Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Tell us about your favorite books for the month of October.

Answer the following questions:

- Title
- Author
- Rating
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio)
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable)
- Brief reason why it was the best

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

I had three 5-star reads this month, and all happen to be non-fiction:

- Title: The Place of Tides
- Author: James Rebanks
- Rating: 5*
- Format (eBook/Audio)
- ATY Prompt you used it for: na
- Brief reason why it was the best: This book will appeal to those (like me) who enjoy peaceful meditations on the relationship between humans and nature. It shows how one person’s actions can make a difference in our world.
My Review

- Title: Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya
- Author: William Carlsen
- Rating - 5*
- Format (eBook/Audio)
- ATY Prompt you used it for: na
- Brief reason why it was the best: Carlsen’s writing combines adventure narrative and scholarly analysis. It is a great book to pick up to understand the history of the Maya civilization. I feel like I learned a great deal. It is top rate non-fiction.
My Review

- Title: Under the Stars: How America Fell in Love with Camping
- Author: Dan White
- Rating - 5*
- Format (eBook/Audio)
- ATY Prompt you used it for: na
- Brief reason why it was the best: This book is fun to read. It is a combination of memoir, travelogue, and history of camping. The highlight of this book is the author’s storytelling. One of his primary points is that camping almost never goes as planned, and the book includes many of his mishaps, which are often hilarious (I laughed out loud many times). It is entertaining, informative, and relevant to current concerns over the preservation of wilderness areas.
My Review

- Title The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
- Author Sangu Mandanna
- Rating 4-1/2
- Format Print
- ATY Prompt you used it for: 10. A book about witches, goddesses or nuns
- Brief reason why it was the best
I don't usually read this kind of "frothy" book, but I really enjoyed this one. It was imaginative and fun. It made me want to read more by the author.


- Title Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend
- Author Rebecca Romney
- Rating 5
- Format Print
- ATY Prompt you used it for: none
- Brief reason why it was the best
A well-written and very interesting look at the women writers who were read by, and influenced, Jane Austen. I was familiar with one or two but the rest were new to me. I added one biography and several of their works to my TBR list after reading this.

- Title: Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
- Author: Hannah Arendt
- Rating: 5 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Audio
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): N/A
- Brief reason why it was the best: It was a very interesting look into Eichmann's trial. I knew that Arendt had gotten a lot of criticism for the book. After reading it, I think the criticism is unearned. Critics like to say that she excused Eichmann's behavior, but I disagree. I believe people wanted her to make him out to be a literal monster when he was, in fact, a human - which in my opinion is scarier. I think she also got a lot of push back because she called out the fact that many Zionists collaborated with the Nazis. Nobody wanted to hear that.

- Title: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
- Author: Lisa See
- Rating: 5 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): audio
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): N/A
- Brief reason why it was the best: This story is hard to read in spots because it is set in an incredibly and violently misogynistic time period. However, See's descriptions are vivid, her characters are rich, and the story is captivating.

- Title: Shockaholic
- Author: Carrie Fisher
- Rating: 5 stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Audio
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): N/A
- Brief reason why it was the best: Okay - truthfully, this story is a bit of a hot mess. LOL. However, I loved it. She drifts from one story to another with no particular direction. She is so warm and witty, and I listened to the audio book which she narrates - which is AWESOME. She narrated this very shortly before she died. :'( I loved listening to all of her stories. Her love for her daughter is incredibly evident.

Title: The Lost Story
Author: Meg Shaffer
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Print
ATY Prompt you used it for: For my reject challenge, book that contains another book.
Brief reason why it was the best:This story about two men returning to the explicitly Narnia inspired magic kingdom they spent six months in as children just really spoke to me. I had tears in my eyes by the end. It touched on a lot of topics in meaningful ways and inspired me to keep hoping that one day I will find my own magic portal somewhere in the woods...

I have three and although one clear favorite of the 3, I couldn't choose between the other two!

Title: Stolen
Author: Ann-Helén Laestadius
Rating: 5 stars
Format: ebook
ATY Prompt: not applicable
Brief reason why it was the best: coming of age historical fiction/mystery story, translated from Swedish, set in the Northern Sámi Sampi region of Sweden, about the laws set against the reindeer herders over generations. Highly recommend.

Title: The Christmas Clue
Author: Nicola Upson
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Print
ATY Prompt: not applicable
Brief reason why it was the best: Delightful hsitorical fiction murder mystery set in England during WW2, about the actual couple who developed the board game Cluedo (Clue).

Title: The Impossible Fortune
Author: Richard Osman
Rating: 5 stars
Format: ebook
ATY Prompt: not applicable
Brief reason why it was the best: Latest installment of the Thursday Murder Club and my favorite of the series so far. Rather ingenious mystery surrounding the use of crypto for business payments that starts with murder.

-Title Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality
- Author Frank Wilczek
- Rating 5
- Format Print
- ATY Prompt you used it for: None
- Brief reason why it was the best
What is reality? Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Wilczek does a wonderful job of addressing that question without going so deeply into physics and math that I could not follow - most of the time, anyway!

- Title A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains
- Author Isabella Lucy Bird
- Rating 5
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio) audio
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) na
- Brief reason why it was the best The narrator, Clare Wille is outstanding and makes this interesting book come alive

- Title: Cross Justice
- Author: James Patterson
- Rating: 5*
- Format: Print
- ATY Prompt: Fall Challenge #6 Title w/ C for "Cooler weather"
- Brief reason why it was the best: Final twist of twisty plot was amazing!

Title: Love Me Stalk Me: A Novel
Author: Laura Bishop
Rating: 5
Format (Print, eBook, Audio): e-ARC
Brief reason why it was the best: Laura Bishop's debut dark romance kept me wanting more and I can't wait to see how this series expands in her future works.

- Title - Margo's Got Money Troubles
- Author - Rufi Thorpe
- Rating - 5 star
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio) - ebook and audio
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) - Anniversary prompt - 2024: A book that has been on your TBR for over a year
- Brief reason why it was the best - I started this once before but it just wasn't working at the time but I knew by the writing I wanted to try again. The writing was great and the story ended up being so different than I expected.

-Title: The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore
-Author: Evan Friss
-Rating: 5
-Format: print
-ATY:
-Brief reason: I just enjoyed every part of it, from the basic history to the chapters on niche bookshops to the economics of book selling.

Another month, another tie for best book of the month.

- Title To Clutch a Razor
- Author Veronica Roth
- Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio) eBook
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) PS: Unlikely friendship.
- Brief reason why it was the best I loved the first book in this series, and this was everything that was (dreamlike, based on Polish folklore) although it was DARK.

- Title The Nefarious Nights of Willowweep Manor
- Author Shaenon K. Garrity
- Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio) Print
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable) Alternative Universe
- Brief reason why it was the best It's funny. In book 1, a teenaged girl obsessed with classic gothic literature travels to a alt universe that's based on classic gothic literature and has to save it from a monster. This time around, the people from the universe based on classic mysteries end up as refugees in the gothic universe. Girl has to become a detective and catch the killer before everyone she cares about disappears.

Listopia updated!

- Title: The Name of the Wind
- Author: Patrick Rothfuss
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Audio
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): n/a
- Brief reason why it was the best: I love the story and it was a reread. Unfortunately, this is the first book of a trilogy, and I think it is highly likely that it will never be completed. (I would have selected a different book but all my other reads were ⭐⭐⭐).

Added to listopia

Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories

- Title: Cat Pictures Please
- Author: Naomi Kritzer
- Rating: 5 Stars
- Format (Print, eBook, Audio): Ebook
- ATY Prompt you used it for (if applicable): rejects/short story collection
- Brief reason why it was the best

Stories from the near future. Really thoughtful, intelligent, original, with a lot of heart .. and spot on. There is a story about living during an pandemic that sounded SO familiar... but the book came out in 2017.
Highly recommended.

Sibylle wrote: "

Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories

- Title: Cat Pictures Please
- Author: Naomi Kritzer
- Rating: 5 Stars
- Format (..."

I just added this to my TBR list yesterday! Looking forward to it even more now.

- Title: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
- Author: Kate Beaton
- Rating: 5 stars
- Format: Print
- ATY Prompt you used it for: Animal in title
- Brief reason why it was the best: It's a really interesting memoir about a young woman working in the Canadian oil fields, a male-dominated and isolated work environment. It's not at all surprising to me the way the men treated her. It's an important story. I think it works especially well in the graphic novel format.

- Title: Theo of Golden: A Novel
- Author: Allen Levi
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format: ebook
- Brief reason why it was the best: I would recommend this touching and sentimental book highly; however, with a warning, have a box of tissues available for happy tears.

- Title: Hamnet
- Author: Maggie O'Farrell
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Format: ebook
- Brief reason why it was the best: If you are seeking a historical novel that combines rich storytelling with profound emotional exploration, Hamnet is an extraordinary and unforgettable read.

Agreed on Hamnet, I finished it at the end of October and was a little bit of a sobbing mess at the end.

Another five-star for me in October was Matrix by Lauren Groff. I was pretty absorbed by this tale of feminine power and community.

On another note, John, I've really enjoyed reading your reviews in your thread this year!

Thank you.

Listopia is up to date through here!

While You Were Out – Meg Kissinger – 5*****
Subtitle: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence. Growing up in the 1960s in the suburbs of Chicago, Meg Kissinger was one of eight children of loving parents. To all around them, the Kissingers seemed a happy, boisterous, pleasant family. But behind closed doors their mother was medicated and suffered from anxiety and depression. Their father was manic and prone to violent outbursts. And two of Meg’s siblings succumbed to untreated mental illness, committing suicide. This is a brutally honest look at the cost of silence.
LINK to my full review