Another double month wrap-up (because I got behind on these oops)! Lots of great reads and a few just ok ones. Overall, I would honestly recommend any of these if they sound interesting to you. I read 15 total books in these two months and actually lowered my reading goal during October. This first year of post grad kicked my booty, and I have just not had the time/energy to read like I was last year. Hoping for lots of reading time over the holidays!

Hide by Kiersten White – So this was a book I had my cousin (who does not read) pick out for me in a spontaneous Barnes trip. Of course he picked horror :). This was my first horror book ever and I really didn’t hate it. I was thoroughly invested in the story and plot but just didn’t love it. We follow a group that has been dropped in an abandoned amusement park for a supposed reality competition show, except there are no cameras and they have to hide all day long. The idea of this story was crazy and I don’t know how she brainstormed it to be honest. I just don’t love the scary aspect (the whole point I know) so this will likely be my last horror for a while.

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune – Wow! I was worried about this one because I felt like Every Summer After, Carley Fortune’s first book in this world, really wrapped up perfectly. Was this just going to be an unnecessary addition? Well, I was SO wrong! This was the perfect summer romance book and I related so very much to our main character, Alice. She has burnt herself out with her career and now her grandmother has fallen, losing some independence as she heals and not liking it. Alice decides to take her Nan to their favorite place, the lake. I loved how the focus was really Alice finding herself and figuring things out, with Charlie there to help, making the romance so much sweeter. FIVE STARS!

A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young – This felt like a tame Lifetime movie to be completely honest. We follow twin James who is coming back to her rural mountain town to investigate her brother Johnny’s death. James has always felt a weird twin connection, beyond normality, and knew before getting the call that her brother was dead. This book was so well written and really captured small-town secrets and the so very real feeling of “no one leaves”. This book was advertised as magical realism and I would say there was much less of that than the other Adrienne Young book I have read, but I did really love the storytelling and the atmosphere she created in this book.

Wild Card by Elsie Silver – (Literally hate this cover – why are they in water?) This was the final book in Elsie Silver’s Rose Hill Ranch series featuring single dads and it did no disappoint. This book was advertised as “ex-boyfriend’s dad” which, no hate to anyone, kinda grossed me out. However, Elsie did this so well and I never got the ick. We start with Bash just finding out he has a grown son that his high school girlfriend kept from him for over 20 years. Bash meets Gwen in the airport and then never hears from her again, until he heads to meet his son and she is there on his arm. I could not stand the son tbh but I loved the comedy and friendship in this book, definitely not insta-love at all.

Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley – I gave this four stars originally and I am now knocking down to three. This is one of those books that I feel intense dislike for the characters but in a way that makes me so appreciate the writing. These characters were frustrating and nerdy and selfish in a way that takes true talent to describe. As someone with lots of creative ideas but not necessarily the voice/ability to express them, I felt for both characters. Percy struggles with her intense love and critique of music that no one seems to understand and Joe struggles to perfect his craft, making them the perfect pair, at first. Definitely a book that makes you think and really consider what it takes to make art!

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry – AH! This is definitely in my top three books of the year and it actually just won Goodreads’ 2025 Favorite Romance. This is marketed as a romance and I do agree with that, but what made this great for me is the strong subplot of documenting a celebrity’s life. Margaret Ives, the daughter of one of the most famous families of the 20th century, invites two drastically different writers to Little Crescent Island to interview for the opportunity to write her biography. Hayden and Margaret slowly begin to form a friendship that changes the way they write and interview. This story was truly beautiful and I never really knew where it was going to go. Margaret’s story was captivating and I found myself on the edge of my seat waiting for the next interview. My tip is to not go in thinking this is a romance, though it is marketed as so, and to think of this as general fiction with Margaret as the star.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman – My first read of Mr. Backman and it did not disappoint! We follow a full cast of characters at an apartment open house that turns into a hostage situation after a failed bank robbery. Every page held something new and really made me think. This story was absolutely crazy and I never knew really what was going to happen next . Each character was so complex and the writing was ABSOLUTELY beautiful. I thought this book was such an important reminder that we never truly know the struggles of others. This is nothing like what I normally read and it made me so excited to continue pushing my reading comfort zone.

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli – I really don’t remember what I thought of this one. I gave it four stars so I must have liked it but I can only remember the first one. I will say that this is such a unique idea and I really appreciated that it was a duology.

The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King – This was a crazy premise to be honest with you. This was the June pick for Reese’s book club and of course I didn’t get it in from Libby until October. Our main character Monica struggles to connect with people and find that her computer and her grandparents are the only things that understand her. Monica is working on a program that helps connect people based on mutual interests (sort of an AI Bumble BFF that no one actually signed up for) and discovers her grandmother’s long-lost cousin. The crazy part is totally a spoiler but basically we go back and forth with Monica’s POV and the grandma’s. We learn why she stopped speaking to her cousin and just exactly what grandma’s childhood looked like. This was such a well-researched and personal feeling look into Shanghai during WW2 and the beginning of communism, but I just did not like the magic system at all (they stab themselves with pencils).

The Guest List by Lucy Foley – This was an audiobook listen for me and I would definitely recommend! Each character had a different voice and all of them had Irish accents, making this feel so immersive. We find everyone at a boujee wedding on a remote island, celebrating a reality TV star and a magazine publisher. Someone is dead and no one is who they seem. This was crazy from start to finish, mixing in old prep school drama, cheating spouses, career sabotage, family secrets, and a bridezilla that you somehow empathize with. Definitely recommend!

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom – This is a non-fiction that I have been wanting to read for a while now. For some reason, literally everyone on my Semester at Sea voyage was reading this at one time or another and I just felt a pull to add it to my Goodreads. Well, I was leading a retreat in October and this was the only non-textbook in the entire library – sign from God! Tuesdays with Morrie follows Morrie, a college professor slowly dying of ALS, and Mitch, the author who had lost his way. I cried like a baby and would recommend this to absolutely everyone.

A Curse Carved in Bone by Danielle L. Jensen – I have seen quite a few people disappointed by this release and unfortunately I agree. I absolutely loved the first book in the duet and thought it was such a unique idea and execution. However, the second book felt confusing at times, often boring, and even made me feel like I missed a book in between. In my opinion, the characters were pretty different than they were in the first book, leading to me feeling lost often. Still love the Norse influence and the uniqueness of the setting but felt the plot was lost. I also felt that the FMC was sometimes so badass and awesome like the cover and then other times was waiting for a man to help her.

Throttled by Lauren Asher – This was truly the perfect romance in between crazy fantasies. Throttled has long been downloaded on my kindle, so this year I put it on my 25 books to read in 2025 (see article here!). I finally got to it in October and I really liked it! We follow Maya and Noah. Maya’s brother was just signed to a top F1 racing team and Noah is the reigning champ of the team. They start to become friends throughout the season and then you know what happens next. I know nothing about F1 and still had a really fun time with this one! Just a good sports romance on Kindle Unlimited for your winter blues!

Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout – I thought I had read everything I needed to before the release of Primal of Blood and Bone in September, but it turns out there was another! This was maybe my favorite in the universe so far for many reasons. The page count was reasonable, I loved the main female character, and I was so intrigued the entire time as to how this book connected to the others. Calista has way too many secrets and feels responsible for protecting her best friend, Grady. Her and Grady have found protection and shelter working for the idiotic and a bit slimy Baron of Archwood, but of course this is a fantasy book so they are never safe for long. The cliffhanger was evil, so I can’t wait for the next one!

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan – This was my first Kennedy Ryan book and it did not disappoint! Our main characters, Josiah and Yasmen, are divorced and its not going well. The kids are angry, Josiah is lost, and Yasmen is feeling the judgement from all angles. We follow Yasmen and Josiah, both in the timeline where they fall in love and apart and the timeline where they fall back together. This was a beautiful love story that gracefully tackled hard topics and celebrated black culture in the South. Definitely not your typical romance, but so worth a read! On Kindle Unlimited now too!

Well that’s all for September and October! Lots of great reads and a few meh ones. I’ve got quite a few left that I want to read before the year is over so stay tuned!