A slow reading month with only eight books, but given the craziness of the month it’s a win! October had two birthdays (mine and Gage’s), one anniversary (our 27th wedding anniversary), and a wedding trip/vacay to Colorado where the three of us and my mom watched my cousin’s daughter (and one of my flower girls) get married. Oh, and we also added a 2 pound furball to the house, making this a 3 cat house, and one of the other cats, Razzi, had to have surgery. I’m honestly looking forward to a more low key November!
Spotlight!
Not a Free Ion by Elinor Wilder. 112 pages, 2025
My friend wrote a book! This novella is a set up for the series and I’m so proud of her! Not a Free Ion is a novella that sets up the Claw Ridge Mountains community that is home to wolf shifter packs. It’s a love story with a shifter who lost his sense of smell and a neurodivergent woman who has always loved him. They finally get there second chance when the stakes are high.
I’m not usually into wolf shifters or novellas BUT this was a fun introduction to the first book, where I’ve had the privilege to read a few early chapters. If you do like shifter stories, go ahead and show some love to my friend by reading this one. The opening rescue chapters will have you hooked from page one.
Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristan Higgans. 435 pages, 2019
This was my favorite book of the month by one of my favorite authors. A widowed matriarch who is dying, a granddaughter once cast away now invited back with the promise of a sizeable inheritance for her daughter, and an absent son/father who still has a role in the story.
I loved watching Emma come into her own as she went back to the place she was raised and where her one and only love still lived with his new family. I liked hearing Genevieve’s voice as she told her story and the purified air way she had at looking at the world. I also loved that the mystery of the missing, presumed dead son was just a small part of the story and that when the truth finally became known it was almost a surprise I wasn’t sure was going to happen.
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. 389 pages, 2022
I really liked this age gap, social disparity romance. I loved watching kind hearted, somewhat clueless Alexis of a medicine dynasty fall in love with Daniel and the small town he lived in. I also fell in love with Daniel, the man of many hats, and the close-knit small town that needed and embraced Alexis.
This did address abuse both emotional and physical, which I appreciated. Too many girls/women can’t see the emotional abuse after they’ve accepted it as fact. Any story that can save girls from those relationships is one that should be shared widely.
In Polite Company by Gervais Hagerty. 368 pages, 2021
Simons is a Charleston blue blood who always feels out of place. When she starts questioning her engagement to the perfect man according to her family she must make a choice.
I loved the Charleston setting and all of the ins and outs of the elites that live there. The story was part family ties and part dating horror stories and it moved along at a good pace. The grandma’s story of being brave was a nice through line.
We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida. 297 pages, 2023
The book is a collection of stories with a central location, the Nakagyo Kokoro Clinic for the Soul in Kyoto. The clinic can only be found when a person is struggling with life and the doctor only ever prescribes one thing, a cat!
Such a charming story with each chapter the name of the prescribed cat with a picture. Cat lovers will like the sweetness of a cat being able to cure all ills.
The Love Haters by Katherine Center. 309 pages, 2025
Zany scenes told with wit and humor are a Katherine Center gift. Her latest, the Lover Haters, has that along with a perfect specimen of a man and a woman dealing with body issues. Oh, and a large Great Dane who is involved in much of the story.
This was fun and I liked it. Not my favorite of hers, I like my men with at least as many flaws as I have, but still good.
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. 279 pages, 2006
Gage and I read the second Percy Jackson together. It’s slow going with school starting, but we did it! And he’s willing to continue so that’s the best thing
I still like how these books make mythology fun and are educating as well as entertaining. I’m looking forward to the next one just as much as he is!
The Dark Side by Danielle Steel. 288 pages, 2019
So, this is my first Danielle Steel book in decades and, wow, it was not what I was expecting! I am not a big believer in trigger warnings and am sure I would have ignored them if there’d been any, but this book was just one big trigger for me.
My trigger warnings for you includes sick children and lots of child ER visits. I found no joy in this book from beginning to end, so if you like those types of books, have at it 😆
I don’t often post about books I don’t really like, but given how much it bothered me I thought I’d warn you.
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