OCTOBER READS
This is what happens when you procrastinate: you start writing your October reads some-what in the middle of November.
October was an okay month for reading, I didn't particularly dislike the books I read but I also didn't love them. Sadly no, I didn't read any thrillers and/or horror (I'm too scared for that) to suit the Halloween theme, but I read quite a few historic - I guess you could say - books.
The first book I read was All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr which explores the lives of a blind French girl and a German orphan turned Hitler Youth who end up meeting and the means they go through to survive the war. Overall, I thought the novel was beautifully written, the imagery was spot-on and I really felt as if I dived into the world of the novel. To top that up, all the characters were very likeable and had a diverse range of personalities with the underlying wisdom. However, it was personally not my cup of tea. I know that opposes everything I just said but for me, the plot developed too slowly and dragged on (I'm very impatient) whilst the parts that I was anticipating were rushed in my opinion, and I was quite dissatisfied with the ending as it was indefinite or what I like to call, "it's up to your imagination".
Next, I read The Escape Room by Megan Goldin which is probably the closest novel to suit the Halloween theme out of all the books I read in October. The book is a murder mystery/thriller where Wall Street rivals are stuck in an elevator and have to solve the clues to escape, exposing the deception and sexual harassment in the workplace. Due to the structure of the book - I would say similar to We Were Liars (where the story jumps between the past and the present) - the audience are invited to solve the mystery. Overall, I found the book to be really interesting however, similarly to the previous novel the pace of the story was slow until the climax where it felt rushed. I also found the ending of the story similar to The Devotion of Suspect X if you enjoyed that.
Up next, we have The House of Birds by Morgan McCarthy. I would say that this novel is definitely my favourite out of the ones I read in October. It had the mystery, historic element, romance and family drama all in one so it was a really easy, and enjoyable read. The structure of this novel is also similar to the one of The Escape Room if you enjoyed that. I also found an interest in the characters as they were polar opposites however, complimented each other well.
The last novel I read was The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff where the foundation of the story is based around a marriage and the issues that arise with such a marriage. Originally, I was really excited and had high expectations because of all the reviews and I watched the movie prior. However, I was quite disappointed. As I said earlier I'm an impatient person and I felt as if this book was really slow paced and I dreaded reading it. But I pushed through and I'm glad I did because there are drastic differences between the book, and the novel adaptation. Maybe I didn't notice this while watching the movie but the book places a heavy emphasis on the wife's experience and (as always) many parts were cut out. Specifically, the novel showcases more of Einar's identity issues and Greta's relationship conflicts. The ending is also very different: the ending of the movie was completely changed, having a definite ending whilst the book had a "and life goes on" type ending.
If you have any book recommendations, please list them down below - though my list is already really long, it wouldn't hurt to add more.
And if you want to read any of the books I discussed, I added links to purchase the books:
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