Books of October 2022
As I mentioned at the end of last month, October was looking like it was going to be the busiest month of my life. And, I wasn’t far off. I wasn’t too sure how that would impact my reading this month, although I suspected I wouldn’t get though quite as many books as usual. And, I wasn’t too far off on that, either. I made it through 10 new books in October.
What I didn’t expect was that I didn’t really love any of them. And it wasn’t until the end of the month when I was looking through my ratings and reflecting, that I noticed that I only read books with 3-star ratings this entire month. While there weren’t any major standouts, they were all good (or at least mediocre) in their own unique ways.
Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties - 3 Stars. This book is about as chaotic as the title and subject matter imply. It definitely presents a substantial amount of information that warrants a closer look and some kind of explanation - if one exists. However, as acknowledged in the book, most of what is discovered is not woven together in a consistent or coherent fashion, which is also unsurprising given the nature of the allegations and the involved parties. Although I am willing to consider everything that is shared, and have definitely spent some time since I finished the book thinking back on everything, I don’t think that any major conclusions can be drawn - at least not based solely on the facts presented. But that doesn't make the information less interesting to consider, and the decades of work Tom O'Neill put in deserve to be appreciated.
The Target - 3 Stars. Since I once again returned to an early book in this series by Catherine Coulter, it took me way too long to realize that the story being told directly impacts one of the later books in the series I read a few months ago. I appreciated the depth and context that I now have for that plot and felt like I understood both books better once I grasped the connection. Although I don’t like when these books focus so heavily on the peripheral characters over the consistent ones, since even the peripheral ones in these books were technically recurring characters I’d already met, I could let it slide a bit easier. I could definitely see some of the twists coming, though, and only partly because some of them had been explained in the later book. I will probably continue to read from this series, but I may cherry-pick my reads a bit more intentionally to maximize the aspects I like and minimize the ones I don’t.
The Sentinel - 3 Stars. Since Lee Child is handing the Reacher franchise off to his brother to keep the story going, it was interesting to read this book that was jointly written by both of them. While it still contained all of the hallmarks of the character, my attention was drawn to attributes, dynamics, and approaches that felt very new - not necessarily in a good or bad way, just in a distinctly noticeable one. This book had one of the plots where it was a bit difficult to determine where it was heading, and I already have forgotten most of it. I will definitely keep reading, though, because I do like the series, and have a new desire to see what direction it will go in.
Booked on a Feeling - 3 Stars. I will admit, I started this book earlier in the year and gave up within a few pages. But someone I knew said they enjoyed it, so in a lull, I turned back to it and made it all the way through. Of course, I greatly enjoyed some of the setting and context for the story - both bookstores and the legal world thrill me. But beyond that, it was about as Hallmark a romance book as you can find - albeit one that would likely be a bit too explicit to fairly earn that label.
Better off Dead - 3 Stars. Another jointly authored Reacher story. This one was even less memorable than the last. After reading the summary of the book to remind myself what it was about, I began to question whether I actually had because I seriously couldn’t remember it. But, eventually, I did remember and realized that I had. The ending is still a bit fuzzy in my memory, despite reading it only a few weeks ago. Also, this book continued to display many of the same distinctive characteristics that set the last one apart. But through it all, the character endures, and although this was the most recent release until the one that came out this month, I will still plan to continue reading the series.
Wrong Place Wrong Time - 3 Stars. There were several times when I thought that this could be a really great book, but I slowly lost interest as it went on. It was also based on a really unique concept, one that I could overlook, until the end when a brief appendix tried to engender some legitimacy to the concept, despite acknowledging that it has never been proven. There were several surprising twists that I didn’t see coming, but it was all wrapped up almost too neatly at the end. However, the characters were unique, and once again, I liked the legal setting. I maybe should have been a bit more hesitant going in, knowing that it was a Reese’s book club pick, a category which I have found to be notoriously mixed, but I didn’t dislike it as much as some of the others, so that counts for something.
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why -3 Stars. Although this was a 3-star book, it is probably the best one I read this month. I have spent some time considering over the years the stories of people who have survived accidents and other drastic events (or not), as well as how I might have responded had I been in their place. If you, like me, have spent time thinking about such topics, this is the book for you. No really clear conclusions are drawn, and not much can be used to ensure that you would be one to survive in a similar situation (although there are some concepts that could be useful), but the book covers a fascinating concept and is delivered well.
Love in the Time of Serial Killers - 3 Stars. It isn’t too often that the title of a fiction book is enough to compel me to read it, but this one fell into that category. It is another relatively cliche romance book, and one where it felt like the author was merely trying to squeeze in every possible true crime reference to display their knowledge. However, it was an interesting context for the story to take place, and even if I didn’t particularly love any of the characters, they were all well-written with some degree of nuance.
Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History - 3 Stars. The title of this book also caught my attention, and I was so curious to hear the story. It was pretty interesting, although there were quite a few slow moments throughout and some tangents that didn’t feel entirely necessary. But, I appreciated this glimpse into the inner workings of an often underappreciated government agency, particularly with regard to a story that remained hidden for so long. I also found it totally ironic to realize that the reason the title sounded familiar was because the book, about a movie that was never made, was made into a movie (which I admittedly haven’t seen). I don’t feel compelled to see the movie now, but I am glad that I read the book.
The Last to Vanish - 3 Stars. Just your average thriller, which, from the very beginning, feels very stock. It was also somewhat reminiscent of some of the reality shared in Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders, just in fiction form. There was one fantastic twist, which I felt like I should have seen coming, but definitely did not. It was downplayed, however, when they said that it wasn’t a surprise to the main character, which made more sense, but also greatly lessened the impact of the revelation. The main characters weren’t anything special and I was definitely a bit bored at the end. Despite it being a relatively short read, I was ready for the whole story to wrap up.
Although I’m not disappointed that I managed to get through 10 books during the busiest month of my life, I am looking forward to the rest of the year, which should progress at a slightly slower pace and will, hopefully, involve a bit more reading and some books that rank a bit higher. I know that’s definitely on me, and none of the books I read this month I particularly disliked, but obviously, I didn’t really love any of them either.
And so, I’m ready for a slower month and some better books.
Until next time,