Recent Updates and Currently Reading | October 6

Between having a head cold and being in the middle of two chunky reads, I didn't finish any books this week. I'm enjoying what I'm reading, though!

I'm going to see Joker today, and I'm nervous! I think it's going to be heartbreaking. I also think Joaquin is going to be amazing.

Posted Last Week

September was a really great month, and I posted my wrap up of all of things I managed to read last month.

I posted my ⭐⭐★★★ review of Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris.

I shared a few books that recently made it onto my wishlist.

I shared my ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ thoughts on To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers.

I also shared what I plan to #ReadforGrace on October 14.

Currently Reading

I'm currently reading Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven #5) by Brandon Mull and Dust by Hugh Howey. I'm enjoying them both!

Recent Acquisitions

My husband's birthday was this past week, and we took the day off to take care of a few things and spend time away from work. While we were out and about, I picked up Rachel Bach's Paradox trilogy. I originally read the first two on ebook so I'm excited to be able to go back and reread them before finally reading the third book. You can read my review of Fortune's Pawn and Honor's Knight. I love this series so much.

Earlier this year I read Rachel Aaron's (Rachel Bach) writing book 2,000 to 10,000 and she talked a bit about writing Fortune's Pawn in 12 days. If you love reading books on the craft, her book is fascinating. It's one I'll likely read again.

Thank you Wicked Run Press for sending me an ecopy of Lullabies for Suffering. I know, I know, I've sworn off of review copies forever, but everyone has a weakness, right? You guys know how much I loved Garden of Fiends. I'm looking forward to diving into this new anthology.

The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust #2) by Philip Pullman - Once again I've had a preorder arrive before having a chance to read the first one. I love the His Dark Materials trilogy so much, and I've been a little terrified to start the prequel series for fear of disappointment. It's time, though! I think I'll save them both for the first of the new year.

My October book from Poetry Magazine arrived this month. It looks very pink and not spooky so we'll see if I get to it this month.

So what about you? Let me know what you're reading this week or leave me some links!

---

This post is being shared as part of Book Date's It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

#ReadForGrace | October 14

Most of us knew Grace from Rebel Mommy Book Blog. She was a really sweet, positive blogger and our blogging community was better for having her in it.

In July of this year we lost Grace to cancer. Lauren over at Bookmark Lit has issued a challenge and is requesting that we read a book for Grace each year on Grace's birthday (October 14). For full details, be sure to visit Lauren's post. She has created a spreadsheet of all of the books on Grace's wishlist, and she has posted several links to lists of books Grace was looking forward to reading.

If you'd like to join in and read something for Grace, we are using the hashtag #ReadForGrace. You can also consider sending a donation to METAvivor.

This year I'm choosing to read Lock Every Door by Riley Sager.

No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen's new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan's most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story—until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid's disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew's dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building's hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

If you'd like to join me in reading Lock Every Door, let me know. I'll be starting on Grace's birthday October 14. Also, let me know if you'll be taking part with a different book from Grace's wishlist.

Book Review | To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

To Be Taught, If Fortunate is a stand alone science fiction novella by Becky Chambers.

In her new novella, Sunday Times best-selling author Becky Chambers imagines a future in which, instead of terraforming planets to sustain human life, explorers of the solar system instead transform themselves.

Ariadne is one such explorer. As an astronaut on an extrasolar research vessel, she and her fellow crewmates sleep between worlds and wake up each time with different features. Her experience is one of fluid body and stable mind and of a unique perspective on the passage of time. Back on Earth, society changes dramatically from decade to decade, as it always does.

Ariadne may awaken to find that support for space exploration back home has waned, or that her country of birth no longer exists, or that a cult has arisen around their cosmic findings, only to dissolve once more by the next waking. But the moods of Earth have little bearing on their mission: to explore, to study, and to send their learnings home.

This book is why I love reading. That feeling you get when you are reading a book that is so perfect for you. That feeling so strong it hurts. I'm reading the Fablehaven series with my son right now because he had that feeling in book two and wanted me to join in. I hope you know that feeling! I had that feeling multiple times over in To Be Taught, If Fortunate.

Becky Chambers took me to other worlds. Worlds with different landscapes and different lifeforms. Earlier this year I tried to read A Long Road to a Small, Angry Planet, and I just didn't connect with it right away so I put it down. I'm an idiot. I'm going to go back to that one hopefully before the end of the year. I want to read everything Becky Chambers creates.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

On My Wishlist {20}

On My Wishlist is where I share a few books that have recently made it onto my wishlist. These are the books that have recently caught my eye:

Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma
Expected publication: October 15th 2019 by Tor.com

Acclaimed author Priya Sharma transports readers back in time with Ormeshadow, a coming-of-age story as dark and rich as good soil.

Burning with resentment and intrigue, this fantastical family drama invites readers to dig up the secrets of the Belman family, and wonder whether myths and legends are real enough to answer for a history of sin.

Uprooted from Bath by his father's failures, Gideon Belman finds himself stranded on Ormeshadow farm, an ancient place of chalk and ash and shadow. The land crests the Orme, a buried, sleeping dragon that dreams resentment, jealousy, estrangement, death. Or so the folklore says. Growing up in a house that hates him, Gideon finds his only comforts in the land. Gideon will live or die by the Orme, as all his family has.

Thank you to Tammy for putting this on my radar. A coming-of-age dark fantasy with dragons? SIGN ME UP. Be sure to check out Tammy's review of Ormeshadow.

---

Starsight (Skyward #2) by Brandon Sanderson
Expected publication: November 26th 2019 by Delacorte Press

All her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she's a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing.

Spensa is sure there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars--and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.

But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself--and she'll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.

This is both a wishlist and a reminder!! I still have not read Skyward #1 so I need to do that ASAP! I have no doubt I'm going to get hooked into this series so I definitely need the sequel Starsight as well.

---

The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters
Expected publication: December 10th 2019 by Crooked Lane Books

A supernatural thriller in the vein of A Head Full of Ghosts about two young girls, a scary story that becomes far too real, and the tragic--and terrifying--consequences that follow one of them into adulthood.

Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face...

In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it.

That belief got Becca killed.

It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night--that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died.

The night Heather killed her.

Now, someone else knows what she did...and they're determined to make Heather pay.

I'm excited about the upcoming release of The Dead Girls Club. It just sounds like a really great read!

---

Are you planning to read any of these new or upcoming releases? What books have recently made it onto your wishlist?

Book Review | Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

Bring Me Back is a thriller novel by B.A. Paris.

Finn and Layla are young, in love, and on vacation. They’re driving along the highway when Finn decides to stop at a service station to use the restroom. He hops out of the car, locks the doors behind him, and goes inside. When he returns Layla is gone—never to be seen again. That is the story Finn told to the police. But it is not the whole story.

Ten years later Finn is engaged to Layla’s sister, Ellen. Their shared grief over what happened to Layla drew them close and now they intend to remain together. Still, there’s something about Ellen that Finn has never fully understood. His heart wants to believe that she is the one for him...even though a sixth sense tells him not to trust her.

Then, not long before he and Ellen are to be married, Finn gets a phone call. Someone from his past has seen Layla—hiding in plain sight. There are other odd occurrences: Long-lost items from Layla’s past that keep turning up around Finn and Ellen’s house. Emails from strangers who seem to know too much. Secret messages, clues, warnings. If Layla is alive—and on Finn’s trail—what does she want? And how much does she know?

A tour de force of psychological suspense, Bring Me Back will have you questioning everything and everyone until its stunning climax.

I really enjoyed the first 40% of Bring Me Back, but then it plummeted off of the cliff.

There was so much repetition, the characters weren't interesting, and the plot wasn't anywhere near believable.

My reaction while finishing up the second half of Bring Her Back was this was a one star read. After taking a step back and cooling my reader jets a little, I think there's something about B.A. Paris' writing that is going to keep it at two stars. Despite wanting to DNF due to content, it was very easy to pay attention to what was happening and it was a quick read for a plot that went nowhere.

I'm obviously not recommending Bring Me Back, but I'm willing to read her previous novels that have garnered much better reviews.

⭐⭐★★★

Review copy provided by publisher