I felt like I didn't read much at all in October because I had found some new binge-worthy shows on Hulu. But when I looked back at my Goodreads account, I realized I managed to read five books. Certainly not record-shattering, but more than I remembered reading.



Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
This book was beautifully written and also so tragic. I love Celeste Ng as an author. If you've never read any of her books, I highly recommend them.

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Tayari Jones writes with such a compelling voice. I loved this story of two half sisters, one who knows about the existence of the other, and one who doesn't. The book is set several decades ago, before cell phones and social media constantly tracked our every move. That's what makes the storyline, that one man could have two separate families living in the same town where one is completely oblivious to the other, believable.

The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll
This book had its moments, but it didn't live up to the hype, and definitely wasn't as good as Knoll's first book Luckiest Girl Alive. The story follows a group of women who are stars on a reality TV show. At the beginning of the book, one of them winds up dead. The story jumps back in time and traces the women's last several months, which show that pretty much any of them could have had a motive. It was good, just not as gripping as her first book.

Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer
Oh my gosh I have to give this book four stars because the author so perfectly captured what I imagine Joe Biden's internal monologue would be. The murder mystery plot itself was also pretty enjoyable, but I just couldn't stop laughing to myself about the many Joe-isms sprinkled throughout the book. It made me smile.

The Fix by David Baldacci
A fast-paced thriller that had a lot of twists and turns. Honestly maybe a few too many. There were times I thought kind of just wanted things to wrap up.

My November reads are focused on knocking out the last several books I need to finish for Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge. I'll be curious which ones I like and which ones I don't.

Have you read anything good lately?