Hello Readers! I had a phenomenal reading month in October thanks to pushing myself to finish My Popsugar Reading Challenge for the year, as well as all my ARCs. I wanted to free up November for Nanowrimo and December for seasonal reading. You can check out My October Wrap-Up to see what all I read.

Much like my September haul, my October haul is out of control, but most of these are from a trip to the thrift store at the beginning of the month. I couldn’t pass up so many great books that were a dollar or less each. I also added more books from Paperbackswap, a special edition Owlcrate book, a Bookish First selection, an audiobook, and more ebooks, of course. Whew. Like I said, out of control. 😉

Let’s take a look at my haul for October!

(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)

My eARCs

A collection of trope-themed short stories edited by Marissa Meyer??!! I’m so excited about Serendipity!

Synopsis:

Love is in the air in this is a collection of stories inspired by romantic tropes and edited by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer. 

The secret admirer.
The fake relationship.
The matchmaker.

From stories of first love, unrequited love, love that surprises, love that’s been there all along, ten of the brightest and award-winning authors writing YA have taken on some of your favorite romantic tropes, embracing them and turning them on their heads. Readers will swoon for this collection of stories that celebrate love at its most humorous, inclusive, heart-expanding, and serendipitous.

Contributors include Elise Bryant, Elizabeth Eulberg, Leah Johnson, Anna-Marie McLemore, Marissa Meyer, Sandhya Menon, Julie Murphy, Caleb Roehrig, Sarah Winifred Searle, and Abigail Hing Wen 

Available 1/4/22

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I couldn’t resist requesting Melissa Ferguson’s Meet Me in the Margins. It sounds adorable!

Synopsis:

Savannah Cade is a low-level editor at Pennington Publishing, a prestigious publisher producing only the highest of highbrow titles. And while editing the latest edition of The Anthology of Medieval Didactic Poetry may be her day job, she has two secrets she’s hiding.

One: She’s writing a romance novel.

Two: She’s discovered the Book Nook—a secret room in the publishing house where she finds inspiration for her “lowbrow” hobby.

After leaving her manuscript behind one afternoon, she returns to the nook only to discover someone has written notes in the margins. Savannah’s first response to the criticism is defensive, but events transpire that force her to admit that she needs the help of this shadowy editor after all. As the notes take a turn for the romantic, and as Savannah’s madcap life gets more complicated than ever, she uses the process of elimination to identify her mysterious editor—only to discover that what she truly wants and what she should want just might not be the same. Melissa Ferguson’s latest—a love letter to books, readers, and romance—will leave fans laughing out loud and swooning in the same breath. 

Available 2/15/22

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I was very excited to be approved for Josie Silver’s latest, One Night on the Island. I read and enjoyed her debut One Day in December, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy this one, as well.

Synopsis:

TWO PEOPLE.
A CHANCE ENCOUNTER.
A LOVE STORY THAT WILL LAST A LIFETIME.

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER ONE DAY IN DECEMBER, COMES A BRAND NEW LOVE STORY

When Cleo’s editor requests that she marry herself on a remote island for her dating column, she envisions skinny-dipping in the crystalline waters and revelling in the blissful quiet.

But when she arrives at Otter Lodge, Mack, a grumpy, yet undeniably handsome American, insists that her cosy cottage is actually his. With no beds to spare and a storm fast approaching, they’re trapped.

Can what began as a disastrous double-booking turn into something more? And might this one night on the island change both of their lives forever?

An uplifting and immensely moving love story for fans of The Holiday, The Flatshare and Nicholas Sparks. 

Available 3/29/22

My Paperbackswap Books

Apparently either my Paperbackswap wishlist is so large I’m now receiving multiple books a month or people are reading and unhauling more books than they used to. 😉 I used to go months without getting one book.

• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune – Woohoo! I was surprised this one came up available so quickly on my wishlist.
• Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
• All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
• Uprooted by Naomi Novik
• Grace After Henry by Eithne Shortall

My Thrift Store Haul

• Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse, #2) by Charlaine Harris – It just worked out that I already owned the first book in this series when I found books 2-6! (It’s really bugging me that I didn’t get the order right in the picture, but not enough to do a reshoot. 😉 Why can’t they put the numbers on the spines??)
• Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #3) by Charlaine Harris
• Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse, #4) by Charlaine Harris
• Dead as a Doornail (Sookie Stackhouse, #5) by Charlaine Harris
• Definitely Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #6) by Charlaine Harris
• The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
• Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
• Fortune and Glory: Tantalizing Twenty-Seven by Janet Evanovich
• Still Me (Me Before You, #3) by Jojo Moyes – I’ve yet to read any of the books in the Me Before You series, but now I own all the books. 🙂
• Hollow City (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, #2) by Ransom Riggs -I’d pretty much decided not to continue with this series, but I couldn’t pass up these two books at such a great price. Let me know if I should read them!
• Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, #3) by Ransom Riggs
  

My Owlcrate Special Edition Box

When I heard Owlcrate was releasing a special 10th anniversary box for The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, I knew I had to have it. It was full of Thisby-themed goodies. I’ll be sharing my unboxing post soon! There’s still some available if you’d like to snag one.

Gifted ebook

I was very happy when I was able to get a free copy of Fool Me Twice at Christmas from the author Camilla Isley through her newsletter. I’ve already read and reviewed this one!

Purchased

I purchased The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl with my credit from my Audible free trial. My husband is a big fan of the Foo Fighters, so we’ll listen to this one together. So far it’s getting glowing reviews!

My Bookish First Selection

I like to save up my credits on Bookish First and then snag those books I know I’ll want to read. I was lucky to claim Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu. This female reimagining of the classic book The Outsiders set in my home state of Texas is getting tons of buzz right now. Especially with the fight over reproductive rights here. I’m planning on reading it in November, so watch for that review!

Amazon First Reads

In October we were able to choose two First Reads. First I chose A Day Like This by Kelly McNeil. This mystery is getting great reviews. I also chose Tahira in Bloom by Farah Heron, a young adult contemporary romance about an aspiring designer set in Canada.

Both are available 11/1/21

Have you read any of these books? Did you add any of them to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!