As of writing this post, I have nine books on my Goodreads TBR (to-be-read) shelf. Since I started using Goodreads in 2014, I have never had this few books. I have shared this before, but my goal is to finish my TBR, and then restructure my reading differently going forward. I don’t want to add hundreds of books and have it take four years to finish them all. In August through October, I had a huge list of books I wanted to read. I’ll share how I did and then share what books I plan on reading this month.

My original list of books that I wanted to read in August through October was:

• Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
• Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
• The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
• The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
• One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
• The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
• The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski

The only book from this list that I read was Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca. Lovecraft Country, The Warm Hands of Ghosts, The Spellshop, and The Crescent Moon Tearoom were all books I DNFed —meaning I started reading but didn’t finish. I don’t have anything negative to say about these books; I simply couldn’t get into them.

Here’s what I ended up reading:

• The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
• Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
• The World of Critical Role by Liz Marsham
• The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
• Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood
• Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay
• Dating and Dragons by Kristy Boyce
• People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
• Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
• The Only One Left by Riley Sager

While I completely flip-flopped on the books I’d read, I ended up reading way more than I originally anticipated. Out of this list, I liked The Amalfi Curse, Haunted Ever After, Fourth Wing, and Yours Truly. Those were my standouts from what I read. My favorite audiobook I listened to was The Only One Left. It had been a hot minute since I last read a Riley Sager book. The Only One Left was interesting to listen to as an audiobook. I think I might start listening exclusively to Riley Sager’s books. The book I rated the lowest from this list was The Midnight Feast. It pains me to rate a Lucy Foley book one star, but this book was not it. It felt like I was reading a book that was written by someone else. I’m really hoping that book is a one-off.

With all that said, here are the two books that I’m planning on reading this month.

How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin

Annie Adams is getting adjusted to her new life in Castle Knoll. Since she solved her Great Aunt Francis’s murder, everything of hers was left to Annie. Annie meets Peony Lane, the same fortune teller who predicted Francis’s murder several years earlier. After receiving advice from Peony, Annie investigates only to discover that Peony was murdered shortly after meeting with Annie. Annie is thrust into another murder investigation with even more secrets being revealed about the town Annie lives in.

I read the first book in this series and loved it! I compared it to the movie Knives Out. I started it and so far I’m enjoying it.

Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca

Lulu Malone is invited by her cousin, Mitch, to come to the Renaissance Festival that he works at. From there, Lulu meets Dex MacLean, a guitarist for the performing act, The Dueling Kilts. Lulu travels with Dex as they perform at various shows. Dex is a flirt, but Lulu doesn’t seem to entertain him. Lulu is forced to think about what she wants out of life and if she is truly happy.

I had this book on my TBR for a long time. This book, I’m predicting, will be my least favorite of the series because Dex was always described as a flirt, so I’m curious if I will actually buy into this romance or not.

I am excited to get back to TBRs every month.

CW: Miscarriage – I will discuss a little bit of this, but not in graphic detail. In the book, this is detailed in the last thirty pages or so.

This year, I have read a lot of books that were simply okay. They weren’t bad, they weren’t great, they were okay. That is, until I read Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez. I’m biased when it comes to Abby Jimenez. She lives in Minnesota and owns a local bakery here, so I feel a personal connection to her and her books. I read Part of Your World last year, and I loved it. I bought Yours Truly soon after I read Part of Your World. Yours Truly was amazing and honestly what all five-star romance books should be like.

Dr. Briana Ortiz is going through a lot; her divorce is being finalized, her brother is battling renal failure, and waiting for a donor. When Dr. Jacob Maddox started at her hospital, their first run-in together did not go well. Briana immediately writes Jacob off. Jacob, feeling bad about it, writes her a letter. From their letters, Briana realizes that she immediately misjudged Jacob. Now, Jacob asks Briana for her help, pretending to be his girlfriend, so he can have a date for his ex-girlfriend’s wedding to his brother. Briana and Jacob put on a good show, except when it starts to feel real.

I loved Briana as a character. We get a glimpse of Briana in Part of Your World, but this book feels like her story. She’s been through a lot, and I love the level of petty she stoops to when she finds out her husband cheated on her with her best friend. She doesn’t put up with a lot, and she’s well respected amongst her peers. Jacob feels real. His social anxiety is something he struggles with, and some of the people in his life refused to work with him, which is really sad to me. I love how he writes Briana a letter, as it’s a way he can say what he wants to say without feeling overwhelmed. The letters take on a life of their own, and the exchange between Briana and Jacob through the letters was a highlight of the book.

I like how this book prioritizes Briana and Jacob’s relationship as they fall in love with each other. Having dual perspectives helped show both Briana and Jacob’s insecurities and how they felt about each other. It made the story feel more real to me. The other thing I’d add, Briana and Jacob don’t start hooking up until the last sixty pages, so the rest of the book is focused on them slowly falling in love with each other. If you’re someone who doesn’t like a lot of smut or detailed descriptions of sex in the romance you’re reading, I’d recommend this book.

The last thing I wanted to touch on was miscarriage. I won’t go into detail, but I was crying throughout the end of this book when this is revealed. The book ends happily, so I want to make that clear right away, but if miscarriage is something you want to avoid, feel free to skip the last few pages of the book. Leave it to Abby Jimenez to leave me crying over a book she writes.

Yours Truly is one of those books that will stay with me for a while. It’s a book I would re-read if I needed a reliable book to get me out of a reading slump. I rated Yours Truly five stars on Goodreads.

I started reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros when I rented a copy of the book from my local library. I enjoyed it so much that I returned the book and bought my own copy along with the sequel, Iron Flame. I started Fourth Wing based on the hype around the book. It’s interesting reading a popular book. There are some books where the hype doesn’t align with my feelings about the book. I am happy to say that Fourth Wing rocked, and I can’t wait to read the sequel.

Violet Sorrengail was meant to become a Scribe, but unfortunately for her, she didn’t have a choice. Violet’s mother is a military general, so she enrolls Violet to become a dragon rider. Violet is already at a disadvantage because of her mother’s reputation, but on top of that, Violet is weaker than the other students due to an illness from her childhood. Xaden Riorson wants Violet dead, as Violet’s mother was responsible for the death of his parents. Violet bonds with a dragon, and while she comes to terms with being a dragon rider, she is led to believe that Navarre is hiding darker secrets from both her and the other students she trains with.

I loved Fourth Wing. From the outset, I was drawn into Violet’s life and the training process of students who aspire to become dragon riders in Navarre. I thought it was fascinating to hear about the bonding process and how dragons choose their riders. I liked how Basgiath, the war college Violet studies at, was the background for most of the book. This book was ruthless at times with the number of people who died early on. It’s not often that I rent a book from the library, and a week later, I bought Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, so I could read both right away. I’m happy I did. The cliffhanger that Fourth Wing ended on, I was shocked! I’m curious to see how this cliffhanger impacts the rest of the series.

As far as the characters, I liked Violet. She’s smart, and while she may be physically weaker than other students, she still excels in many ways. I wrote recently about how I’m seeing Romantasy leads being written as weak or being thin and small in other books. In Fourth Wing, I don’t have as much of a problem with Violet because she can fight for herself when she needs to. Xaden is fine, but I’m here for Violet and her story.

One of the reasons I rated Fourth Wing five stars is because of the pacing. Another book I enjoyed was The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent. I loved that series too, but found it took a bit to get into it. With Fourth Wing, that was not the case. I found myself trying to find time to read a chapter or two here or there, especially when life got busy. This series was always on my mind, and I couldn’t wait to keep reading. In some Romantasy books, the plot can drag for a few chapters before picking up again, and I did not experience this at all with Fourth Wing.

I understand that while Fourth Wing is rated highly on Goodreads, some did not like this book. That’s okay, those opinions are valid. I wouldn’t say that the writing in Fourth Wing is the best I have ever read. For me, it’s the story that kept me engaged throughout the book. I hope to read Iron Flame this year and finish the series next year. As mentioned previously, I rated Fourth Wing five stars on Goodreads.