October Book Round-Up

My sister, Kelsey, and I have been avid readers for as long as I can remember. We would be holed up in our rooms night after night. In fact, my sophomore year, my algebra teacher banned my novels in her classroom because I would read under my desk! Kelsey and I compare reads weekly and anytime we read something good, we tell the other to read it so we can talk about it! And we LOVE to force our friends to read books by putting audio books on during longer car rides.

Since we read SO much, I figured I start giving a monthly book round up to tell you what you should read and what you shouldn’t!

Some things you should know about us before we get started:

1. We love fantasy. Call us nerds, whatever. We don’t care. Give us all the wizards, fairies, dystopian societies, and if it has a dragon… we are so there!
2. I LOATHE sappy romance. Cannot read it. People make dumb decisions and let emotions cloud their judgment and I just can’t sit around and read about it. Kelsey really likes ok so we differ GREATLY here.
3. We can handle a little spice. In fact, I kinda like it. But even we have our limits. We’ll try to keep you informed on the spice level of books.
4. We don’t TYPICALLY do non-fiction. Sometimes something hits just right (like this month) but usually no. Historical fiction?!? Yes. Everyday!
5. We hate Colleen Hoover books. So if you’re a fan, just know that we probably don’t have many great things to say about it. We tolerate ‘It Ends with Us’ but only tolerate and only because of the shock factor of the story line.
6. I mostly listen to audio books but read my Kindle at night. So I’m usually double fisting books. Kelsey does the same. There are some books that are just BETTER as audio books and some that aren’t! I’ll make notes of how we prefer to read if we have a preference.
7. We use several apps to listen read. We both have Kindle PaperWhites (click here to shop) and they’re the BEST investment you can make as a reader in my opinion! We both have the older generation and think it works perfectly fine. No need to spend double on the newer one. I almost exclusively use my Scribd Membership (click here to check it out) to listen to audiobooks. They’re about to change the name but it will still be $10 a month for unlimited books and no waiting. It’s a great investment for me. Audible is a rip off. As if I’m supposed to only ready 1 book month. NO. Just No. Kelsey also uses Hoopla & Libby. Both library associate apps. You just have to have a library card from basically anywhere. One of them makes you wait for your books. But they are free! Which is awesome!

Let’s get to it! We’ll start with a couple YES, ADD TO YOUR LIST:

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarrow

Kelsey: LOVED

Kassy: LOVED

We both listened to this book via the Scribd App as an audiobook at it’s absolutely a fantasy masterpiece with an enemies to lovers trope. If you’re not into fantasy, you still might love this book. We read it with a friend who doesn’t really do fantasy and she LOVED it. The universe and the story are so immersive and is dystopian meets fantasy. There are dragons but not an over load of mythical creatures. It reads as a YA book for the most part but gets a little spicy at the end. The spicy scenes are graphic but there are only a few. Easy to graze over and skip if needed. I loved listening to this but I find the audio book recording to read a little ‘angry’ in intonation now that I’ve listened twice. I think I’ll read the second one normally. It comes out next month and I cannot wait to re-engage in this universe! If you liked ACOTAR – you will LOVE LOVE LOVE this one. I think I even like it more… That is a bold statement!

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Janette McCurdy

Kelsey: LOVED

Kassy: LOVED. OMG. SO GOOD.

I mentioned that we weren’t typically non-fiction girlies but Janette McCurdy’s Memoir is STUNNINGLY good. Remember iCarly on Nickelodeon? Janette played ‘Sam’ on the show during her teenage years and surprisingly couldn’t be more un-like her character. I would never have guessed what she was experiencing behind the scenes. It also touches a ton on her relationship with her mother. It’s horrifying and amazing. I cannot recommend it more. I suggest listening to the audiobook because Janette reads it and I connect so well with her and her voice being that I recognize it from my childhood. It involves lots of sensitive topics like abuse, eating disorders, and mental illness, so keep that in mind if you’re sensitive to those subjects. I’ve already recommended it to several friends. It’s THAT good.

None of This is True by Lisa Jewel

Kelsey: Hasn’t Read It – has been asked to do so repeatedly

Kassy: LOVEDDDDDD

This one is a suspense, thriller, mystery vibe. It’s not spooky or outrightly scary, it’s just a shocking story and a twist ending you won’t believe. A friend recommending it to me and I devoured it! And she warned me about the twist, but I figured I saw it coming. Boy, was I wrong! It was so good, it had me searching more more from this author hoping to find the same kind of rush again! When I get Kelsey to read it, I’ll update you guys on her thoughts! It takes place in the UK and follows 2 women as their friendship (if you can call it that) blossoms. Virtually no spice. There are some descriptive or crass language but no outright spice. If you’ve read this one… you’ve GOT to tell me what you thought!

BIG BIG BIG NO:

Ice Breaker by Hannah Grace

Kelsey: Couldn’t finish it

Kassy: Couldn’t finish it

I have nothing good to say except that the beginning had me very interested in the character development. I’m not usually into sports books but figure skating is always a favorite of mine. However, this has NOTHING to do with that, really. And when you move past the first few chapters, it’s basically just SMUT. I mentioned above that a little spice is great, but it has to be warranted. I have to love the characters, their chemistry, etc. And this just felt like smut for the sake of smut. When I realized that the spicy scenes were super frequent and crass, I called Kels to ask about this book assuming she had read it as well since it was on my ‘recommended for you’ list on Scribd (my favorite reading app). She too was influenced by it’s cute cover and fun synopsis and also quit a few chapters in. We didn’t even discuss this before. I had no idea she tried it and we both ended up at the same conclusion. Skip it. Just Skip it.

Can’t wait to hear everyone’s thoughts on these books! Let me know by commenting here or sending me a message on IG!