I got a lot of reading done this month, all thanks to long-awaited vacation!  I traveled to Greece, which involved a lot of reading on buses, airplanes, and boats.

Before I left on my trip, I managed to read The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary by NoNieqa Ramos.  Definitely add this one to your #diversereads shelves!  I enjoyed the psychological aspects of the story, and the main character was one of the strongest I’ve read in a long time.

Finally, I was off!  I packed a stack of used paperbacks that I’ve had sitting around my apartment forever, planning to leave them as I finished them on my journey (I also brought my Nook for backup).  First up was Bag of Bones, one of Stephen King’s “newer” books… yeah, this book is 20 years old.  I immediately felt like I’ve been in some kind of time warp.  I had been putting off watching the TV mini-series until I had read the book… apparently since 2007 or so.  Damn.  I definitely enjoyed the book more than the TV series (big surprise).  And this was my favorite book I read on this trip.  It reminded me that I need to read more Stephen King.

Under the Harrow fits into that vein of unreliably narrated thrillers that I’ve been so sick of recently.  Bonus: it was short.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo4hU-klhLg/ 

I finished all the paperbacks I had brought before we left Mykonos.  Luckily, our hotel there had one of those libraries where travelers can swap out for new reading material.  Bone Cold was a decent thriller that was happily not in the vein of unreliably narrated thrillers.  A total change of pace to The Time-Traveler’s Wife, but kind of in a good way.  I read all but the last couple of chapters on a 5-hour bus ride.

I’m so glad that I’m winning Goodreads Giveaways again, for a while I thought I was cursed because of that time in 2008 when I won a book and then gave it away to a teen at the library without reading it and writing a review first.  I’ve been wanting to read White Stag since I read the first chapter on Wattpad, and realized that long chapters + Wattpad = not fun to read.  But I loved the writing and worldbuilding and I was thrilled to be able to read this in book form.  This author is one to watch!

For most of October, I hadn’t been reading anything horror.  Bag of Bones was creepy in places but not really “horror.”  Happily, I had put in a request for The Sacrifice Box before I went on vacation and it was waiting for me when I returned!  This story punched all my horror-loving buttons.  Yeah, it wasn’t the most conclusive ending, but that’s not a deal-breaker for me.  Another horror novel this month was Mary, Mary, which was fun in that vintage horror way but not especially memorable.

I raced through An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, which read almost like Hank’s videos (am I the only one who finds watching vlogbrothers videos a little exhausting?).

Deep Dark Fears and The Creeps by Fran Krause were lots of fun to read.  I’ve enjoyed seeing some of the comics over on the Deep Dark Fears blog, but it was really interesting to see the mix of serious, creepy, and funny fears all together in a collection.  I also read Sheets, a middle grade graphic novel, that had cute ghosts in it.

Overall, it was a good month for curling up with a book!

• Best Cover: The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary
• Spookiest Story: Bag of Bones
• Most Chilling: Dead Inside
• Fastest Read: TIE!  Bone Cold & Under the Harrow (1 day)
• Slowest Read: TIE!  Abandon & Dead Inside (13 days)

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

1. 1. Runaways: The Complete Collection, Volume 4 by Terry Moore et al. (graphic novel)
   2. The Curse of Crow Hollow by Billy Coffey (audiobook)
   3. The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary by NoNieqa Ramos
   4. Bag of Bones by Stephen King
   5. Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry
   6. The Mare by Mary Gaitskill
   7. The Time-Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenerger
   8. Abandon by Blake Crouch (ebook)
   9. Bone Cold by Erica Spindler
   10. White Stag (Permafrost #1) by Kara Barbieri (ARC)
   11. Deep Dark Fears by Fran Krause (graphic novel)
   12. The Sacrifice Box by Martin Stewart
   13. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
   14. The Creeps by Fran Krause (graphic novel)
   15. One Second After by William R. Forstchen (audiobook)
   16. Mary, Mary by B.W. Battin
   17. Sheets by Brenna Thummler (graphic novel)
   18. Dead Inside: A True Story by Cyndy Etler (ebook)