I'm Still Reading - This Was My October

 Despite (or maybe because of) my continuing struggle with the "blahs," reading continues to give me great pleasure when little else does. I may not have the energy right now to write formal reviews, but that's freed me up to wander rather serendipitously from book to book as things catch my eye. 

These are the ones I read in October:

• Beautifully written novel
• Longtime series fans will especially appreciate catching up with familiar characters such as Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, and Bob Burgess, among others.
• Explores the impact of Covid on the world, families, and friends
• 5 Stars

• Crime Fiction set in England
• Main character is a young teen girl with the instincts of a modern Sherlock Holmes
• Requires a committed suspension of disbelief
• Fun read and setting but a little too far over the top for me in the end
• 3 Stars

• Perhaps the worst 2024 Booker Prize nominee
• Pretentious and confusing style
• Who cares?
• 1 star

• Would make a perfect Tom Hanks movie
• Two strangers meet in a cemetery once a year to help each other cope with the grief of losing a loved one.
• Thoughtful but funny
• A little too predictable, but fun
• 3 Stars

• An explanation of and renouncement of Cancel Culture"
• Frank, brutal, and sometimes funny as hell
• Author's sense of humor is all over the map - from subtle irony to slapstick
• 4 Stars

• Very clever format and points-of-view
• Sometimes cartoonish characters that the reader still care about
• Somewhat predictable but does have a few fun twists
• My October Cover of the Month
• How to make the world a better place by "deleting" certain people
• 4 Stars

• Salman Rushdie memoir detailing the New York knife attack that he miraculously survived
• A chance to learn about Rushdie's post-fatwa life in his own words
• Even those who are not fans of Rushdie's fiction will appreciate this memoir.
• 5 Stars

• The kind of feel-good novel about books, bookstores, and booksellers that we all just need to read sometimes
• Two great characters: old bookseller and a little girl who sees right through him
• A bit of a German fairytale 
• 3.5 Stars

• Lots of theories about slowing down brain aging
• Debunks lots of things we've all been told about demential and Alzheimer's
• A suggested lifestyle approach that, at the least, can't hurt anything by trying it
• Who knows? Something else to consider
• 4 Stars

• Based on the Netflix series called Killing Eve
• Some characters are the same
• Some characters are the same but meet different fates
• Some main characters are created just for the series
• Some characters are of different gender
• Basic plot is the same
• One of those rare times I think the adaptation works better than the original novel it's based on
• 3 Stars

So that was my October. I've only read four books so far in November but I'm reading some nonfiction that slows me down a bit, so I'm not surprised by that. I hope you are all doing well. I hope to catch up on comments sometime soon and appreciate your patience. Hang in there, guys.