Hello there friends! Despite my massive TBR for October, I haven’t been able to actually finish many of the books on my list. My new kitten has been demanding much of time (on top of work), but I’m hoping that this next week I get a lot of reading done. So for now, here is what I’ve been up to this past week!
What are you currently reading?
🍂 Borage by Gill McKnight
This was one of the books that I purchased from The Ripped Bodice Romantic Bookstore here in California. I decided that I wanted to read an independently published book and after seeing the cover for this one, I immediately added it to my cart. Borage by Gill McKnight is a bit of a mystery, a bit of a sapphic romance (very light romance so far- more than halfway through), and a lot of quirky magical characters. Borage is the name of the cat, by the way. I am having a fun time reading this and am excited to see where the story goes.
🍂 Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez
I’m reading this for a post I’m doing on speculative fiction, a mind-bending and imaginative genre. The stories in this book are so macabre and eerie, but underneath it all lay darker truths about the reality of the world. This is a heavy book with content warnings for basically everything from heavy drug use to graphic depictions of murder, but it is so haunting that I can’t look away.
🍂 The Passengers by John Marrs
Ever since I read The One in April and decided that it was my favorite thriller, I’ve wanted to check out John Marrs’ other books to see how they compare. I just started this on audio, but I’m hoping it is almost as much of a page-turner as The One. Self-driving cars that change passengers’ routes and tell them that they will be dying in a few hours…sounds like a good time to me!
What did you recently finish reading?
🍂 The Bakeshop at Pumpkin and Spice by Donna Kauffman, Kate Angell, Allyson Charles
This is 100% a book I read solely because of the cover. I was also under the impression that it was one story about one set of characters, but instead it was a series of three short stories that got blander and blander as it went on. The romance was so bad, too. It was awful. Yikes. It was so bad that I had to keep listening to the audiobook to see where it could possibly go. I was duped by the blurb and I was duped by myself by thinking that this was the book for me. It was all my fault, really!
What do you think you’ll read next?
🍂 Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko & Sergey Dyachenko
I’ve been meaning to read this for ages and I’m hoping to finally get to it this month. I want all the dark academia, Kafka-esque vibes for the rest of October!
What are you currently reading or plan on reading next? Have you read any books recently just for the cover and how did it turn it out? Hopefully better than the book that I read!
Thanks for reading, hope you have a lovely rest of the week!
The cover of Borage looks so cute!!
I’m currently reading The Diviners, which I really enjoy! Though my progress is super slow this month for some reason. Hopefully I can catch up in the remaining weeks.
I’ve been reading more slowly than usual as well! I’m excited to see how you feel about The Diviners. I’ve been meaning to listen to the audiobook because I hear it’s amazing, but it’s also like 13 hours long…
Borage looks so fun to be honest!
I’m currently reading Mexican Gothic!
Borage was a lot of fun! I have yet to get to Mexican Gothic, but I’m excited to see your thoughts!
Good luck with your new kitten! My grandmother recently got a new kitten and Yep they are really handfuls. My cat is now 17 and I completely forgot what a weapon she was when she was a baby!! <3
Hello Ali! I’m so sorry I got to this post so late… For some weird reason, your posts don’t appear in my reader anymore 🙁 I’ll try unfollowing and following again.
Things We Lost in the Fire does sound like a deep and difficult read but a meaningful one as well so I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on that especially…
No big deal! I ending up taking a two week hiatus so that also may be it. Thanks!! 💕
hey ali!! i love the aesthetic of your blog, its so gorg <3 and can we just talk about the cover of vita nostra for a sec, it's a stunner! borage also looks like such a fun read!! the cover is so cute!
x