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Happy Halloween! I can’t believe it’s already the end of October - it has been one busy fall so far! Since Labor Day Weekend, I’ve been going nonstop: fertility treatments, an amazing trip to Killarney, Ireland, which was immediately followed by a bout of Covid, and, most recently, a move back to Burlington (this time for 6 months, at least).
Now, I’m getting settled into a new house, praying that Betty quickly gets comfortable spending at least 3 days a week with my boyfriend’s dog, and starting the search for a new job. I’m also blasting 1989 (Taylor’s Version) nonstop. It’s the best album in her discography and nothing anyone says will convince me otherwise. And not that you’ve asked, but if you’re looking for a great new show to binge, I strongly suggest checking out Bodies on Netflix.
With that, let’s get right into it: here’s everything I’ve read and loved lately.
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
You know I love a Cormoran Strike mystery, and this one did not disappoint. I’ve talked about Robert Galbraith’s (aka JK Rowling’s) detective series in the past, and will once again strongly suggest that you start from book one, The Cuckoo’s Calling, if you’re unfamiliar.
But if you’ve been on the bandwagon for a while now, you’re probably just as happy as I was to dive back into another case with Strike and his partner/eternally unrequited love interest, Robin Ellacott. This case has Robin going deep undercover with a religious cult in an attempt to extract the impressionable son of a wealthy client. While Running Grave doesn’t have the immediate threat levels of previous installments such as Career of Evil or the ick factor of The Silkworm, the culture of fear and silence engendered in the members of the cult Robin infiltrates makes this one feel more sinister than any of the other prior books in the series.
Clocking in at almost 950 pages, this book, like all of the others in the series, definitely requires you to invest your time. If you don’t have any right now, do what I did: get Covid and spend a week in bed with nothing to do but drink tea and read.
The Hundred Loves of Juliet by Evelyn Skye
This reimagining of Romeo & Juliet reminds me a lot of Ann Brashare’s 2010 novel My Name Is Memory in all of the best ways. Reincarnation, a curse, and many lifetimes of pain and suffering bring the tragic ending of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers into the present day in search of a happily ever after.
Recently separated from her husband, Helene has decided to pack up and move to a small town in Alaska for a few months, hoping to turn the vignettes she’s written since childhood into a full-length novel. On her first night in town, she meets local fishing boat captain Sebastien, a man who bears a striking resemblance to the imagined hero of the short stories she’s been writing on and off for most of her life. Sebastien immediately recognizes Helene as the Juliet he’s spent hundreds of years and dozens of lifetimes loving and then tragically losing. But Helene is different from the Juliets that came before her: the stories she writes are actually memories from her past lives. Knowing the past could potentially give the infamous couple a chance at a happier future, as long as they’re both willing to try.
After reading this, you’ll likely end up doing one of two things: reaching for your high school copy of the original play, or reaching for your remote to watch Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 Romeo & Juliet. Either way, you’ll leave this particular Romeo and Juliet satisfied by their happy ending, rather than devastated by their double suicide.
Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen
In the past, I’ve tried to sell you on sapphic horror, but I never thought I would try to pitch you on a “queer rom-com horror”. Mainly because I didn’t think a book like that would ever exist, but there’s something out there for everyone, I guess. When this came recommended to me by Ben at Main Point Books, I was intrigued though slightly hesitant. But I decided to go with it and brought this along on my recent trip to Ireland, staying up late into the night despite my jetlag, unable to put it down.
The final four contestants on a Bachelor-style reality show arrive on a secluded island in the Pacific Northwest to film some of their final dates with the man they’re competing for prepared for little sleep, uncomfortable interviews, and ridiculous drama. They did not come prepared for Patricia, a mysterious local looking for attention and affection. Another thing they didn’t come prepared for: everyone around them suffering horribly violent deaths, not unlike the adult children in The Fall of the House of Usher.
This definitely won’t be for everyone (like I said earlier, I wasn’t even sure if it was for me), but you may find yourself pleasantly surprised. If you love to hate-watch The Bachelor or if you’re a fan of classic slasher films and/or Grady Hendrix’s 2021 The Final Girl Support Group, this should be right up your alley.
That’s it for now, guys. November is super packed for me, but I will do my best to get a holiday-ready gift guide out by Thanksgiving.
As a gentle reminder: my preference will always be to support independent bookstores first and foremost, so please remember to shop locally at your neighborhood indie store. All of this month’s selections are hyperlinked to Main Point Books where I shop regularly - just click the image of the book’s cover to be taken to the website. If you want to find an independent bookstore in your area, IndieBound.org has a very helpful store finder. Or, if you’d like to support local stores on a broader scale, you can order through Bookshop.org. For anything else, consult Google. And until next time,
Happy reading,
Sam
My book stack is growing too fast for me to keep up! Xo