What I Read in October 2024

I'm running late with this month's reading round-up because the daylight's been abysmal for photos all month (I've given up, and will add photos later), but, when am I not lagging behind? Oh, well, at least I'm here now.

Anyway, October wasn't my strongest reading month. I only finished six books. I came down with a nasty cold, and I felt so fluish, it floored me for a couple of weeks. I kept falling asleep reading after a couple of pages, even after I began to feel better, and there were a few days I only managed a page or two because my eyeballs burned if I focused on anything. (Looking back, I think it might have been Covid). I also found one book, Born of Blood and Ash, really hard to get in to, and took a week to read 120 pages, as it was such a boring start, so that also slowed me down a lot.

I feel really annoyed with myself for not doing better, but I'm trying to remind myself that I was ill, the audiobooks I read were all super long, and that it doesn't matter how much I read, as long as I was reading. I really should listen to myself!

So, what did I read in October?

October Reading Stats:

📖6 books completed, 2 more started.

📖2 hardbacks.

🎧4 audiobooks

📖1107 pages (3316 pages including audiobooks).

🎧86.6 hours listened at 1.1x speed.

📖3⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads.

📖2⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖Average book length: 612 pages.

📖Average rating: 4.33 stars.

📖Average time to finish: 10 days.

📖13 Books acquired. (4 audiobooks, 9 hardbacks). (Although, 2 were for Christmas gifts)

📖7 Books preordered. (7 hardbacks).

I Read:

📖Fear the Flames by Olivia Rose Darling. 3⭐

📖Born of Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout. 4⭐

🎧Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas unabridged. 5⭐ (Reread).

🎧Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas unabridged. 5⭐ (Reread).

🎧Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas unabridged. 5⭐ (Reread).

🎧Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas unabridged. 4⭐ (Reread).

And I Started:

📖The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. (I reached the last 75 pages on Halloween night, which was so frustrating)!

🎧Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas.

Favourite Reads: 

It's between Born of Blood and Ash, and The Spellshop. Although, I didn't quite finish the latter before the month was up, so can I even count it? You know what, I am, because it was one of the most delightful reading experiences I've ever had, and I make the rules here. It was such a cute and cosy story, and it was one of the most comforting and whimsical books I've read since I was little. It felt like reading a grown-up children's story. There were merhorses and mermaids, winged cats, a sentient spider plant, an ambulatory cactus, magic, jam and pastries, heartwarming friendships, and the sweetest romance with a merhorse-wrangler. I honestly could not recommend it to you more- especially if you loved Legends and Lattes. I hadn't even finished it before I knew it was one of my favourite reads ever!

Born of Blood and Ash, on the other hand, began a little slow, but it ended up being a fantastic conclusion to the Flesh and Fire series, and Sera and Ash's story. I'm not sure what I enjoyed more; Sera and Ash kicking ass and serving justice to some very deserving people; baby Reaver and Jadis being adorable and protective of their liessa (queen); Nektas looking after Sera during her grief; Sera and Attes' friendship; or all the cute, domestic moments between Sera and Ash. I'm really going to miss these characters, but I hope at least some of them will feature in the final Blood and Ash book when it comes out next year. (Flesh and Fire is a spin-off series of Blood and Ash, following Poppy's grandparents a few generations before, and the storylines all link together). I'd recommend them- but only if you're okay with spice, violence, and confronting topics like sexual assault and trauma.

Favourite Listens: I don't think I could choose a favourite audiobook for the month. I was working through a reread of the last five books of one of my favourite fantasy series- Throne of Glass, and they were all fantastic to listen to in their own right. The actually-enemies enemies-to-friends-to-..? storyline in Heir of Fire was so much fun to relive. Queen of Shadows was flawless as an audiobook. Empire of Storms has Lorcan juggling knives. topless. in the circus and cutting up his shirts for period protection- enough said. Tower of Dawn has the most underrated book boyfriend ever (Sartaq), and I forgot how funny, inspiring, and adventurous the story was. And Kingdom of Ash made me an emotional wreck- in all the best and worst ways- all over again. How do I even choose?

Least Favourites: It has to be Fear the Flames. It was my lowest-rated book of the month. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, as it was fun, but it just wasn't the best written book, and it was taxing to push on at times. There wasn't a lot happening beyond a lot of senseless stabbings (seriously, they really needed to slay people to steal their clothes?!) and a lot of flirting between the main characters; the dialogue was too often cringe-worthy, and I couldn't help but notice that a lot of Kaden's lines were clearly reworded quotes from other fantasy MMCs, like Casteel, Cardan, Rowan, and Rhys. Also, the MMC had three nicknames for the FMC, which was just ridiculous and exhausting. Who is she? Aelin Galathynius?! I enjoyed the enemies to lovers relationship, though, and Kaden stole my heart. You'll like him if you love Casteel Da' Neer.

I've listed my like-new hardback copy of Fear the Flames for sale on my eBay page for just a fiver plus P&P, if anyone's interested. (There are a few new and like-new special editions on there, too).

And that is what I read in October.

What about you?

Have you read any good books lately?

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