Hello!

Will I ever not open a monthly reading post without saying that I can’t believe we’re another month through the year? Absolutely not – how is it October? I’m loving the Autumnal vibes, not being sweaty all the time, getting my blankets out and snuggling into bed with my book, though I can’t say I love how rainy it’s been recently!

September was a great reading month for me – I finished 7 books as well as a ‘choose your own adventure’ book that was in the Wedding Library. There’s been a lot of driving now that my new work has started and I’m binging the audiobooks. I found three 5 star books this month and they were all incredibly different so I’ll stop faffing and get on with it!

One Of Us Is Next – Karen M. McManus ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I definitely enjoyed this one even more than the first – the characters were immediately so real and I loved their definitive voices. The audio narrators were so good and I really enjoyed listening to them. The plot wasn’t as dramatic as the first book and I preferred it because the more subtle plot made it hit more emotionally. Maeve, Knox and Phoebe were the perfect protagonists and I’m so glad that the romance sub-plot did not follow the stereotype I was worried it would.

The emotions really hit hard – there were moments were I felt I was holding my breath for some characters and then others where I could feel the tension so strongly my chest hurt. I did predict the ending but it didn’t disappoint me in the same way as the first one because I figured it out but I wouldn’t have said it was predictable, which was way more preferable for me. I’m really excited to read book 3 when my library hold comes in!

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wholeheartedly understand why this is regarded as a modern classic.

The first section confused me a little because I felt like the narrative style was a little bit chaotic, but when it started to settle into the actual story and the clearer narrative style of Death as a narrator and Leisel as a protagonist, it felt easier to comprehend. Death was a really fascinating character and I loved the use of second person to really suck the reader in. I liked that the events were shocking enough (not a surprise in a war story) that the narrative didn’t lean into that shock – there were times were the story felt like it was being told out of order, as Death was recounting it from the end, and it gave it all a gentler tone which I really enjoyed.

It was a little bit slow in places, but it’s one of those stories that deserves 5 stars in a way that’s almost irrelevant to my own opinion (but I definitely give it 5 stars) – a war story is a difficult one to tell, especially from a German perspective. An absolutely deserved 5 stars, no question.

Daydream – Hannah Grace ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is my favourite book of the year so far. Is it as critically acclaimed as The Book Thief? No, I’m not trying to say it is, but Daydream made me well up and touched my heart in a way that I don’t know if any other book can.

Halle and Henry are precious and must be protected at all costs. The undiagnosed neurodiversity rep is so well done and so important. Although arguably the least realistic part of the whole story is the friendship group with it’s unwavering support, incredibly clear communication and wellness mindset, it was so powerful it practically made me cry, the found family element of this friendship group is as amazing as it unrealistic 😂

I loved the way Henry and Halle loved each other so gently and beautifully. I love them and I love this book. So. Freaking. Much.

Mistress of Lies – K. M. Enright ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I went into this book with low expectations because I only have it because it’s the August Illumicrate book and considering I just cancelled my subscription because I wasn’t enjoying the books, I didn’t have high hopes. At the beginning it felt like many other Illumicrate books in that it was overwritten, a little bit pretentious and giving ‘I’m not like other girls’ whilst not being a wildly original fantasy. But it did get better!

The two main characters were interesting and flawed and the secondary and antagonistic characters were similarly in-depth and politically ambiguous. The political aspects of the fantasy world were really intricate and so engaging in a way that made them feel delicate – it started building the world in a way that could be adequately understood within one book while leaving room to grow as part of a series.

And it didn’t do my least favourite thing of being the start of a series that doesn’t feel like the individual book has an actual ending – it’s a fantastic start to a series that introduces an overarching plot but also had a smaller plot point that was resolved within this book. This book made me reintroduce half star ratings and is hands down the best Illumicrate book I’ve read this year.

We Solve Murders – Richard Osman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Every Richard Osman book is arguably exactly the same but that’s what I like about them – the crimes are different but the characters are very cosy and familiar, the humour is dry and sarcastic and everything about it feels incredibly British.

The found family element is so cute – Amy and Steve’s relationship is so sweet but I love that it wasn’t at the detriment of other relationships; Amy and Adam’s marriage was solid, Steve’s quiz team were so fun and the other secondary characters were somehow vastly inappropriate and incredibly wholesome simultaneously.

A really enjoyable story. Definitely in the same universe as The Thursday Murder Club and the characters definitely aren’t that different, but I’m not one to care for critical comparisons – I had fun and that’s all that matters to me!

Five Get Into Troubles – Enid Blyton ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Whilst I definitely got bored at points, the story definitely picked up a lot earlier in this one, the 8th instalment in the series, and was much more fast paced than the other books and is what gave it the extra half star in it’s rating!

Julian was really irritating, I hate that Anne is the benchmark for being small and ‘weak’, Richard was annoying but the kids were so mean and rude to him. All round, the main characters are really irritating me EXCEPT Timmy the Dog. He’s the best.

Only two books left and I’m very much looking forward to it!

The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was totally hooked from the beginning – the audiobook narrators were incredible and completely embodied the characters, the story was so intriguing and I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen then the twist at the end just took me so off guard – I was genuinely speechless, no words.

Theo was such a fantastically designed character and carried the narrative effortlessly. The reveal with the timeline was seamlessly interwoven so when all was revealed in the last 10% I found it genuinely shocking.

Books like this remind me that I do really like mystery thrillers and I should read more of them. The plot being wound around mental health and psychiatry definitely struck a little close to home for me but I think it made me more deeply empathetic to Alicia’s character and made the ending all the more shocking.

Absolutely stunned. Fantastic way to finish another great reading month.

And those are the 7 books I finished last month! It’s not my best reading month in terms of quantity but it felt like a really good quality month in the ratings and how much of my monthly TBR I got through! I’m hoping to maintain this in October but I say that every month, so there’s no guarantee it’ll happen!

Thank you so much for reading,

Sophie xx