Three Favorite Books [Oct 2021]

In October I read 12 books.

Which is on the low end of the spectrum for me. I generally read closer to 20 books a month, but I may or may not have gotten caught up in playing Spiritfarer on the Nintendo Switch this past month and since it’s so story heavy I didn’t listen to any audiobooks while playing.

I ALSO wanted to balance out the previous month. In September I read a lot, but rating most of the books pretty low. So I wanted to be extra choosey in October.

And I read a lot of great books! But I read three ✨exceptional✨ books. And I’m gonna share them with you! I’ll also list out the rest of what I read at the end with my star ratings, but I won’t do a deep dive into them.

LET’S GO.

1. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

I’ve talked about this book before on this blog and I’m gonna talk about it now and I’m probably gonna talk about it again but that’s because I love it so so much.

In Cemetery Boys we’re following Yadriel, a trans 17 year old trying to prove to his traditional Latinx family that he’s a true brujo. He does so by accidentally summoning the ghost of his fellow classmate, Julian, instead of his recently murdered cousin.

He sets off with Julian and his cousin Maritza to solve both the case of Julian’s murder, and that of his cousin all before Día De Los Muertos starts.

The characters, the story, the love and themes of identity. It makes for a propulsive yet cozy and warm story. This was a re-read (obviously) and I ended up loving it even more the second time around.

2. The Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

This was such a weird book in all the best ways possible. It’s described as The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet meets Good Omens and I agree whole heartedly. I love both of those books and I love this book.

In The Light From Uncommon Stars we follow a few characters. Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil to deliver seven violin prodigies and she’s delivered six. Enter Katrina, a trans runaway, who has escaped her abusive family in the San Francisco Bay Area to the San Gabriel Valley. She also happens to be a talented violin player who has caught the attention of Shizuka. Oh and there’s Lan Tran, a space captain who has grounded her family and crew at a donut shop to study humans and take refuge.

All stories collide in whimsical, lovely, and weird ways. This is a story of identity and found family and it struck my soul.

3. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

WHEW. One of my most anticipated books of the year and it will probably be one of my favorites of the year. Novik set us up so well with the first installment of this series, A Deadly Education, and she does not disappoint with this follow up.

I don’t want to give too much away with summarizing the plot because I don’t want to spoil the first one, but the set up of Deadly Education pays off so well with this book, and I enjoyed this even more than the first. These lunatics make my heart sing. Highly recommend!

Other books read in October

Four Star Books

Night Shift by Alex Finlay (ARC)

Beasts of Pray Ayana Gray

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Within These Wicked Walls

Well Matched Jen DeLuca

Tristan Strong Keeps Punching by Kwame Mbalia

Three Star Books

Summit Lake Charlie donlea

The Carrow Haunt Darcy Coates

Girl, Alone Blake Pierce

Two Star Books

Bakeshop at Pumpkin and Spice