One of my friends came to visit me a few weeks ago, and we decided to wander around the Mall of America. I tend to avoid the Mall of America for the most part due to the traffic and the number of people, but it was nice to walk around. Every time I go to the Mall of America, I like to stop in the Barnes & Noble, as it has been in the same location for decades, at least. Of course, I ended up buying books. It’s rare for me to walk into a bookstore and not buy anything. I wanted to share what I bought.

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead

Shay Evans and her friend Laurel were recruited by a man into a cult while they were in college. Shay and Laurel barely managed to escape, and Shay has since built a new life for herself. Shay learns from a podcast that Lauren has died. Shay feels extremely on edge as she’s not entirely sure that Laurel’s death was a coincidence. Shay decides to go back to the town to get some answers, and if Laurel was murdered, Shay will do nothing to get justice.

I have read some reviews, and I heard this book is really dark. I think it helps to look up content warnings for a book ahead of time, as I like to be prepared. I was thinking I would read The Last Housewife either in December or January, when it gets darker outside.

Wreck The Halls by Tessa Bailey

Melody Gallard is the daughter of a famous musician. She tends to avoid any publicity and keeps to herself. There are talks about her mother’s band reuniting, so Melody decides to get involved. Beat Dawkins is the lead singer’s son. Beat and Melody knew each other when they were young, but stopped being friends after the band disbanded. Now that Melody and Beat will spend a lot of time together, they may see sparks begin to fly again.

I don’t read holiday romances often, but I thought this would be cute to read in December to get into the holiday spirit.

Chainsaw Man Vol #2 Tatsuki Fujimoto

Chainsaw Man follows Denji, who has a demon named Pochita living inside of him. Chainsaw Man follows Denji’s adventures in demon hunting.

While I think Denji’s obsession with boobs feels a little too on the nose for a manga, I loved Pochita. Pochita is the cutest thing and one of the main reasons why I’m continuing the series.

For the remaining months of the year, I want to have more of a TBR type of plan for November and December. I’m also writing out a few 2024 reading goals, as well, since 2023 was a little bit of a wash when it comes to hitting my reading goals.