October Reading Wrap Up

October was a pretty good reading month. I read two pretty long books that read surprisingly quickly. I also discovered a new cozy mystery series that I am going to happily continue. I also had two duds that I managed to finish, but didn't enjoy. I also got a little paranormal romance fix by reading the next book in the Mercy Thompson series. I didn't get an audio book listened to, but I have two that I am very much looking forward to getting to in November. As always, if you read something that blew you away in October, let me know in the comments!

The Cold Blue Blood was my introduction to David Handler's writing and it was thoroughly enjoyable! This cozy mystery features an African American police officer who is determined to hold her own and not be run off by the good ole boy's club that she finds herself surrounded by and a somewhat soft around the middle film critic who is looking to take a break from his predictable life in New York.  Desiree and Mitch meet when an unexpected body shows up. The carefully crafted facades of the residents of Big Sister quickly unravel, while Desiree and Mitch find themselves in the middle of murder and cover ups. If you enjoy cozy mysteries I would recommend picking this series up. 

The Hot Pink Farmhouse, the second book in the Berger and Mitrey series, did not disappoint! Desiree and Mitch become closer and learn more about each other despite more murder and mayhem visiting the small Connecticut that has become their adopted home. This series is a quick entertaining read that I am looking forward to continuing. I have already ordered and received books three and four of this series, and I'm looking forward to reading them in December. These books make for perfect fall/winter reading!

Yeah, A Bone to Pick...After reading A Bone to Pick, I am sure that I just do not like Aurora as a character and this series as a whole. Aurora is self centered and annoying. The actual story is a bit boring and doesn't make me want to continue the series at all. It just came off as a bland story that seems to be written for little old women who could possibly be offended by the real world and people of color. This series feels like it is written for a very conservative homogeneous audience. The two mentions of black people in the community inched toward being offensive. Since I really enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse books, and even pretty much enjoyed the Midnight, Texas books I am very disappointed that Harris wrote books that made me feel this way. Thank goodness I found the entire series at the extremely discounted cost of ten cents each. I can donate them to Goodwill and not feel that I wasted anything other than my own time, which was bad enough. I have books from two more of her series that I am now hesitant to pick up because of this one.

I really enjoyed Under the Dome. Because of it I am going to be putting more Stephen King books in my reading line up in the second half of next year. King really is great at telling a story and made this massive book read relatively quickly. In Under the Dome, we get to see just how self destructive people can be when faced with quick and scary unknowns that cut them off from the outside world. Human nature can be ugly and we get to see that up close and personal in Under the Dome. The entire books takes place over about a week and things go to hell quickly, and that made for good reading! The only nit picky thing that I saw that was irksome is that Barbie is first referred to as a former Lieutenant and then later referred to as a Captain before his emergency promotion. I don't know why that stuck out for me other than the fact that my hubby is active duty, but it did and it was irritating in the way that no one else probably cared but me! However, I'm really surprised that an editor didn't catch that. Anyway, I completely understand why King has such a big following. 

Although Silver Borne isn't my favorite installment in the Mercy Thompson series, I still enjoyed it. Mercy is an awesome protagonist. I love that she embraces both her strengths and weaknesses. Her struggles feel realistic and I always seem to be able to easily empathize with what she wrestles with as the storyline progresses/ It was a fun quick read and I will continue with the series for sure. 

Dark Seduction just wasn't a good read for me. This story is what happens when tropes get thrown into over drive. The story makes sense, it just wasn't well done. Through sheer force of will I finished Dark Seduction, but I believe this will be re-donated to the thrift store. I am sure someone will get some enjoyment from it, I just didn't.

I finished Sleeping Beauties just last night, right under the wire! I did not enjoy it as much as I did Under the Dome, but I did enjoy most of it. The premise is an interesting one. The idea of a phenomena happening that cocoons women as they fall into a deep sleep that transports them somewhere else while still being physically in our world was great. This was a good read, just not one that I will probably read again.