This post is sooo late, I know.

This post contains affiliate links used to support this blog, my daughters snack problem and coffee for one tired mama.

October is such a weird month for me this year; I’m trying to get back into the swing of the things I usually do since my meds allow me to think more clearly and more for myself. But with that I’m so overwhelmed with how much I’ve missed through out the last few years.

Healing is a journey, not a destination.

Something I try to remind myself whenever I feel myself “disappointed” with my lack of progress. But I’m starting to rebuild things, retry things and reapply for things. One being something that’s always been super important to me, my October Reading Challenge.

And tbh, writing this is a challenge all on it’s own with the baby trying to get on my lap then off my lap then on… CHILD I’M WRITING lol. My ORC has always been important to me because it’s the one month of the year I force myself to read all my “scarier” books. I’m such a wuss and anxiety/intrusive thoughts literally don’t make it any better but I LOVE reading scary/suspenseful books! I always have! I grew up reading Fear Street ONLY. And of alllll the books in that 90’s series, there was only one scary part I remember. It was one of the cheerleader series books; some cheerleaders sister was taking a shower and a ghost or whatever had turned her shower water too hot and killed her. As an adult now I have so many questions at how that was possible. But as a kid, I was freaked out lol.

I’ve found my favorite reads through this challenge over the years including Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan, Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, and Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton and a ton of books I thought would be scary but I completely enjoyed like Amber House or The Ghost House or Vines.

October Reading Challenge 2020;

For Review;

| Poison by Jennifer Donnelly
Once upon a time, a girl named Sophie rode into the forest with the queen’s huntsman. Her lips were the color of ripe cherries, her skin as soft as new-fallen snow, her hair as dark as midnight. When they stopped to rest, the huntsman took out his knife . . . and took Sophie’s heart.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Sophie had heard the rumors, the whispers. They said she was too kind and foolish to rule — a waste of a princess. A disaster of a future queen. And Sophie believed them. She believed everything she’d heard about herself, the poisonous words people use to keep girls like Sophie from becoming too powerful, too strong . . .

With the help of seven mysterious strangers, Sophie manages to survive. But when she realizes that the jealous queen might not be to blame, Sophie must find the courage to face an even more terrifying enemy, proving that even the darkest magic can’t extinguish the fire burning inside every girl, and that kindness is the ultimate form of strength.

| These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo secretly dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly.

Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. Charles Montfort accidentally shot himself while cleaning his revolver. One of New York City’s wealthiest men, he owned a newspaper and was partner in a massive shipping firm, and Jo knows he was far too smart to clean a loaded gun.

The more Jo uncovers about her father’s death, the more her suspicions grow. There are too many secrets. And they all seem to be buried in plain sight. Then she meets Eddie—a young, brash, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father’s newspaper—and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. Only now it might be too late to stop.

The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and the truth is the dirtiest part of all.

| The Poppy & the Rose by Ashlee Cowles
1912: Ava Knight, a teen heiress, boards the Titanic to escape the shadow of her unstable mother and to fulfill her dream of becoming a photographer in New York. During the journey she meets three people who will change her life: a handsome sailor, a soldier in the secret Black Hand society that will trigger World War I, and a woman with clairvoyant abilities. When disaster strikes the ship, family betrayals come to light.

2010: When Taylor Romano arrives in Oxford for a summer journalism program, something feels off. Not only is she greeted by a young, Rolls Royce-driving chauffeur, but he invites her to tea with Lady Mae Knight of Meadowbrook Manor, an old house with a cursed history going back to the days of Henry VIII. Lady Knight seems to know a strange amount about Taylor and her family problems, but before Taylor can learn more, the elderly woman dies, leaving as the only clue an old diary. With the help of the diary, a brooding chauffeur, and some historical sleuthing, Taylor must uncover the link between Ava’s past and her own….

| Broken Wish by Julie Dao
1865
Hanau, Germany

Sixteen-year-old Elva has a secret. She has visions and strange powers that she will do anything to hide. She knows the warnings about what happens to witches in their small village of Hanau. She’s heard the terrible things people say about the Witch of the North Woods, and the malicious hunts that follow. But when Elva accidentally witnesses a devastating vision of the future, she decides she has to do everything she can to prevent it. Tapping into her powers for the first time, Elva discovers a magical mirror and its owner—none other than the Witch of the North Woods herself. As Elva learns more about her burgeoning magic, and the lines between hero and villain start to blur, she must find a way to right past wrongs before it’s too late.

Kindle Unlimited;

| Captive Hearts of Oz
Dorothy, along with her beloved dog Toto, finds herself whisked away by a tornado to the mysterious land of Oz. Something about this strange place feels oddly familiar, but Dorothy just wants to go home. Following the advice of a kindly Witch, Dorothy must travel to the Emerald City and seek out the Wizard of Oz, who alone has the power to send her back to her world. Alongside a trio of fascinating new companions, and a mysterious young man known as “Zero,” Dorothy must follow the Yellow Brick Road on her journey to escape Oz and some of its less than friendly denizens, the evil Witches. Yet even though all this seems to be happening for the first time, Dorothy feels as if they have all met before… Buried secrets and conflicted romance await Dorothy as she travels through the wonderful land of Oz!

| Circus of the Dead
There are many ways to die at the Circus of the Dead.

You’re invited to witness them all.

Mom sent me all the way across the country to the Louisiana bayou to join the circus and help my uncle for the summer.

Except there is something not quite right on this swampy cursed island, and after having my fortune told, I can’t leave.

I try to escape, but Benny, an all too charming ghost gangster tries to kill me by feeding me to a tiger.

Thankfully I’m rescued by Samuel, the incredibly hot ringmaster who can’t be a day over twenty. Can he?

In addition to avoiding the human scorpion, staying away from the big cats, and having trouble figuring out who’s dead and who’s alive, I have to find a way to escape this horror show. Will I get out of the circus alive or will I join their army of ghosts and become a murderer myself?

Welcome to the Circus of the Dead.

| The Strangers
Told in alternating points of view from Chess, Emma, and Finn Greystone, Greystone Secrets #1: The Strangers is the beginning of a new page-turning adventure that examines assumptions about identity, family, and home, from the master of middle grade suspense.

What makes you you?

The Greystone kids thought they knew. Chess has always been the protector over his younger siblings, Emma loves math, and Finn does what Finn does best—acting silly and being adored. They’ve been a happy family, just the three of them and their mom.

But everything changes when reports of three kidnapped children—who share the same first and middle names, ages, and exact birth dates as the Greystone kids—reach the Greystone family. This bizarre coincidence makes them wonder: Who exactly are these strangers? Before Chess, Emma, and Finn can question their mom about it, she takes off on a mysterious work trip. But puzzling clues left behind lead to complex codes, hidden rooms, and a dangerous secret that will turn their world upside down.

Scribd;

| You by Caroline Kepnes
When a beautiful aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age.

TBR;

| The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

I’m realizing this is already too ambitious and I haven’t even listed the physical / Kindle copies TBR yet. Ya’ll send me vibes to get my mind right lol. I’m finding how hard it is to read as many books as I want to while taking care of/watching a toddler with way too much energy. Plus trying to keep up with blogtober and you know, the usual adult things/bills. But I’m hoping to read as many of these as I can before 2020 ends for sure. And I’m determined to find a new favorite book or series this year!

What are you reading this October?