October 2024 To Be Read

I don't know what has prompted me to go back to this, but I figured it would be what I'd do for the rest of the year. Really I only need to read ~4 books a month until the end of the year to reach my goal. I'm still gonna do a 6-book TBR! With no further adieu, let us get into the To-Be-Read!!

Print

1. Sleep Tight by J.H. Markert - It looks absolutely wonderful for the season. This dude, who called himself Father Silence, disguises himself so he can do unspeakable things to some kids. Two decades later he is put to death for the crimes. Then the detective who put Father Silence away is found dead and someone calling themselves The Outcast is claiming that he did it. I can't wait to be taken on what I will assume is going to be a wild ride. It looked amazing and I couldn't resist it for spooky season. I am so picking this one up first. 

2. Home is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose - Some estranged siblings come back together after the death of their parents to sort through the estate and settle things. They come across a series of home videos on VHS tape, and in a fit of nostalgia decide to start watching them. In one of the tapes, they learn that their parents might not have been as good as they remembered and now they have to decide if they are going to go to the police with this or bury it where it will never see the light. Makes you wonder for sure. If both of your parents were dead, and you found evidence that they had murdered someone and the case had gone cold because of lack of evidence, what would you do? Do you go to the police with it? The family of the victim would be given closure knowing what happened, but the culprits will never be prosecuted. Or do you destroy the evidence, letting sleeping dogs lie? I am looking forward to this read to see what the kids do. 

3. Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay - In 1993 a bunch of people go off to film a horror movie. Only three scenes from it ever make it out to the public, but it gains an almost cult following. Three decades later, Hollywood wants to reboot it and the only surviving cast member decides to help them remake it. As he does he remembers what happened all those years ago. This looks bonkers and I am into it.  This sounds like its the exact kind of psychological thriller that I'd be into. 

Digital

4. Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews - Andrew self-soothes with fantasical stories as his sister ignores him. He finds something odd as the boy he's got a crush on (it's obvious) returns to their academy with missing parents, blood on his clothes, and an absolute unwillingness to talk about what happened. I didn't even need to read any more of the synopsis to want to read this. It comes out on October 29th and I was graciously accepted to read an eARC of this before the release date. 

5. A Demon's Book of Shadows by Amanda Casey - Lucy is kind of averse to romance, just wanting to write and publish a book for dyslexic children. Amon wants to be left to his own and run his tattoo parlor when he is tasked with locating a missing Grimoire belonging to a wendigo. They end up having to work together to find this book. I have no memory of requesting the eARC for this, but apparently I did at some point, because I got the notification that I had been approved. It comes out on October 13th and I'm interested to say the least. Not my usual cup of tea, but I will still give it a go. 

Audio

6. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix - Patricia's life is kind of hectic with all the things in life, but she kind of uses her local book club to destress. Until a new guy blows into town which has her feeling things a married woman certainly shouldn't be. People start suspecting him when local children go missing and the book club works together (I think) to figure out if it was him and what happened to the kids. I don't know. It looked funny and I wanted something thrillery for October. Seemed appropriate for the month. I am looking forward to listening to it either on lunches or while doing work around the house/playing games. 

Bonus

7. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah - Tully Hart and Kate Mularkey have been friends since Tully moved in across the street in small-town Washington. They have relied on each other, sharing everything from the early 1970s until 2004 when something happens that breaks their relationship almost irrevocably. Can they reconcile and salvage a thirty year friendship or is this the end of the Firefly Lane Girls? Okay....a customer at my previous job recommended the Netflix show to us and a coworker and I decided we would watch the show. By the end of the first season we both acquired a copy of the book. I've decided I'm going to read only one-two chapters every night before bed as kind of the final thing for the night. 

8. Fall, or Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson - Richard "Dodge" Forthrast. a tech genius, goes in for a routine procedure and something goes incredibly wrong that ends with him being pronounced braindead and his body left in the care of his family. Technology eventually allows Richard's brain to be uploaded into a program where he can live on in seeming immortality while his body is destroyed. But it might not be the utopia he was expecting it to be. I picked this up from the Friends of the Library sale back in...uh, June? July? Something like that, and I've been reading it since. It's ~880 pages of small, dense font detailing an incredibly complicated plot. I am enjoying it as I go, but I fear it will take me a bit to get through. 

9. Malediction's Embrace by Candice Morris -  Minolynn, otherwise known as Lynn, has spent years trying to find her brother, Xaraan, after he killed their mother and fled their home. She learns that he has made a pact with the Lord of Death himself, and has gained an unfathomable amount of power. She has to stop him before he destroys not just himself but the entire world as they know it. I was given this in return for a review and so far I'm loving it. I'd call it medium fantasy. Reads like a novelization of a D&D adventure. Though they did change the names of some things. 

10. A Journey of the Heart by Brenda Benning - Lundyn moves back to her small town home after graduating following the death of her mother. She needs the time to figure out what she wants to do with herself and her grandparents need help with their home and business. She learns something along the way that makes her start to question everything she knows about her life so far. It looked interesting and I was given a copy of it in return for not a review, exactly, but to see if I would want to continue on and review the third volume of the series, A Journey of the Soul. I have no idea what I'm going to think about it....but here's hoping!! 

11. King of the Rising by Kacen Callendar - A revolution has swept through the islands of Hans Lollik and former slave Loren Jannik has been chosen to lead the survivors in a bid to free the islands forever. But the rebels are running out of food, weapons and options. And as the Fjern inch closer to reclaiming Hans Lollik with every battle, Loren is faced with a choice that could shift the course of the revolution in their favor -- or doom it to failure. I don't really recall much from the first book, not that it matters. I picked this up to read for A Year in Aeldia's October prompt to read a book that I haven't heard people talking about recently. I haven't heard people talking about it ever. I nearly forgot to add it.