According to the actual book on Kindle Unlimited, it was 501. I don’t know if it was an updated edition or a Kindle special but I had to switch to counting the percentage. It’s mildly annoying knowing my pages read won’t be accurately counted.

Another reason I think it was an update is some oddities with formatting. Anna would be settling down in a bit for the night then suddenly she’s cussing out a river. There needed to be a visual separation for that shift to make more sense.

The quality of writing was fine but it didn’t have a strong voice. It was odd since McNuff clearly has a lot of personality. It would peek through at times but wasn’t consistent throughout.

At 501 pages, it definitely felt like this book was too long. I can’t say what should have been cut but I know a skilled editor would have. I wished McNuff had done more with less. It was a great story hampered by forgettable writing. 3/5

My Wheelhouse

Part of the Reading Glasses Podcast reading challenge is figuring out your wheelhouse. ICYMI, your wheelhouse is something that will always get you to pick up a book.

For anyone who has been here for a minute, you’ll know I’m a very omnivorous reader. It’s part of why I call myself a book shark. They’ll take a bite out of anything that seems interesting and so will I. That said, I did manage to figure out some things that always seem to pique my interest.

Nonfiction

Memoirs of someone having an adventure in nature, especially thru-hiking
Memoirs about living in Alaska
Nonfiction about animals, especially living and/or working with them
Anything about dogs

Fiction

Haunted houses
Thrillers where everyone is trapped and the killer could be any of us
Retellings of common lore (fairy tales, classics, etc.)
Enemies to lovers romance
Halloween books
Anthologies where the authors all have the same prompt (i.e. werewolves and Christmas)

What’s in your wheelhouses?