What are your favorite October Reads?

[Carnegie-Stout Public Library]

The weather is finally cooling, the leaves are changing color, and we're wondering what books you love to curl up with in October! Do you prefer the chills of horror or do you look for something more cozy?

[Ben]

Often, I prefer the chills of horror. Currently, I’m reading a book about the actual horrors involved in the journey west in 1846. The Best Land Under Heaven by Michael Wallis gives a narrative history of the Donner Party’s fateful journey to California. It’s beautifully written, with many first-person accounts from the journal entries of those on the trip. I’m about halfway through the book now—it’s October, they just made it through the Great Salt Lake Desert in Utah after taking the ill-advised short-cut, they’ve lost most of their animals and belongings, and winter is setting in…

Happy October!

[Angie]

Cozy! Coffee mug, warm blanket, quiet afternoon! But I guess that is "reading mood" more than the book choice. I have been setting foot into the mystery realm with "Folly" by Stella Cameron. A British mystery set in the Cotswolds, cozy place, murder. That fits the cozy mood. Also, gotta throw in the fact that, of course, I am reading the October Geek Out! Book "Ashfall" by Mike Mullin. Nothing cozy about the aftermath of the Yellowstone Supervolcano! But it is intriguing so far. The meeting is 10/23 at 6 pm, for those who want to go. Oh yeah, and I am still reading book 3 in YA fan favorite ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas). Compulsively readable - witty banter, and kick*ss females.

[Sarah]

I'm with Angie on the cozy blanket cocoon! As the weather turns colder, I tend to find myself looking for nonfiction and biography. That said, the next book I'm actually planning to read is a forthcoming mystery The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn that sounds like it'll be full of creepy twists. I'm also, very slowly, listening to the YA fantasy An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. The narrators are fantastic, and it's an interesting story, but it's far, far too violent (and that includes frequent threats of rape) for me to read in large chunks.

[Ben]

Michael wrote: "Ben wrote: "...The Best Land Under Heaven by Michael Wallis gives a narrative history of the Donner Party’s fateful journey to California...."

Ben, I have an advance reader copy of [book:The Hunge..."

Thanks Mike! I would like to take a look at it. I'll read it depending on whether I want to stay immersed in that world.

[Ann]

I'm not reading horror or cozy. I'm back into outdoorsy/nature stuff -- with a vengeance, maybe because I know winter's coming and I'll be outside less. I'm currently reading All the Wild that Remains by David Gessner, which is about the western writers Edward Abbey and Wallace Stegner. And I'm just about to read Backpacking with the Saints: Wilderness Hiking as Spiritual Practice by Belden Lane. The saints he backpacks with are the authors of books he takes with him, spiritual types like Rumi, Thich Nhat Hanh, Therese of Lisieux, and Gandhi. This book just sort of fell into my hands right off our library shelves.

[Angie]

With all this rain, I find myself gravitating toward anything British. Currently I am reading The Remains of the Day, while drinking buckets of tea. Next I may want to re-read an Agatha Christie.

[Angie]

I love David Suchet's portrayal of Hercule Poirot, so I am hesitant to see the new movie. But love Judi Dench, who is in this so I may be tempted!