Reading wrap-up: September and October 2024

There are so many books to chat about that I’ve read in the last two months – from memoirs to thrillers to horror. September was a pretty mediocre reading month. But I did have one favourite. In October, I had another mixed reading month, with some great books and others that were a bit of a miss for me. 

September books:

The stand-out for me in October was Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson. The experience of reading this was elevated as I read it on the Ghan, the famous Australian sleeper train on which it is set. I loved the element of the characters being writers and how the main character showed his process of writing and solving the murder. It did lose a star rating because it did feel predictable at times. But overall it was a fun and quick read.

Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter was also great. It wasn’t as good as the first book in the series but still managed to live up to expectations. I liked how the author wrote about grief and loss. She also continued the theme of adding movie and music references throughout which I enjoyed. 

I had high expectations for A Drop in the Ocean by Jenni Ogden which is why I think I didn’t give it more than three stars. It was a great read, about a scientist losing her grant so she moves to the Great Barrier Reef for a year to unwind and rediscover herself. There were some elements that dragged a bit for me and I didn’t feel the romantic element was necessary or added to the story. 

Belladonna was another highlight – a fantasy, mystery novel following Sigma who tries to uncover how her auntie was murdered with the help of Death himself. I feel this book was setting the scene for the next two instalments in the series. 

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center is one of the books I’ve seen a lot recently on Tik Tok and it seemed like a nice read for a long haul flight. I didn’t mind the main character but I felt the story fell flat. None of the motives for the character’s actions felt realistic to me either. I also felt like a lot of them were caricatures and didn’t feel realistic at all. Unfortunately I didn’t love this. 

October books:

Normally I don’t tend to give star ratings to memoirs because they tend to be personal subject matters that I don’t think can be objectively rated. Two books fall into this category for me in my October wrap-up. The first is Over the Influence by Joanne Levesque which is narrated by famous singer, JoJo, from childhood up until the present day. She talks in-depth about her upbringing and the difficulties she faced in the music industry. I found it interesting reading about her reclaiming her music by rerecording her first albums due to the negligence of the label she was attached to failing to support her career. 

The second book is fiction but is closely based on the author’s life over the last couple of years. What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella is a harrowing tale about how she discovered she had a terminal tumour on her brain and how her husband had to wake up every day explaining this to her because she had lost her short term memory. Amidst the sadness, there are lighthearted moments. It’s not a very long story but packs a punch for sure. 

In October, I was kindly offered to read The Re-Write by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn which was a nice fun, easy rom-com to read. It’s being released next year and it’s definitely one to check out. I loved the author’s debut novel and this one was even better. The novel follows Temi and Wale – two exes who are forced back into each other’s lives. Wale is fresh off a dating TV show and is hated by most of the UK after being labelled a heartbreaker. Temi is trying to get her book published but is struggling. In an attempt to find work, she lands a job being the ghost-writer for her ex’s memoir in a bid to rehabilitate his image. There is great mental health representation throughout, especially as a big message of this story shows it is okay for men to be vulnerable even when society, and sometimes even friends and family, tell them it’s not.

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose gave me a similar vibe to Everyone on This Train is a Suspect. They follow very similar plot points, focussing on a mystery set around a famous author. It didn’t work as well as Stevenson’s book either in my opinion. But it was still somewhat enjoyable. A part of me feels like The Maid, Nita Prose’s first book, didn’t need to be elongated into a series and would have been fine as a standalone. 

Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie has become one of my favourites by the author. It gave enough clues to help guess who the culprit was without it being too obvious what was going on. This is a part of the Hercule Poirot series following a murder at one of Mr Shaitana’s bridge parties. 

Since it’s autumn, I wanted to fit in some seasonal reads so I picked up two books fitting this theme. The first – The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. This was an eerie read where the main character, Eleanor, is invited to the spooky house by a scientist who wants to do a social experiment on those invited. This wasn’t as frightening as I expected but still a good story. 

The second horror I read fell flat. A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock had so much promise – two men creating new life with a dead corpse and plants. It should have been filled with horror elements but there are only two minor scenes I can pinpoint. The author liked to tell the reader what was happening rather than showing which felt very frustrating at times. I would have loved more history behind the death of the woman who became Chloe, their botanical experiment. I feel I missed a lot of backstory about Simon and Gregor too. They were meant to be deeply in love but they seemed to hate each other – it would have been interesting to understand why one was more submissive and willing to go along with the other’s absurd plans. There were some moments in this that were interesting – the setting in the Victorian era and the housekeeper. A part of me wishes it was told from the housekeeper’s perspective. 

Jacqueline Wilson was a queen to me in childhood so when I heard her new adult book, Think Again,was being released I was very excited. It focuses on Ellie from the Girls in Love series as a forty-year-old woman. This was extremely nostalgic, as we got to see the three girls back together and what they have been up to in their adult lives. It’s also an easy read. There’s something about Wilson’s writing that hooks you in. However, there were some things that didn’t work – particularly the main character and her school teacher having a relationship. Without spoilers, I did also like the ending but not the reasons for it happening. I still think Jacqueline Wilson is a wonderful writer and would read more adult books if she decided to write them. 

Finally, the last book for autumn I read was influenced by Tik Tok again and sadly there’s a pattern emerging. I didn’t love The Pumpkin Spice Cafe. It was promised to be a perfect read for Gilmore Girls fans but I don’t see how any of it was similar other than the small town setting and the weekly town hall meetings. The characters felt one-dimensional and I wanted a bit more plot. I have heard so many people love this story so I wouldn’t let me opinion put you off. I’m not sure if I would read more by this author. 

The books I read and my ratings:

Everyone On This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nothing Like The Movies by Lynn Painter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Re-Write by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

A Drop in the Ocean by Jenni Ogden ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What Does It Feel Like by Sophie Kinsella

Over the Influence by Joanne “JoJo” Lovesick

A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock ⭐️⭐️

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center ⭐️.5

Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore ⭐️

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Have you read any of these books? Which one was your favourite? Let me know in the comments below.

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