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Best Books of October 2022
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I had four five star books this month. This first one was one of the best books I've ever read.- Title Under the Udala Trees
- Author Chinelo Okparanta
- Rating 5 Stars
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) 23 - A book that features loving LGBTQIA+ relationship
- Brief reason why it was the best This book was beautifully written even though it covered a lot of harsh and sad material. It delved into how deeply the Evangelical community hurts the LGBTQ+ community. It was about a woman learning how to be who she was in a society that did not accept her.
- Title Go, Went, Gone
- Author Jenny Erpenbeck
- Rating 5 Stars
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) N/A
- Brief reason why it was the best A retired professor learns more about the refugees in his area, how they are being treated, where they came from and how they got there, and he learns how his own government is failing them. #WiT
- Title Abigail
- Author Magda Szabó
- Rating 5 Stars
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) N/A
- Brief reason why it was the best At first, I thought this story was going to be all about the girls at a boarding academy, and while it is, it is so much more than that. We find out why Gina is sent there, what her father is hiding, and how she deals with it all.
- Title Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
- Author Mildred D. Taylor
- Rating 5 Stars
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) 39 - A book from the TIME list of 100 Best YA Books of All Time
- Brief reason why it was the best I started reading this with my kids when lockdown happened, and then lost the book! So, I picked it up for this challenge, and I am really wishing I had read this book as a kid. This book is raw and humorous and sad and powerful. I want to read the rest of her books now.
Title: Curse the DayAuthor: Annabel Chase
Rating: 5 stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): eBook
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): n/a
Brief reason why it was the best: It's a light-hearted supernatural mystery with a fun and sarcastic heroine and a large cast of paranormal characters.
Title: Firekeeper's DaughterAuthor: Angeline Boulley
Rating: 5 stars
Format: ebook
ATY prompt you used it for: #48, ATY best book of month for 2021 or 2022
Brief reason it was the best: great protagonist, many strong women characters, intriguing setting and story.
- Title:Intimacies - Author: Katie Kitamura
- Rating: 5 stars
- Format: Audio
- ATY Prompt you used it for: n/a
- Brief reason why it was the best: It is subtle and quiet, while also raising important questions about the nature of interpersonal and working relationships. The premise is so unique. I loved everything about this novel. I think I may have found a new favorite author.
My Review
- Title: Scattered All Over the Earth
- Author: Yōko Tawada
- Rating: 5 stars
- Format: Audio
- ATY Prompt you used it for: n/a
- Brief reason why it was the best: It is a book about language, communications, and linguistics. The characters form an interesting, quirky bunch. It explores the concepts of homelands and migrations, and how these may change in the future. Even though it is dystopian, it has a certain charm, portraying how people try to do the best they can in less-than-ideal circumstances.
My Review
Title The Great BelieversAuthor Rebecca Makkai
Rating 5 stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio) Audio
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) n/a
Brief reason why it was the best The book takes place among the gay community in Chicago, during the 1980s AIDS epidemic. The characters became like friends to me. Parts of the story were heartbreaking.
- Title: Devil's Dance- Author: Garrett Leigh
- Rating: 5/5
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): ebook
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): n/a
- Brief reason why it was the best: A romance novel that reads like a gripping crime thriller. An astonishingly brutal and wonderful book, that I absolutely devoured.
I only finished 5 books this month, my "worst" month since I started keeping track. BUT! All of them were very good, and I gave 3 of them 5 stars. I think my favorite of the bunch was True Biz by Sara Nović, which I listened to on audio. That was cool - the signed language was spoken by the narrator (of course) but also signed by the author and you could hear her hands along with the narration. I used it for both a Read Harder prompt and a Libro.fm challenge prompt, but not AtY. I liked getting a nuanced look at Deaf culture and decisions that happen when raising deaf children, but within a plot that moved and with well-drawn characters, so it didn't feel like a "lesson" book.
- Title: Found Audio- Author: N.J. Campbell
- Rating: 4/5 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Print
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): 3 books set on three different continents (going for a bit of a BIO on this prompt, if I get it done)
- Brief reason why it was the best: Romance is not my thing, but lost love explored via found audiotapes of an unidentified interviewee who may have found the City of Dreams, lost Shambhala? Yes, please.
Mod
Author: Fredrik Backman
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Audio
ATY Prompt you used it for: Handwriting on cover
Brief reason why it was the best:
I don't normally like to put the last in a series as my Best Of book because anyone who wants to take my advice would have to read the whole series to get to the end, but this one was SO. WORTH. IT. The whole series was amazing, but the final book broke my heart and made me laugh out loud and it was just so good. Highly recommend.
- Title : My Best Friend's Exorcism- Author: Grady Hendrix
- Rating: 4 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): print
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): A book related to one of the 22 Tarot Major Arcana cards
- Brief reason why it was the best: He does horror with a sense of humour. It was 80s nostalgia - the chapters were titled with songs. My copy was designed like a yearbook with quotes and ads.
- Title: The Fall of the House of Usher: An Edgar Allan Poe Short Story
- Author: Edgar Allan Poe
- Rating: 4 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): ebook
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): A book with gothic elements
- Brief reason why it was the best: Poe is still the best gothic horror writer out there. His stories are short, but he packs a lot into them.
- Title Sand- Author Hugh Howey
- Rating 5 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio) Audio
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) N.A
- Brief reason why it was the best - For me, this was a reread prior to the release of the next book in the series. I was surprised how much had stuck in my head after 5 years. I think if a story sticks with me that much after such a long time, it is truly well written, also Hugh Howey is a god and no one can convince me otherwise! 🤣
°~Amy~° wrote: "- Title Sand- Author Hugh Howey
- Rating 5 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio) Audio
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) N.A
- Brief reason why it was th..."
Im reading Across the Sand now, and while I am sure I would notice more things if I had just read Sand, it is still great with just my hazy memories!
Title Mr. Perfect on Paper
Author Jean Meltzer
Rating 4 stars
Format EBook
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) Jewish author/character.
Brief reason why it was the best It was just a fun romcom. Nothing too serious, and the dating disasters were extra hilarious.
Mod
- TitleConfession of the Lioness- AuthorMia Couto
- Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format Print 🌲
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable)4. A book that fits your favorite prompt that did not make the list
- Brief reason why it was the best I loved the book. One of the reasons is due to the fact that the story is based on real events which makes it even more interesting. Mia Couto's writing is magnificent, in addition to transporting us to the place, describes what a small village in Mozambique is like, its customs and way of life. We live in the 21st century, yet in different parts of the world there are still certain types of mentalities, that sometimes time passes but there is no evolution. There are very interesting phrases that make us think throughout the book. I strongly recommend.
- Title: Flowers for Algernon- Author: Daniel Keyes
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format: Audiobook 🎧
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): 7. A book related to psychology, neuroscience or the mind
- Brief reason why it was the best: This book was recommended by a friend. I didn't have high expectations for him. However I loved it. I was surprised by the characters, especially Charlie, by the writing, by the way it is organized and by the theme. The fact that it was in an audiobook made me feel more closely the progress of the experience. At the end of the book I was sad about the way it ends, I really missed Charlie. This reading was undoubtedly a surprise.
Title: Stone Blind: Medusa's StoryAuthor: Natalie Haynes
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
ATY Prompt you used it for: 10. 3 books set on three different continents (Africa)*
Natalie's audiobook narration is so entertaining. It's not just about Medusa but more about how Perseus is not really a hero when you see all the people he hurts.
*Turns out much of it is set in what would be Libya and Sudan today, but mostly this was a prompt I had still left to fill.
- Title: Other Birds- Author: Sarah Addison Allen
- Rating: 5 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): eBook
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): N/A
- Brief reason why it was the best: My first book by Sarah Addison Allen. I was immediately pulled into the setting, it was described so well in the book.
Title: The DoorAuthor: Magda Szabó
Rating: 5 stars
Format: ebook
ATY Prompt you used it for: #10. 3 books set on three different continents (Europe)
This is my second book by Magda Szabó, a Hungarian author, and I'm blown away by her writing skill. This was a very unique story about the strangely intense relationship between a female writer living in Budapest in the late 60s/early 70s and her elderly housekeeper, Emerence. The whole novel is fixated on exploring this relationship, so it doesn't really have a typical narrative arc, but I found it impressively gripping.
Title: The OverstoryAuthor: Richard Powers
Rating: 5 stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Print
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): 36. 2 books related to flora and fauna - Flora.
Brief reason why it was the best: I'm not sure if I can do this book justice. It confused me at first because I thought it was several short stories, followed by 2 novellas. But once I saw that the "short stories" were in fact the introductions to characters that would, for the most part, interact with other characters in the last 2 sections, it all made more sense. The overall story is about trees, and how they affect our lives in many different ways. This is oversimplified, but the book covers a lot. My favorite character is the once based loosely on the author of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, Suzanne Simard.
Title: The Shadow of the Wind
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Rating: 5 stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Kindle
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): 44. A book with gothic elements.
Brief reason why it was the best: I had been looking forward to this book for a long time. I had hoped that the "Cemetery of Forgotten Books" (a location in the book, and the name of the series for which this is book #1) figured more prominently, but maybe it does in the rest of the series. It definitely is important though. I liked this mostly because the descriptions of place and mood made you feel like you were there with the characters. Also, the two main storylines, which were connected, were interesting in their parallels. There were heroes and anti-heroes, as well as offbeat characters, so the range gave the story depth as well.
Title: Love in Color: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold
Author: Bolu Babalola
Rating: 4 stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Print
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): 30. A book related to mythology
Brief reason why it was the best: Mostly it's one of my favorites this month because of how unexpected it was. I almost wild-carded this prompt because I REALLY dislike mythology. This is a book of short stories, which I usually also dislike. AND all the stories involve romance, another genre I shy away from. BUT the author, Bolu Babalola, has an engaging style, and did a wonderful job of reimagining myths, from a variety of cultures, into modern stories. The romance part of it was not boring/offensive to me because all of the women either knew their power as humans, or discovered it along the way, and never fell prey to being simpering fools with their love interests. Even the short story aspect of it worked for me. There was depth, but I didn't feel short-changed when any of the 20-25 page stories were over.
My favorite book of the month was the first book I read in October:Title: Intensity
Author: Dean Koontz
Rating: 5 stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Kindle
Brief reason it was the best: The beginning chapters captivated my interest and sent chills down my back. After the initial events in the book, I found myself shouting the equivalent of: "Don't open that door!" But of course she does open it, every darn time! I recommend it to all who enjoy a suspenseful crime story.
Okay, so I already picked one, but I changed my mind. I mean, I still love the first book I picked, but I just can't not pick this one too.
Title Frankly in Love
Author David Yoon
Rating 4 stars
Format Hardcover
ATY Prompt you used it for I was going to use it for the Time's top 100 YA, but by the time I read it, I'd finished that prompt already.
Brief reason why it was the best I went in thinking this would be a YA romcom, but it was so much more and not even really about the romance - it was about identity and growing up and family.
And I added it to the list - sorry Emily for forgetting to add my first pick.
- Title: The Girl Who Reads on the Métro
- Author: Christine Féret-Fleury
- Rating: 5 stars.
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Paperback
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): None.
- Brief reason why it was the best: Such an elegant story about a young woman taking a side road to work and her life changing, towards the end finding herself.
- Title: Navigate Your Stars
- Author: Jesmyn Ward
- Rating: 5 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Ebook
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): None.
- Brief reason why it was the best: A speach from the author about her life, what she thought about it and what it actually seemed to be after many years. Gorgeous illustrations. Totally recommend!
So many great reads this month!!
-Title: Daughters of Smoke and Fire
- Author: Ava Homa
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format: audiobook
- ATY Prompt: book set on 3 continents
- Brief reason why it was the best: a powerful story about the struggles of the Kurdish people in Iran, by the first Kurdish woman to publish a novel in English. This is an important read in light of the recent tragic death of Mahsa Amini and subsequent protests. Here is my review
-Title: The Diamond Eye
- Author: Kate Quinn
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format: audiobook
- ATY Prompt: historical fiction/ published in 2022/ related to a book read in 2021
- Brief reason why it was the best: a historical fiction based on the story of Lyudmila Pavlichencko, a Ukrainian sniper known by the Russians as Lady Death for her part in fighting against the German invasion of her homeland in WW2. A great mix of fact and fiction, war, romance and a strong female lead. Here is my review
-Title: Blue Label
- Author: Eduardo Sánchez Rugeles
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format: ebook
- ATY Prompt: Latin American author/ published at least ten years ago
- Brief reason why it was the best: literary fiction set in Venezuela about teenagers on a road trip, trying to find a way to deal with the collapse of a country around them. I found it well-written and engaging. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Here is my review
-Title: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
- Author: Marjane Satrapi
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format: ebook
- ATY Prompt: books set on 3 continents/ Time 100 best YA books
- Brief reason why it was the best: a graphic novel/ autobiography about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980 which was very insightful. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ here is my review
-Title: The Gilded Ones
- Author: Namina Forna
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format: audiobook
- ATY Prompt: features loving LGBTQIA+ relationship
- Brief reason why it was the best: a YA fantasy by an author who was born and raised in Sierra Leone. An empowering feminist read, here is my review
-Title: Treasure of the World- Author: Tara Sullivan
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format: audiobook
- ATY Prompt: books set on 3 continents/ set in small town or rural area
- Brief reason why it was the best: a beautifully written story set in the mountains of Bolivia where 12 year old Ana and her family struggle to mine silver and eke out an existence, highlighting plight of children forced to work just so their families can eat. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ here is my review
Fiction Title Nettle & Bone
Author T. Kingfisher
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Format (Print, eBook, Audio) Audio
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) 51 A book published in 2022
Brief reason why it was the best The writing was so entertaining and the characters were so likeable. I loved that the MC and some of the other characters were rather introvert. The dialogues were great.
Nonfiction
Title Last Chance to See
Author Douglas Adams
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Format (Print, eBook, Audio) Ebook
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) 36 book for fauna
Brief reason why it was the best Although I liked theThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it never fully convinced me. It was just a bit too silly for me. Here in this book you have the author's humor paired with a serious subject. I thought it was great to read about his travel experiences. Also, the book reads like a novel. Recommended for readers who otherwise have a hard time with nonfiction (like me).
Title Tess of the D’UrbervillesAuthor Thomas Hardy
Rating⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Format Audio
ATY Prompt you used it for none
Brief reason why it was the best It's not a happy book, but I couldn't put it down, and I found myself thinking about it again after I finished it.
Title Alias Emma
Author Ava Glass
Rating⭐⭐⭐⭐
Format Audio
ATY Prompt you used it for #49. A book connected to the phrase "Here (There) Be Dragons"
Brief reason why it was the best This was a solid, keep-me-up-past-bedtime page-turner. It owes much to The Third Man, among other classics, but manages to freshen things up enough to be fun.
Title Candide
Author Voltaire
Rating⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Format Audio
ATY Prompt you used it for none
Brief reason why it was the best What a ridiculous and wonderful book. I don't always enjoy satire, but I enjoyed Candide. The character of the optimistic and fatalistic Pangloss is especially excellent.
Emily wrote: "Title: The WinnersAuthor: Fredrik Backman
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Audio
ATY Prompt you used it for: Handwriting on cover
Brief reason why it was the best:
I don't ..."
Thanks for adding this, Emily, so I can justify reading it since I haven’t done my “best of” prompt yet!
- Title Mercury Pictures Presents- Author Anthony Marra
- Rating 4 stars
- Format Print
- ATY Prompt you used it for: Pub in 2022
- Brief reason why it was the best: Engaging historical fiction set around the movie industry and the beginning of WWII. There is a focus on the bias against Asians, Germans, and Italians during this time frame. The story set in Italy was the most interesting to me and I felt like it could've been a novella, in itself. The parts in the US dragged a little which is why it's a 4 (rather than 5) star read for me.
- Title: Lonely Castle in the Mirror- Author: Mizuki Tsujimura
- Rating: 5 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): eBook
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): N/A
- Brief reason why it was the best: The way the book discusses mental health issues such as bullying and the real struggle that the students in the book go through is very enlightening.
I had two top-rated reads in October:Title: The Golden Enclaves (Scholomance #3)
Author: Naomi Novik
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): eBook
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): N/A
Brief reason why it was the best: This was a satisfying conclusion to a thrilling trilogy.
Title: The Empress of Salt and Fortune
Author: Nghi Vo
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): eBook
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): N/A
Brief reason why it was the best: It's a tale-within-a-tale story, and each chapter begins with a historian's cataloging of items that end up being relevant to that part of the story, a format that really worked for me as a museum-nerd. The story was tight and clever, a perfectly constructed novella.
I had a stellar reading month in October. These are the tops.Title: Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus
Author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Rating: four stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): paperback & audio
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): 44. A book with gothic elements
Brief reason why it was the best: . I struggled a bit at the beginning getting pulled into the story, but I think that is more a function of the more formal patterns of speech attributed to the characters, which is probably very accurate for the time period (it was published first in 1818, and then revised in 1831). Once I was immersed, it was terrific.
Title: Rebecca
Author: Daphne du Maurier
Rating: five stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): paperback & audio
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): NA
Brief reason why it was the best: This suspenseful first-person tale is hardly a gothic romance, more like domestic noir: a complex examination of love and jealousy and living with ghosts, with twists and turns, ample character development, a real sense of place, and beautiful writing. I alternated between the paperback and the audiobook, wonderfully narrated by Anna Massey.
Title: Thistlefoot
Author: GennaRose Nethercott
Rating: four+ stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): hardcover (BOTM)
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): 22. A book with a Jewish character or author
Brief reason why it was the best: Thistlefoot is about preserving the memories of those history has erased, a fairy tale, modern folklore woven with old Russian-Jewish folklore, family. The novel is inspired by the Baba Yaga tale: a witch who lives in the woods of Eastern Europe in a house that stands on chicken legs – that tale is woven through the novel told from the house, Thistlefoot’s, perspective. Ms. Nethercott’s writing is beautiful and she crafted many memorable passages containing astute observations about life. . . . overall, this strange, tragic, wonderful book was compelling from the first page to the last.
Title: Beloved
Author: Toni Morrison
Rating: five stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): hard cover and audio
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): NA
Brief reason why it was the best: The book is set in the years before, during, and after the Civil War. This novel is not for the easily triggered; the many shapes of suffering, the psychosis underlying Sethe’s dark infanticide, and how the horrors where mythically accommodated by the various adult slaves that people this story are not bedtime. Even the redemption Sethe finds is tinged with the horrific. A sobering, difficult, but compelling story, gorgeously written.
Title: A Bright Ray of Darkness
Author: Ethan Hawke
Rating: five stars
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): ebook and audio
ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): NA
Brief reason why it was the best: Searching for a book a related to the word “dark” I stumbled on this gem. What a treat. His writing evokes the best of Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, and David Foster Wallace, with snappy dialogue, grossly flawed characters, and a protagonist who seems likely to be drawn largely from Mr. Hawke’s own experiences in acting.
Mod
A Different Drummer by William Melvin KelleyI read my paperback copy of this book and gave it 4 stars.
I used this book for an author with two sets of double letters in their name. (I like that the title also has two sets of double letters.)
This is an interesting story of a black man who decides to burn down his house and destroy his farmland before leaving town. Following this, all the black residents of the town leave as well. The story is told through multiple perspectives of white residents of the town. A few plot holes, but a really thought-provoking book.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
A Different Drummer (other topics)Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus (other topics)
A Bright Ray of Darkness (other topics)
Thistlefoot (other topics)
Rebecca (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
William Melvin Kelley (other topics)Daphne du Maurier (other topics)
GennaRose Nethercott (other topics)
Toni Morrison (other topics)
Ethan Hawke (other topics)
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Answer the following questions:
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