October Books

I finished a total of six books in October, which finished off my goal of thirty books total for the year. Hopefully I have time to read with the additional workload now. I have been reading more and more "romance novels" lately (which I never thought would happen). They're nice mindless books that are fast and easy reads for in between more serious reads.

My October reads were:

-Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

At first I was worried Something Borrowed was going to be exactly like the movie (which I had already seen), but it ended up have enough differences to still make the book worth reading. Overall it wasn't my favorite book of the month, but I would recommend it to people wanting a more romantic type book without actually reading a "romance novel."

-Finding It by Cora Carmack

So *spoiler,* the plot is basically the same as Chasing Liberty. I was mad at first after figuring things out, but I guess it's not that different than the predictable plots of the previous books in the series. Plus even with all of that I still really liked the book. Kelsey spends the summer after her college graduation traveling Europe (basically what I wish my life involved post grad). After months of traveling alone, Kelsey is starting to get tired of her all night bar hopping and one night stands, that is until Hunt decides to show her what a real adventure is like. Can someone take me on an adventure across Europe?

-Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in the Shatter Me series. One of my friends loaned this to me over the summer and I had put off reading it not knowing much about the book. I hate to admit that I judge a book by it's cover, but this one wasn't doing anything for me. Little did I know, there was some truly awesome writing inside. It definitely took me some time to get used to Mafi's style, but page by page it grew on me. I am a lover of metaphors and Mafi uses them like it's her job (which I guess it kind of is...) People may argue that it's a bit excessive, but you won't hear any complaining from this girl. Besides just a general love for the way the book is written, I enjoyed the plot. I especially liked the realistic explanation of how things came to be that way; it certainly seems like a plausible future for our country (or Earth in general).

-Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger

I want to preface this by saying Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite books and I thought I would love Franny and Zooey in the same way, but I left this book feeling very confused. The book wasn't anything special for me. Though the book is relatively short (only 200 pages) it took me a ridiculously long time to get through. There wasn't anytime during reading that I "just couldn't put it down," in fact it was more of a desire not to pick it up. Maybe the timing wasn't right and I should have waited until I was in the mood to read this type of story, but I just kept seeing if it would get better. I still like Salinger's writing style, but it wasn't fitting for Zooey's 160-ish no-break section. I liked the whole point of the story but the execution was a little brash. In the end, the book sort of let me down.

-Wallbanger by Alice Clayton

Just another new adult novel to add to the list. I was ready to give up on this book at first, but I decided I needed to stick it out a little longer. I'm glad I didn't stop reading because I did end up enjoying the story later on (it took some time though). The writing wasn't anything special and some of the sex scenes later on got a little awkward, but other than that I loved the Simon "Wallbanger"character. Obviously the book was written to make Simon the best part of the story (honestly I probably wouldn't have continued reading it otherwise). Despite my constant eye-rolling about Caroline's "missing O" and the "giving good jaw" comments, the story had good build up and the her cat was pretty funny (although I'm not one for pussy jokes *cringe*). In the end, I would only recommend this to women who are okay with giving up quality writing for sex appeal. Like most novels in the genre, it's an easy fantasy to indulge yourself in.

-Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

This book was perfect. Anna and the French Kiss was the best combination of adorable and real life frustration that at some point or another effects everyone. For Anna's senior year, her dad sends her to a boarding school in France. In my mind this is a dream come true, but Anna resents being sent away from her life in Atlanta. Luckily for Anna her life in France is quickly turning around, that is until she falls under St. Claire's spell. I never wanted this story to end and honestly contemplated rereading it right away. Like I said, I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a cute, feel good read (not just for teenagers in my opinion).

Side Note: I started getting really into Olly Murs while reading this book, which also turned into me imagining him as St. Claire. Olly seemed to fit the description well and it just sort of happened that my mind overlapped them without me even realizing it at first. I think it made my love for both Anna and the French Kiss and Olly Murs bigger than they would have been seperately.

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For November I've been reading The Hobbit and The Virgin Suicides. After that it'll most likely be Paper Towns and/or The Da Vinci Code.

What books did you read in October? What books are you planning on reading in November?

-S