No.312: My Latest Reads // October

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#60. THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT by Agatha Christie
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

My fourth Agatha Christie novel of the year!  This one was about an independent young woman, eager for adventure, who investigates an accidental death that she witnesses.  A page turner like the rest of Christie’s novels, but this one seemed to have a lot of names.  I was often flipping back and forth through the book to keep it all straight.  Not necessarily a bad thing – I just may be getting old, hah!  Solid three stars.  (This was also my 1924 pick for the 20th Century Reading Challenge.)

#61. WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON by Grace Lin
My Rating: ★★★★★

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was our school read aloud for September into October.  We loved it!

#62. THE LIKENESS by Tana French
My Rating: ★★★★☆

This is the second book in the Dublin Murder Squad series and it didn’t disappoint!  Lots of twists and turns and many that I didn’t predict.  There were a few pieces to the puzzle that just didn’t add up if you think too much about it – like accents – but if you just read it at face value for the entertainment, it was great.  I’m anxious to get the next one in the series.

#63. TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT by Maria Semple
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I read and enjoyed Where’d You Go, Bernadette a few years ago, so when I saw Today Will Be Different at the thrift store, I snatched it up.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly as good.  I didn’t care for the protagonist, the story was all over the place, and the Catholic/religion jabs were a little overkill.  Just okay for me.
Fun fact: I found a boarding ticket tucked into the pages, so I’m assuming Elizabeth from Richmond didn’t care for the book either, ha!

#64. MRS. MIKE by Benedict and Nancy Freedman
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

“You’ll see, you’ll come to understand.  These big things, these terrible things, are not the important ones.  If they were, how could one go on living?  No, it is the small, little things that make up a day, that bring fullness and happiness to a life.  Your Sergeant coming home, a good dinner, your little Mary laughing, the smell of the woods – oh, so many things, you know them yourself.” (p.158)

I can add Mrs. Mike to my growing collection of frontier literature!  This one is about a Mounty, his wife, and the challenges they face in the Canadian wilderness.  I enjoyed it but wished there was more character development for the main characters.  Solid three stars.  (This was also my 1947 pick for the 20th Century Reading Challenge.)

#65. THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

How do I begin to describe The Book Thief?  Even at over 500 pages, this very unique book about Nazi Germany seemed to be a fast read.  There are parts that I know I’ll be thinking about for some time.  I liked it.


#66. NEVER HAVE I EVER by Joshilyn Jackson
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

People say, I don’t know how she lives with herself, but every single one of them was living with their own worst thing, just fine. No one walks around holding their ugliest sin in the palm of their hand, staring at it. Our hurts are heavy, and we let them sink. Every day they drift lower, settling in murky places where the light can’t reach. All I had to do was wait. (24%)

Never Have I Ever is a suspense thriller about secrets and blackmail and it was nothing like I thought it was going to be.  I flew through the book in days and there were a few twists that I never saw coming!  However, there are enough sensitive/inappropriate pieces in it to make me wary of blindly recommending it to anyone.  Just okay for me.