October Reads

I had every intention of reading some scary books this month for Halloween but it just didn't work out that way. I do have a zombie book waiting for me at the library so I'll read something scary around Halloween. Counts? Counts.

Lets get to it. No scary stories but still a lot of reading was done!

 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling)- Harry's 6th year at Hogwarts. Junk is getting real on the Voldemort front. This was my very first audio book of all time. I grabbed it because I'd heard such rave reviews and it certainly delivered. Jim Dale is phenomenal. I am now addicted to audio. I obviously loved the book because I love Harry Potter for life. I am about to pick up the 7th one and start on it to round out my year of reading HP all over again. 

Last Chance Out (Staci Rizner)- Set in the near future, a group of teenagers flee South Carolina and cross the east coast to New York in hopes of getting on one of the last space shuttles off of Earth. Smart, talking, thinking dinosaurs, created by the government in an attempt to stop WWIII, are ravaging the country and killing people. I read this at like 16 or 17 years old and I wanted to read it again because of memories. The author was a teen when she wrote it and she's from my state which is how I found out about her back in the day because she was on the local news. The description does not do it enough justice. It's much weirder than it even sounds. It's not awful but it's obviously written by a 15 year old. I would actually totally buy this and have it in our family library because it's so crazy and entertaining. If you like crappy Sci-Fi channel movies, this is your jam.

A Wind in the Door (Madeleine L'Engle)- All of the main characters from A Wrinkle in Time return for another adventure, this time with Meg and Calvin leading the way. I love this author, I love this family, I love these books. They are like comfort food. I crave them. There is never a time that isn't perfect for L'Engle. If you like deliciously wonderful thought filled sci-fi, this is YOUR jam.

The Titan's Curse (Rick Riordan)- The 3rd book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. This book finds our favorite demi-gods and satyr friend in another rough and tumble adventure, this time with Annabeth kidnapped and another war among the Gods looming over everyone's head and obvs the stubborn Gods aren't listening about a Titan threat. Obviously, Percy and friends much save the day! An Ollie and me read. We are steadily working our way through the series and we both enjoy it a lot. I'm happy to have found a fantasy series that my kid loves so much. This one was just as fun as the last 2 but with a little more heartbreak involved. so beware.

 The Dragonslayers (Bruce Coville)- Witches? Check. A fire breathing dragon? Check and check. A ragtag group of characters hellbent on slaying the dragon? Check. A heartwarming ending? Check! Bruce Coville must be in everyone's bookshelves, right? He's a standard little kid read. Ollie and I read this one together in a couple of nights and I loved getting back to some Coville. He's so fun. In fact we ordered Into the Land of Unicorns because I need some more Coville. Must read for kids.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (Mindy Kaling)- I love Mindy and I really wanted to love this book. I thought I would. It was another audio book selection and I thought I'd enjoy hearing her read her own stuff but it was pretty lackluster, I'm sad to say. This is a collection of essays it feels like and I agree with a Goodreads review I saw that said she hasn't lived enough life or done enough things to fill a book yet and so she was just kind of putting out weird opinions, like what sort of chest hair she prefers on a man, which would be fun but it felt jumbled and scattered to me. I really thought it would be quirky and endearing and it was fun in some parts and the last few chapters really drew me in, but mostly I was bored. Boo. I think if you are looking for some really light, fluffy reading, this could be great.

That's it for October! Happy reading.