October wasn’t as productive reading-wise as the past few months. I’d like to formally thank the Vegas fiasco (part 1, part 2) for that.
Two back-to-back weekends in Vegas — plus my birthday party the weekend before — didn’t really leave a whole lot of time for reading.
But, I did read two books this month, at least. Which, honestly, isn’t too bad. I think it’s actually the goal I set at the beginning of the year.
(As a reminder: I always track my reading both on Goodreads and via Instagram stories.)
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“BEACH READ” BY EMILY HENRY
4/5 stars:
After January’s father dies and she discovers his life-long affair, her boyfriend dumps her and she’s forced to move into her father’s old condo located in a Michigan coastal beach town. January, an author, has typically written romance novels, but given her current life situation, she’s not really feeling the love lately. Luckily (?), January’s new residence is located right next to her college rival, Augustus, who writes about misery and death. Obviously, the two will fall in love.
Give my little Midwestern heart ALL the Michigan settings, please! The plot of “Beach Read” was very simple and predictable, but still cute and heartwarming. I didn’t love it as much as I loved Emily Henry’s “Book Lovers” — the chemistry between the two main characters wasn’t as great and the plot wasn’t as nuanced — which is why I knocked a star off, but it was still an easy, fun read!
“THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY” BY RUTH WARE
4/5 stars:
Tarot card reader Hal Westaway is financially struggling following the death of her mother when she receives a strange letter stating that she is heir to a small fortune. While Hal is skeptical, she’s also desperate. She decides to show up for the funeral of Mrs. Westaway with the intention of conning her way into a small share of inheritance money, only to find that she’s actually wrapped up in the Westaway family mystery.
This one was decent. I liked the use of the tarot cards to guide the plot along and reveal mysteries along the way, and I liked the fact that the novel remained a mystery and didn’t try to set you up for some big twist at the end. After the last few Ruth Ware books I’ve read, it was kind of refreshing to not find myself trying to figure out what the twist would be, and to just kind of follow along waiting for the mystery reveal. I liked Hal as a main character, too, which was nice because I usually hate all of Ware’s characters.
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I’m optimistic about November, though. October was full of birthday, Vegas and music festival plans, and November is wiiiiide open. I’m super thankful for that. Work has been busier than usual lately and I’ve been feeling a little burned out for the past few weeks… so hopefully November brings a lot of time for reading and knitting!
