Books, Books, Books – October Edition

Yikes! Why didn’t anyone tell me that I never posted my October book list? First I will say that I was truly looking forward to October, several books that I follow were due to be published. Then, in a stroke of misfortune, one got postponed, one got moved back and one just didn’t come out, I haven’t seen why. That left me with only two books I was anticipating. Luckily, it was 2 out of the top 3 as far as anticipation goes. Overall, it was a great month, reading wise, just not what I expected. And I need to stop thinking that September starts the tv year. I think we can all agree it’s really October…which brought the book totals down a bit for the month, still, pretty respectable.

October (13 books)

1. Carrier of the Mark – Leigh Fallon

2. The House of Hades – Rick Riordan

3. Endless Knight – Kresley Cole

4. Half-Blood – Jennifer L. Armentrout

5. Hereafter – Tara Hudson

6. The False Princess – Eilis O’Neal

7. Emblaze – Jessica Shirvington

8. Endless – Jessica Shirvington

9. Pure – Jennifer L. Armentrout

10. Deity – Jennifer L. Armentrout

11. Elixir – Jennifer L. Armentrout

12. Apollyon – Jennifer L. Armentrout

13. Shadow of the Mark – Leigh Fallon

Ok, I’m just going to say it. Best book of 2013? Endless Knight by Kresley Cole. She wrote the first of this series last year. It came out last October and I read it within a day or two of its release…then had to wait a FULL YEAR for the next one. Excruciating. Usually, in a series, the first one is great. There is always a drop off for the second. Even if there isn’t, it is only ever AS GOOD as the first. This one…surpassed it. I read this book in lightning speed. I could not stop. It was amazing. Then, as soon as it was done, I wanted to read the whole thing again. I can’t beleive I have to wait a whole year…again…for the next one. P.S. Sara? You should read these. The first is Poison Princess. You’d like them, guaranteed.

House of Hades was the other I was waiting on. This is either the 4th of 5 in his series, or the 9th of 10, depending on how you count. I count 9th of 10. I was very excited for it and it only disappointed a little. It was good, yes, but you could tell he is ramping up for a big finish, so a lot of this felt like filler. Plus, it jumped around a lot, between characters. His previous books only have three main POV, but this one had seven…and it needed seven, but it did make the story suffer a bit for it. Overall, still a good installment.

I liked that I started and ended the month with the Leigh Fallon books. Interesting story, but not earth shattering. The first one was WAY better than the second.

The Shirvington books (Emblaze and Endless) I had requested them both. The fourth, Endless, came in first and I was hanging onto it hoping the 3rd would come in. It did, but it left me with only 2 days to read both books. I managed but I was overtired for a couple days. And they were both good. There is one left and I’m still left wondering where she is going with this.

Then I found this new series, the Covenant series, by Armentrout. I had read several other books by her and enjoyed them. For some reason, this series is harder to find. My local library doesn’t carry any of them. But, I ILL’d the first one and tore through it. I like her writing style, a lot. The first started off slowly, but really went nuts after that. Then the second was even better. And it kept getting better with each book. I couldn’t stop reading them, as you can see. There is only one left in the series and, lucky me, it is due out in November! Can’t wait to wrap up that series.

The other two, Hereafter and The False Princess, were both fine. Hereafter is a series, which I did not realize. It reads like a standalone novel. I found the second by accident and it is on my list. The False Princess was just something I picked up because there was a hole in my reading schedule. And surprisingly, liked it a lot. It was nothing at all like I thought, several twists, for sure kept my interest.

And there you go. October books complete. 137 on the year, with two months to go.