I’m not sure I read any books that fit into the “spooky season” category, but I did read 16 books in October. Of those, I gave four perfect grades.
My Favorite Books of October 2024
Of the books I read in October, I gave two fiction and two nonfiction perfect grades. Here are my reviews.
Archer’s Voice
Books often don’t live up to the hype, but Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan certainly did. I don’t think I sobbed like other readers claim they did, but I teared up multiple times while reading. That’s a lot for me.
The book is about the unlikely love of two people riding out their trauma in the small town of Pelion, Maine.
Bree Prescott goes to Pelion to run from her trauma and re-establish her safety.
For Archer Hale, his Pelion and everything about it is where his trauma originated and stays.
But when the two meet, they discover that they can conquer a lot together, despite the things that divide them.
The Genius of Judy
Gen X women grew up on Judy Blume. And if you loved her books as much as I did, you have to read The Genius of Judy by Rachelle Bergstein.
Blume writes a lot of her books based on things happening or that have happened in her own life. So, this book was able to tell the story of Judy’s life and publishing career, complete with excerpts from her books that help the reader understand context and advance Blume’s story.
Reading this book made me love the feminist icon even more. It also made me want to reread all her books from my childhood.
The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture
Many of you may know that I study emotional trauma, so the subject isn’t new to me. The Myth of Normal by Gabor Mate´ and Daniel Mate´ is the best look at the complexity and misunderstanding of trauma that I’ve read.
Two things I really loved about this book. First, it explores the idea that just because you’re offended or something bad has happened to you, it doesn’t mean you’re traumatized. People experience various traumatic events in their lives that they process and move forward from. However, that also doesn’t mean that you should compare your trauma or responses to those of others. We all have different thresholds of resilience for different experiences at various times in our lives.
Second, trauma is all around us in varying levels and from different sources. Learning to recognize trauma responses in yourself and others is important. Caring for yourself in ways that make you less prone to the impact of trauma is critical.
Wildfire
You may remember that I loved the first book in the Maple Hill series, Icebreaker. I didn’t expect to like it because a spicy rom-com is not my typical read. I certainly didn’t expect to love Hannah Grace’s second book in the series, mostly because I rarely like the second book in a series as much as the first. But Wildfire surprised me too.
Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts meet at a party. Russ is a shy fella, but the two are pretty taken with each other. After one awkward make out session, neither is sure they’ll see each other again. Then, Aurora shows up to serve as a camp counselor at her favorite camp from childhood, like she does every year. But guess who is on the counselor roster this year?
Once again, Grace’s college-aged characters were much more emotionally complex than I expected for this type of book. In another surprise, I can’t wait to read the third book in the series because it’s about my favorite member of the hockey team (which is how all the male characters in the series are connected).
Happy Reading!
There they are, my favorite books of October. I can’t believe my two favorite fiction books are romance. Maybe I’m moving out of my thriller era?
I hope you find something on the list to read and love.
As always, happy reading!
