What I Read In October 2021

What I Read In October

I knew when October hit, I wanted to read books that fell into the “Halloween” theme. So I searched for spooky, thriller, and anything that falls under the Halloween category.  The first book I read in October doesn’t fall under that category because I actually started it at the end of September and carried over into October. But the rest do.

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What surprised me the most is the last book I read in October. It fits the Halloween vibe but not the type of book I’d expect to find (it’s not a thriller) and enjoy. It’s a rom com which I think is rare for Halloween and extremely entertaining and reminded me of my favorite Halloween movies growing up. This motivates me to find more books like this for next year.

Even though I was looking for books that are great for Halloween, all of them would be great to read throughout the year.

What I Read In October 2021

Where The Grass Is Green And The Girls Are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger

Peyton is a famous TV anchor from the most watched morning show. She’s recognized by many people, has an adoring husband, and her daughter is Princeton-bound. Skye is Peyton’s sister and lives in a glitzy suburb as a stay-at-home mom. She lives well but wants something more out of her life. Then one lie turned everything around for the sisters. It affects their entire family, careers, and relationships with their husbands.

So this is the only book I read this month that doesn’t fall under the Halloween theme. It’s because I started it right at the very end of September.

I’ve always enjoyed Lauren Weisberger’s books and I always love to read books about rich, wealthy people with scandals haha. This book definitely has wealthy people with scandals. But I will admit that halfway through the book, the storyline dragged. I was hoping something bigger and more scandalous would happen. So I’ll admit, I got a little bored. When I was three quarters in, the book started to pick back up and I was hooked. The ending was predictable but I was still entertained.

The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda

Littleport, Maine is divided into two different types of people: the locals and the wealthy people from old money that have a summer home in Littleport. It’s rare that the two worlds collide. But a strong friendship was formed between Avery who is a local and has a lot to lose and Sadie Loman who is known to be in the wealthiest family in Littleport (they’re like the Vanderbilts). These girls are inseparable. Then one summer party, Sadie is found dead and the police ruled it as suicide. Avery is not so convinced. She doesn’t know who to trust and feels like the the community is betraying her. So Avery searches for facts and evidence so she can clear her name and really find out what happened to Sadie.

This book is categorized as a thriller and while there were some “thrilling” scenes, I felt like this book was more of a mystery. I was constantly thinking whodunit or if the police were right to rule Sadie’s death as a suicide. I zipped through this book because I just had to know who was honest. Part of me even questioned Avery. However, in the beginning, I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere and didn’t care for the flashbacks. But as everything seems to come together towards the end, the flashback in the beginning now all makes sense. It’s as if we are also trying to piece together the past along with Avery and trying to discover any additional evidence and facts.

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Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

Adam and Amelia Wright’s marriage is rocky. They win a weekend getaway to Scotland and they’re hoping that this trip will save their marriage. Adam is a workaholic screenwriter that lives with face blindness. Therefore, he can’t recognize people’s faces including his own wife. Every year, the couple exchanges a wedding anniversary gift based on traditional gifts such as paper, cotton, tin, etc. And each year, Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read until now. One of them is lying and the other doesn’t want to live happily ever after. Secrets are revealed in their weekend getaway.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book. At first, I thought this was another mystery book claiming to be a thriller. But this book is for sure a thriller. There were a lot of twists. I did not expect the ending at all or that this was the direction the book was heading. So Alice Feeney definitely got to me. It was a cleverly written book. I recently found out that this book will become a Netflix film. So I’m curious how that will turn out. This is my first Alice Feeney book and from what I heard, a lot of her books have turned into films.

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Nine years ago, Vivienne (Vivi) nursed her broken heart by drinking vodka, music, and a curse to her scummy boyfriend. Vivi knows she shouldn’t use magic this way but she’s not worried because the worst the curse can do it is give him a bad hair day. Rhys Penhallow is annoyingly gorgeous and a descendant of Graves Glen. He returns to town to recharge the ley lines and make an appearance at the town’s fall festival. Whatever could go wrong, goes wrong. It seems like Vivi’s ex hex is not harmless at all. Now Graves Glen seems to be under attack and Rhys and Vivi have to work together to save the town and reverse the curse before it is too late.  They also can’t seem to ignore their off the charts chemistry.

Super super quick read! I had no idea what to expect from this book but really enjoyed it! I also didn’t know this author is the same author as the book The Wife Upstairs. Apparently authors go by pseudonyms when they change genre. Going from thriller to modern romantic comedy, I’m impressed! This book is Hocus Pocus meets Halloweentown meets Sabrina the Teenage With with an addition of steamy romance scenes. So if you loved those movies growing up, you’ll for sure enjoy reading this book.

Now that we are in November, expect me to go full-on Holiday / Christmas themed books. I’m so excited!

xo RD