**I place the book on the table near my bed and stretch my arms over my head. October has ended and so has the reading month. I look at the stack near my bed and take a glance to what books I read over the past 31 days. The warmth outside greets November with a cold shoulder. I take a brush to my hair and dress in loose clothes, choosing to pull my hair back in a ribbon to keep it off my neck. I take a picnic outside and bask in the sun.**

Another month is left behind, and another month of reading has wrapped up. I read four books in the month of October, the most that I have read in the past few months, and I am grateful to have read some pretty good books. I also read some books from my October TBR and ones for Vampathon, so I feel accomplished this month.

The first book that I read this month was A Hunt of Shadows by Elise Kova. This is the second book in the A Trial of Sorcerers series, a fantasy series set in a world with elemental magic. The first book follows a girl named Eira who has the elemental power of magic and hears whispers coming from different objects. A tournament is set to take place so she enters to become one of the champions, getting involved in different tasks to get chosen. This sequel was very good. At times it did feel like an in-between book, or a bridge to connect book 1 to 3, but the story was interesting and I was invested throughout the entire book.

The next book I read was Spells for Lost Things by Jenna Evans Welch. I read her Love & series and enjoyed that so I wanted to give her latest release a try, especially this month as it deals with two characters in Salem and a family of witches. This is not a spooky read and magic is not really at the forefront of the story, but the way the stories of the two characters were woven together was very well done and I found both perspectives interesting. If you want to hear more of my thoughts, you should check out my previous post which was a review on the book.

My next book was Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw. I had seen this book online and it seemed very interesting. It is set in the ’90s and follows a girl traveling to New Orleans to see her sister and they end up working together at a horror movie mansion. During their summer together, a string of vampire related attacks leads to her sister to getting arrested so she must solve the case. I did not love this as much as I thought. I thought the story seemed interesting, but there was something I didn’t like. I don’t know if it was the writing or just the way the story was written, but I was kind of bored and could not connect. I also felt like there was a lot of waiting around in the book on the characters’ part. I actually read this one for Vampathon. Check out my TBR post to see what prompts I completed by reading the book.

My final book was also a book I read for Vampathon, which was Now You See Me by Jane B. Mason and Sarah Hines Stephens. This is a middle grade book about two girls who find a camera in a thrift store, but when they take photos, a ghost appears. I have read this book multiple times throughout my life but this is the first reread I have done in a very long time. I think this is a good, spooky middle grade if you are looking for one. I don’t think I enjoyed it quite as much as before, but it was still good. I highly recommend The Dead End by Mimi McCoy, the first book in the series.

Those are all the books I read in October 🦇. I hope you all had a great reading month and I look forward to sharing my November TBR soon.

xoxo,

Just another reader