I didn’t get as much reading in as I would have liked this month, because I was busy Nanowrimo’ing.

At the beginning of the month I was still working my way through this stack of horror novels I had vowed to read in October.  The Bargaining was kind of meh for me, while The Ravenous and Midnight Movie were full of gory thrills.  By the end, however, I was ready to read some non-horror.

The Good Girl was a paperback someone donated to the library, which I knew I had put on my TBR list a little while ago.  It’s similar to Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, one of those twisty thrillers with not-especially-likable protagonists, and the word “girl” in the title.  A fast read that’s a bit unpredictable, although the ending and twist stretched believability.

I saw The Life She Was Given come across the library desk, and put it on hold for myself (but staggered out, so it wouldn’t interfere with my October horror binge). The story felt like a strange mash-up of Water for Elephants and Flowers in the Attic, if you can imagine such a thing. Of course I loved it.

Hopefully next month I’ll get more reading done – even if only because I’m going on vacation!

• Best Overall: All the Crooked Saints
• Best Audiobook: Eat the Dark
• Goriest: Midnight Movie
• Fastest Read: Forbidden Secrets (1 day)
• Slowest Read: Boy Meets Boy (8 days)

The full list (links take you to my Goodreads reviews):

1. The Bargaining by Carly Ann West
2. The Ravenous by Amy Lukavics
3. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (audiobook)
4. Midnight Movie by Tobe Hooper
5. The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin (audiobook)
6. Forbidden Secrets (Fear Street Sagas #3) by R.L. Stine
7. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
8. The Life She Was Given by Ellen Marie Wiseman
9. Eat the Dark by Joe Schreiber (audiobook)
10. All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater