October Reads (2019 Edition)

penny on November 7, 2019

October felt both the longest and shortest month for reading. I made progress on some of the Netgalley reviews I owe and also read a few others that looked interesting.

October Reading List

  1. Who Fears Death (Who Fears Death #1) by Nnedi Okorafor
  2. Aurora Blazing (Consortium Rebellion #2) by Jessie Mihalik
  3. Vendetta in Death (In Death #49) by J. D. Robb
  4. The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue★ by Robbie Kellman Baxter
  5. Tomorrowland: Our Staggering Journey from Science Fiction to Science Fact★ by Steven Kotler
  6. Vanishing Fleece★ by Clara Parkes
  7. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
  8. Writing to Persuade: How to Bring People Over to Your Side by Trish Hall
  9. Children of the Night (Diana Tregarde #2) by Mercedes Lackey
  10. Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1) by Rachel Caine
  11. Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal
  12. The Crow Trap (Vera Stanhope #1) by Ann Cleeves
  13. The Vanished Birds★ by Simon Jimenez
  14. If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir by Ilana Kurshan
  15. Ink and Bone (The Great Library, #1) by Rachel Caine
  16. Raven Black (Shetland Island, #1) by Ann Cleeves
  17. Start Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done by Charlie Gilkey
  18. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
  19. The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy, #2) by S.A. Chakraborty
  20. Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2) by Rachel Caine

List of Book Covers for titles read in October 2019

Recommendations

NetGalley Reviews

A ★ indicates I received the title through Netgalley, the FTC wants you to know.

  • The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue★ by Robbie Kellman Baxter
    THE MEMBERSHIP ECONOMY can help a business think about how they can move toward a membership driven model. While businesses and tech that were du jour in 2015 may become dated in 2019 and beyond, there are solid concepts here that can continue to help businesses. It’s a book that deserves a second reading when the company is ready to commit and work to building loyal and passionate members.

    See my complete review at Netgalley »

  • Tomorrowland: Our Staggering Journey from Science Fiction to Science Fact★ by Steven Kotler
    Kotler’s view of tomorrow is one that claims science and technology are innovating and transforming our lives. However, it lacks both editorial cohesiveness and authority. The premise of journeying from fiction to fact in TOMORROWLAND is one in which Kotler shares the innovations he has researched for various articles. This disjointedness comes through as any chapter could be read without loss (or gain) to the others.

    See my complete review at Netgalley »

  • Vanishing Fleece★ by Clara Parkes
    In VANISHING FLEECE, Clara Parkes’ love song to American wool, follow the journey of her “Great White Bale” project. The tale follows her 676 pound bale of Saxon Merino wool from Eugene’s sheep farm in Goshen, NY. Parkes’ clear and beautiful writing shows us why the domestic yarn industry deserves our support.

    See my complete review at Netgalley »

  • The Vanished Birds★ by Simon Jimenez
    The Vanished Birds is a piece of beautiful and precise writing that is rare in a debut novel.

    See my complete review at Netgalley »

Additional Recommendations
  • Ink and Bone and Paper and Fire (The Great Library Books 1& 2) by Rachel Caine
    I’ve read the first three books by now and while I’m not totally sure on all of the story, the general premise of the series has me hooked (and writing mental spin-offs).
  • The Crow Trap (Vera Stanhope #1) and Raven Black (Shetland Island, #1) by Ann Cleeves
    We just started watching Vera on PBS and are hooked. I’m already on the second books of each series and am loving them.
  • Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal
    While not new information, I like how Eyal organized this book. Hope to write a review for Pen at Work soon.
  • If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir by Ilana Kurshan
    I think I discovered this memoir via Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg via twitter (if you’re not following her, you should). I found Kurshan’s story fascinating and her learning Daf inspiring.
  • Aurora Blazing (Consortium Rebellion #2) by Jessie Mihalik
    The intrigue of this one was much more engaging (for me) than the first. I’m frustrated that I need to wait until next year for book three.
  • The Book of Phoenix & Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
    As I hinted last month, yes. Yes. Yes. Read these two books (in either order).
  • The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
    I was hesitant to read this because it was one of those books I kept seeing everywhere. Would it live up to hype? I opened the large tome without knowing anything about it and after a slow start got hooked and stayed up long past my bedtime to finish. I now am curious enough to read Shannon’s other work.

Next reads

I have several of Cleeve’s mysteries checked out from the library as well as Postmortem (Kay Scarpetta Series, Book 1) by Patricia Cornwell. If that wasn’t enough, I also just discovered Karin Fossum and borrowed her first three books. I guess I’m still on a mystery kick. Hopefully my holds for the final two titles in the great library books series will come in.