October has flown by in a flash and winter has settled upon the prairies and so it’s time to think about what to read in November!

My household had a great October. We went to an event called Pumpkins After Dark in the city, which was really cool, despite the fact that the advertising made it seem like there would be over 6 000 REAL pumpkins, but they were craft pumpkins. It was still fun to get out and a lot of effort was put into the displays. My kids loved it.

We also had a really good Halloween! Normally, we decorate at least a bit outside but a lot was happening with my husband’s work that it was a whole “will he or won’t he be home for Halloween” thing that we never got around to decorating outside. I did hear one kid come down our driveway saying he LOVED our house, so that was nice. It was a gorgeous night for trick-or-treating, which never happens, so I’m very happy about that.

The day after, winter decided to make its debut, but at least it waited for November to start. I’m not even ready to think about the Christmas season so I think I’ll just lose myself in books for now.

October Reading Wrap-Up

In October, as usual, all I wanted to read were books suited to Halloween. Give me ghosts, haunted houses, witches, demons, and all that is scary, please!

I can honestly say that I loved all of the books I read in October.

The best spooky book I read in October was The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton. There were some real spine-chilling stories in this collection, my favourites being Kerfol and Afterward.
The best cover was The Dollhouse. I love illustrated covers and I will admit that the cover is the whole reason I bought the book. The fact that it turned out to be a ghost story AND written by a Canadian author was a bonus.
The Ex Hex was the first witchy book I’ve read! I love reading scary books and books themed toward Halloween, but books about witches aren’t something I gravitate towards so I was pleasantly surprised. I’m also happy I picked up the second book in this series and hope I can get to it before next Halloween.
The Little Stranger was a reread. I was looking up books about haunted houses and this one came up in my search. It made for a very good reread and is very spooky and gothic. Definitely worth a reread.

My neighbourhood has a Little Free Library and I picked up Guts by Raina Telgemeier — the third book in her Smile series — from it. I loved all of her books that I’ve read and so when I saw this in the box, I snatched it up! I love how Raina tells a story, where it feels like a story, but it’s also autobiographical. It took a different turn from what I was expecting but was a good, quick read. I will be keeping this on my shelf since I think my kids might like her books one day.

I would also highly recommend reading Smile, Sisters, and Ghosts, by Telgemeier.

I wouldn’t say October was my best reading month, but I did read 5 books so that’s nice. The Edith Wharton book was a carryover from September, but I’m happy with my progress.

November 2022 TBR

I honestly can’t believe November is already here and that I have two more months left to read until the new year. It may be premature, but I think that 2023 will be an epic reading year. I hope to continue to grow this blog, grow my Instagram, and get lots of practice in all of the social media since I’ve been away from it for so long. It’s amazing how fast everything changes!

I never seem to have a plan when I go into a new reading month, but for November (and December) I really want to try and finish some of the books I’ve started in the previous months. This includes finishing books I’ve been reading with my kids (we’re in the middle of Pax: Journey Home and The Unicorn in the Barn — plus, my daughter and I are reading The Notebook of Doom: Rise of the Balloon Goons and the first Upside Down Magic book), and finishing the classics I started months ago.

On the plus side, my kids have next week off of school, so maybe we can work on finishing some of these books — but on the downside, they have next week off of school which means less reading time for me.

Currently, I’m reading:

Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business by Bree Galbraith and Morgan Goble. I’m really enjoying it and think I’ll have to read it with my kids at some point. It reminds me of The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires or Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty.
Forever Birchwood by Danielle Daniel. Another book I’m really enjoying. Daniel also has an adult book called Daughters of the Deer which I’m eager to check out. My job has me working with a lot of elementary to middle school teachers so I’ve really been wanting to read more books within that age range.

For the rest of the month, I would love to:

Finish reading Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. I’m on page 244/448, so just over halfway done. I haven’t picked it up in a while, but I was really enjoying it. It’s my first Thomas Hardy and I really like his style of writing.
Reread The Simple Wild by K. A. Tucker. I know this has been made into a 3-book series and I absolutely LOVED the first one so I want to reread it and maybe read the next two.
Finally read A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong. I am the biggest Kelley Armstrong fangirl and I’m so far behind in reading her books. The next book in this series just came out so I need to get to this one. November seems like a month for time travel, doesn’t it?
Read Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur. I picked this up months ago when I realized my reading mojo was back and went to buy more books (because the hundreds of unread books on my shelves wouldn’t do) and I am eager to get to it. I also just realized there are currently three books in the series so hopefully I love it and can get the other two!

If all goes as planned, I hope to finish these and the books I’m reading with my kids, which would be 10 books finished in the month. My fingers are crossed!

How did your October go for reading? Do you have any plans for reading in November? I’d love to hear what’s on your reading list below!