I didn’t expect October to be as great of a reading month as it turned out to be, and I am definitely not complaining. October was…stressful, to say the least, but because of how stressful and busy it was, seeing that I still came out of the month with 7 books read feels really good and also gives me hope for November! Anyways, onto what books I read this month!

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

I’m really glad I squeezed in reading this book when I did because now all my reading slots are booked up with The Dark Artifices trilogy (not complaining, I CANNOT wait for Queen of Air and Darkness), and also whatever else I am reading for classes. Eliza and Her Monsters is a YA contemporary following a girl who is the anonymous creator of a popular webcomic series called Monstrous Sea, and her struggles and relationships and anxieties during her final year of school. I really love this book because I relate to Eliza a lot, but I also don’t at the same time if that makes sense. I like to think I’m more extroverted and willing to put myself out there than she is, but still, in the ways that count, I see a lot of myself in Eliza. The story is also great and the romance between Eliza and Wallace is ugh, everything. 4.5/5 stars

Ruby Red and Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier

This was another spur of the moment decision except instead of sitting down and reading these books, I listened to the audiobooks. I have read the Ruby Red trilogy a million and one times, and I have even listened to the audiobooks in full one or two times. The audiobooks are really well done and the narrator captures Gwen amazingly, bringing her to life. This is a time-traveling book following our main character, Gwen who lives in a family with a time-traveling gene, however her cousin, Charlotte is the one everyone believes has it. That is until Gwen travels back in time. This trilogy is so much fun and while a lot of people dislike it because it is too predictable or “not original” enough, it is one that I can come back to again and again! Ruby Red: 4.5/5 Sapphire Blue: 4.5/5

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Audiobooks are key during busy months, especially when you are behind on your reading goal AND if you spend a lot of time commuting. Ha, both of those apply to me! This was another audiobook listen for me because ever since August, I have been listening to the audiobooks for The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare because while I’ve also read these book a million, maybe even a billion and one times, I have yet to listen to their audiobooks which so far, are really well done and I am enjoying! This is the fourth book in a series that follows characters who live in a world of angels and demons and after our main character, Clary’s mother is kidnapped, she sets out to find her, discovering that she has more of a place in this strange, crazy world than she thought. 4/5 stars

The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

I was reading this book again because it finally released to the world on October 23rd, and because of that, I really, really wanted to put up a non-spoiler review for it. Luckily, I love this book and it is the perfect gloomy, fall read so I picked it up for the second time this year and gave it a quick(ish) re-read. This is YA fantasy-historical-contemporary sort of book that follows three siblings after coming back from a fantasy world called The Woodlands, who are trying to adjust back into the real world. It is such a fast read and it’s a good one too, so I recommend picking it up! 4.5/5 stars

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

This was a book I had to read for English class and while it was hard for me to get through the first half, I didn’t mind it afterwards. This book is on a really, really important topic to Canadians though, and it was nice to see a World War I story through a fresh pair of eyes, a pair that didn’t usually get to tell the story. Three Day Road follows Xavier, a young Cree man from Moose Factory, who goes to fight in the war, and also his aunt Niska who raised him. We get to hear both of their stories and what happened in their early lives leading up to the present. It was definitely raw and hard to read at times, but it was a reality for the Indigenous people of Canada. However, I had heard that while Joseph Boyden claims to be from Metis roots, he is not actually…I couldn’t really get that out of my head while reading it because after everything he wrote in his books, lying about his background completely counteracts it! 3/5

Traplines by Eden Robinson

I also had to read this for a class, but I was able to choose the book as long as it was a short story collection by a living Canada author. So I chose this. I have heard a lot about Eden Robinson and was really excited to finally pick up something of hers! Traplines contains four short stories; Traplines, Dogs in Winter, Contact Sports and Queen of the North. All of these stories connect in the way that they take place in Northern Canada and follow characters with not the smoothest family trees. I read Traplines, the single short story, last year for class and really enjoyed that, Dogs in Winters was alright, Contact Sports was a rollercoaster ride, and Queen of the North…well I wanted more. In a good way! I really recommend picking this short story collection up because you should help support Canadian authors! Traplines: 3.5/5 Dogs in Winter: 3/5 Contact Sports: 4/5 Queen of the North: 4.5/5

So, those were all the books I read this month and I hope you enjoyed! I am very excited about next week’s and the rest of November’s blog posts because they are ideas that really excite me and I hope you all are looking forward to them too! Don’t forget to check out my last blog post, as well as my social media accounts which are all linked down below. Thanks 🙂

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