The first half is all the books I read & recommend.
The second half are books I started reading / read but do not think highly enough of to recommend (although some I had to finish simply because I got too invested in what was happening and needed to know the ending).
No book links because I thoroughly encourage you to use a library or a local, independent bookseller and absolutely by all means possible, avoid Indigo/Chapters, and Amazon.
If you need one that delivers in Canada, I very much like McNally Robinson. They can order any book you like.
WHAT I RECOMMEND
The Earth Children’s Series: Jean Auel
The Land of Painted Caves (last book)
Young Adult – Homo sapiens – Neanderthals – Evolution of mankind – Culture – Clans – Fitting in
I started the series in September and finished it in October which is why this book is in October’s roundup.
It is more of a young adult series, but it really calls into question what it means to be human, what it means to fit into a place, and how far someone may go to try and be accepted. It traces the lineage of two diverging lines – Homo sapiens and neanderthals – and fictionally tries to tell the story of how the split may have happened.
The ending was not satisfying. If you want a satisfying ending, DO NOT READ THESE BOOKS. But they were good reads.
The Single Mum’s Mansion: Janet Hoggarth
Single Mothers – Struggle – Children in these situations – Support – Friendship – Loss – Love
I thought it was a memoir and it wasn’t but that is OK because it was so wonderful to read about single mothers, their struggles and then having them live together to support each other? I enjoyed every word, and the ending especially.
Twenty Years Later: Charlie Donlea
Murder Mystery – Cold Case – 9/11 – Famous unsolved murder – Journalist with a past
I just finished this book and it is an excellent thriller, tying together the whole mystery of how a cold case can be left unsolved for so long, only to be dug up and neatly put together. I am going to say for the record, I am getting mighty tired of authors using World War II and 9/11 tragedies as their bookends. Please, choose something else. It has been done, and knowing what we know today, a lot of the info in there is also inaccurate.
Hot Wax: M. L. Rio
Rock star – Child neglect and abandonment – Star crossed lovers – Abuse – Traditional roles versus not
This was a difficult book. I would say if you shy away from hard topics because you just can’t absorb that any more and your empath antennae are completely shot, then avoid this book because of the topics being covered. In brief, a little girl grows up without true unconditional love and respect from either of her parents and tries to find love but feels too broken to do so, with her story coming out in fits and bursts throughout the novel. The ending is happy though. I will give it that. It is a rather painful book for me as a parent to read, and as a former little girl because it just felt so sad.. which incidentally is why I love reading because you can feel and experience all of these emotions you have never felt before in your life without having to live through them for real.
The Spellshop: Sarah Beth Durst
Cozy vibes – Feel good – Animated plants – Librarian – Returning home – Fitting in – Minor love story – Spells and magic
This was such a hug of a book. It wasn’t deep in terms of plot or anything, there was a little friction here and there which is what a good book needs, but you kind of knew where it would go and how it would end (happy of course). I would love more books to be written in this world that Durst has created, it was a pleasant way to pass a few hours.
It Girl: Allison Pataki
Historical fiction – Evelyn Nesbitt – Gibson Girl History – Modelling – Tragedy –
Trigger Warning: P*dophilia & Abuse
Based loosely on a real Gibson Girl – Evelyn Nesbitt – the first true supermodel, this was a wonderful historical fiction that took many parts of her life and made it come to live through her point of view. Obviously back then everyone accepted p*dophilia, so that part grossed me out although not much has really changed since then, it is just less acceptable to say such things. It does have a (fake) happy ending of course, and I enjoyed living her life through the words of Pataki (a gifted historical fiction author by the way, read anything by her!!)
The Everlasting: Alix E. Harrow
Librarian / Historian – Repeated travel back in time – Rewriting history – Knight – Love Story
Another author I would read ANY book by, is Harrow. This book had such magnificent twists and turns, starting with the knight being a woman and the librarian being a man which is already a deviation from standard, similar love stories. It tells the story of their repeated time travel from both points of view, and it wasn’t until midway through the book that what was happening finally clicked in my head (a sign of a great author) and I couldn’t put it down until I knew what happened. I almost cried near the end as a parent, but it did end up with a VERY happy ending. All in all, a great read.
The House of Gucci: Sara Gay Forden
Biography – Gucci family – Scandal – Murder – Greed
Obviously about the Gucci family. Written in such a lively way, I really couldn’t take my eyes off the page. It wasn’t a boring, dry account of how they rose to fame and fortune, but starts with the murder of Maurizio Gucci…. And then once it hooks you, it traces back to how it all happened. It also reminds me that money isn’t everything once you reach a certain level, and that I would never ever want to be famous (not that any chance of that would ever happen).
Past Perfect Murder: Diana Harper
Murder Mystery – Romance – Scandal – Small Village – Inspector Hawthorne
Probably the best Inspector Hawthorne book yet. I really like this character and I like how it draws from earlier books with previous characters. The writing is superlative as usual, and I sort of had an inkling who did it near the end but I wasn’t sure. A thoroughly enjoyable read, I couldn’t put it down.
Tales from the Territory: Travis Baldree
Fantasy – Short stories – Comedy – Backstory needed
You need to read the other Baldree books, and these are short stories based on the characters from previous books. Some are a repeat like the Goblins and Greatcoats, and Pages to Fill (two I already read before). A fast read, maybe about an hour. I was a tiny bit disappointed only because I wanted a NEW story, but this was good enough I guess.
Hannibal and Me: Andreas Kluth
Self-awareness – History – Anecdotal – Purpose in Life – Finding Happiness – Self Reflection
I did not expect this book to be so good. Being in my 40s and reading this, I thoroughly enjoyed the anecdotal and historical stories about each person and how it could help and teach us more about ourselves, our motivations, dreams, and what we really want out of life. It gave me a lot to think about, even long after I finished the book. It made me also reflect back upon my decisions (recent and old), and made me consider my future and what I wanted to really focus on in the coming decades.
Moon of the Crusted Snow: Waubgeshig Rice
Indigenous – Post-Apocalyptic World – Anishinaabe – Wilderness – Identity – Culture – First Peoples
What a seriously enthralling book. It was painful to read, but don’t worry, it ends well enough for you to be satisfied with the ending but also that it doesn’t make you scream – BUT THEN WHAT HAPPENS? Although there is a sequel. Essentially, a community is cut off from all modern technology and has to survive, then some outsiders show up from the south and things go … well.. south.
What I talk about when I talk about running: Haruki Murakami
Running – Memoir – Life stories – Anecdote – Finding strength – Self-reflection
This is more of a memoir about his life than it is a book about running, it is just that he uses his journey of how he became a runner to tell it. A thoroughly enjoyable book, which makes me want to now pick up his other books to read because I have been avoiding them out of fear of being disappointed by a “so-called best seller” again. I think the hype might be real, and he has a witty, self-deprecating humour about him.
The off limits rule: Sarah Adams
Chicklit – Nashville – Fast Read – Predictable – Single Mother
Boy meets girl, boy can’t date girl because she is the little sister of his bestie, and she is also a fantastic single mother picking up the pieces of her life again. Boy ends up with girl. That’s basically the plot, and if you like a predictable, fluffy read that is wholesome, this is the one for you.
Every Day: David Levithan
Young adult – Groundhog Day – Young love – Changing futures – Living different lives
A person wakes up each morning in a new body, and has done so since he was very tiny. Some lives are wonderful, some are not, and reading through the perspective of each one, and imagining how you could live each life differently is both gratifying and heartbreaking at the same time. Made me think about my own life, my own family and whether or not it would be a “good” life from that point of view (I think so..). Very bittersweet ending, but there are more books to read in the series which I plan on doing.
Want more book recommendations?
All of my previous book recommendations are here.
If you’re lazy like me, here are my YEARLY book roundups from each year.