What We’re Reading: October 2023
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Lida’s Reading List
This month I read the usual genres as well as some popular titles, almost all from new-to-me authors. The standout was the Karen Odden novel. I love when I’m so wrapped up in a book that I want to finish it ASAP, yet I feel the need to linger over the words and rhythm. This was that kind of book, which you can learn more about because it’s Carol’s book club pick!
Falling Like Snowflakes: Summer Harbor #1 by Denise Hunter
God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen: Royal Spyness Mystery #15 by Rhys Bowen
Always Anjali by Sheetal Sheth
Down a Dark River: Inspector Corravan #1 by Karen Odden
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling by Elise Bryant
Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by Torri Jan Newman
Avocado Magic by Taltal Levi (Advance Reader Copy)
Tina’s Reading List
This month was a little different from my usual. To begin with I took a trip to Quebec to visit family, stopped by Louise Penny’s hometown bookshop, and decided to practice my French by rereading her books in French translation. I also reread Carol Pouliot’s last book in anticipation of her newest release RSVP for Murder. Then I read the latest installment of the Finlay Donovan books in advance of Elle Cosimano’s guest appearance on our Live Book Club on October 10th. If you haven’t registered, now is the time! Register here. I read some Japanese literature in preparation for some reviews I’ll be writing on BooksonAsia.net. And I finished off the month with some great crime fiction and a few heart-wrenching short stories.
En plein coeur (Still Life Book #1 in the Three Pines Mysteries) by Louise Penny
Death Rang the Bell: (A Blackwell & Watson Time-Travel Mystery #3) by Carol Pouliot
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun: (Finlay Donovan #3) by Elle Cosimano
The Dragon Palace by Hiromi Kawakami
The Bones of the Story by Carol Goodman
Time’s Undoing by Cheryl A. Head
Dancing After Hours by Andre Dubus
Jen’s Reading List
I’ve had so much fun reading books that aren’t my typical taste this month: the first in Cheryl Head’s hard-boiled Charlick Mack series, the seventh in Nick Petrie’s Peter Ash thriller series, and the heartbreaking Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow set in the gaming world of the 1990s. I loved them all.
Bury Me When I’m Dead: A Charlie Mack Motown Mystery by Cheryl Head (finished)
Time’s Undoing by Cheryl Head (finished)
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (finished)
The Runaway by Nick Petrie (in progress)
What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World by Sara Hendren (in progress)
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (in progress)
Nemesis: A Miss Marple Mystery #12 by Agatha Christie (in progress)
The Shadows of Doom: The Uncommoners #2 by Jennifer Bell (in progress)
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall (finished)
Hit the Road, Helen!: Myth-O-Mania #9 by Kate McMullan finished)
Go for the Gold, Atalanta!: Myth-O-Mania #8 by Kate McMullan (in progress)
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson (in progress)
Carol’s Reading List
With Rhys Bowen’s Royal Spyness series and a handful of Nancy Drew mysteries, I took a break from the grittier and more serious mysteries that I’ve been immersed in. I appreciated both Georgie and my favorite teenage sleuth all over again.
Down a Dark River (Inspector Corravan #1) by Karen Odden
Under a Veiled Moon (Inspector Corravan #2) by Karen Odden
The First Cut by Peter Robinson
Before the Poison by Peter Robinson
Peril in Paris (Royal Spyness Mystery #16) by Rhys Bowen
The Twelve Clues of Christmas (Royal Spyness Mystery #6) by Rhys Bowen
Heirs and Graces (Royal Spyness Mystery #7) by Rhys Bowen
Queen of Hearts (Royal Spyness Mystery #8) by Rhys Bowen
Malice at the Palace (Royal Spyness Mystery #9) by Rhys Bowen
Crowned and Dangerous (Royal Spyness Mystery #10) by Rhys Bowen
On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service (Royal Spyness Mystery #11) by Rhys Bowen
The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk (Nancy Drew #17) by Carolyn Keene
The Clue in the Crumbling Wall (Nancy Drew #22) by Carolyn Keene
The Secret of the Golden Pavilion (Nancy Drew #36) by Carolyn Keene
The Mystery of the 99 Steps (Nancy Drew #43) by Carolyn Keene
Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash