Weekly Mews: Is It October Already? (Please Vote in October's TBR List Poll!)

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

As part of my monthly wrap up, I am linking up to Nicole of Feed Your Addiction's Monthly Wrap-Up Post and Stacking the Shelves hosted by and Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently. 

In reading . . . 

Then

I recently finished reading The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, about three women working at Bletchley Park during World War II, which was really good. I found myself doing a little research as I was reading, matching truth with fiction--out of pure curiosity (and not for spoilers as my husband claims).

Now

I have made more headway with Nancy Marie Brown's The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women. It has been slow going, but I am finding it interesting. I just started reading The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling, which I have heard is laugh out loud funny. I could use that right about now! 

Next

I am really looking forward to reading Alix E. Harrow's The Spindle Splintered, the first in her Fractured Fables series, and think I will be picking that up next. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by the same author is one of my favorite books. 

What I Have Been Watching

More Grimm. I am in the middle of season 4 now. I was not sure I liked the direction the show has taken early in the season, but it's growing on me. Rosalee remains my favorite character. New Amsterdam and The Masked Singer are both back and so my family and I have been keeping up with those shows via Hulu. Just one more episode of Ted Lasso to go this season. It's such a good show. 

Off the Blog

I still cannot quite believe it is October already. I think my brain is still back in September. My family and I seem to have found our fall rhythm more or less. Mouse and I both had dentist appointments recently and I am in the process of having a crown replaced. My TMJ Syndrome has flared up again and that on top of a 10 year old crown did not go together well, I guess. Mouse got to train under a visiting master ballet instructor this past week at her studio, and he gave them quite the workout. Nutcracker rehearsals are going well. My work is as busy as ever--even busier, really. We have had quite a few people absent due to illness, which has only increased everyone else's workload. The weather has been up and down. We had a really pleasant week and now the heat is back. I am already seeing Halloween decorations going up in the neighborhood. I do love the autumn season. 

 Surprise flowers from my husband celebrating the 

30th anniversary of when we became a couple. 

Tell me what you have been up to! What are you reading, listening to and watching? How was your week?

New to the Shelves

Recent e-book purchase with reward points: 

The Last Graduate (The Scolomance #2) by Naomi Novik

Recent bookstore purchases (thanks, Mom, for the gift card!): 

The Orphan Witch by Paige Crutcher

Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Have you read any of these books? What books did you add to your TBR this past month? 

Monthly Wrap Up

Here is what I finished reading in September:

• For a Few Demons More (The Hollows #5) by Kim Harrison
• Witches Get Stitches (Stay a Spell #3) by Juliette Cross
• The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

After my blogging break in August, I have been easing back in. My new work schedule does not allow for much time for myself, which means my blogging time has been impacted. It is a work in progress. My reading suffered this month too. I have not had the best of luck focusing long on a book.

How did your September shape up? Do you have a favorite among the books you read?

Challenge Progress:

•  Historical Fiction Reading Challenge ~ 11/15
• Nonfiction Reader Challenge ~ 3/6    
• Poetry Challenge ~ 5/7     
• Summer COYER ~ See Below
• Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge ~ 20/20

The Summer COYER Challenge is where everything goes, with no limits and no conditions. I did not set a numeric goal, although I did hope to read more nonfiction during that time, as well as continue to try to catch up on some of my series and ARC reading. While I did not read nearly as much as I would have liked, I did not fare too badly. I just wish I had done better with the nonfiction part.

• Witches Get Stitches by Juliette Cross
• The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
• Death at the Crystal Palance (Kat Holloway Below Stairs #5) by Jennifer Ashley
• I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel
• The Stranger in the Mirror by Liv Constantine
• Vanessa's Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Rosselle Lim
• A Fist Full of Charms (The Hollows #4 by Kim Harrison
• Strange Beasts in China by Yan Ge
• Be My Ghost (A Haunted Haven Mystery #1) by Carol J. Perry
• For a Few Demons More (The Hollows #5 by Kim Harrison

With October comes the start of the Fall COYER Challenge (October through December). In this challenge, the rules are tightening back up a bit. Format and price do not matter but the books have to meet one of the Scavenger Hunt List categories (unlimited books per category). My goal is to read five books that met the scavenger hunt list requirements. Looking over the categories, I do not think that will be too hard. The goal, as always, is to have fun with my reading. 

For those participating in reading challenges this year, how you are doing? Are there any challenges you are struggling with? Which ones are you doing well in?

Thank you for helping me decide what book from my TBR collection I should read next: 

My TBR List is hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and take a poll as to which you think I should read. I will read the winner that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

October always puts me in the mood for witchy reads (okay, so I am always in the mood for witchy reads) and these three are on my immediate TBR pile. Help me choose, please! They all sound so good! 

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found--but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting.

When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters--Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she's frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed.

Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she's initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers--except she's still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished. Luna is worried Clover is a wildling. Luna has few memories of her time on the island, but she'll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. But she doesn't realize just how much the truth will change her. [Goodreads Summary]

In the Company of Witches (Evenfall Witches B&B #1) by Auralee Wallace

When a guest dies in the B&B she helps her aunts run, a young witch must rely on some good old-fashioned investigating to clear her aunt's name in this magical and charming new cozy mystery.

For four hundred years, the Warren witches have used their magic to quietly help the citizens of the sleepy New England town of Evenfall thrive. There's never been a problem they couldn't handle. But then Constance Graves--a local known for being argumentative and demanding--dies while staying at the bed and breakfast Brynn Warren maintains with her aunts. At first, it seems like an accident...but it soon becomes clear that there's something more sinister at work, and Aunt Nora is shaping up to be the prime suspect.

There's nothing Brynn wants more than to prove Nora's innocence, and it hurts her to know that even two years ago that might have been easier. Brynn, after all, is a witch of the dead--a witch who can commune with ghosts. Ghosts never remember much about their deaths, but Constance might remember something about her life that would help crack the case. But Brynn hasn't used her powers since her husband died, and isn't even sure she still can. Brynn will just have to hope that her aunts' magic and her own investigative skills will lead her to answers--and maybe back to the gift she once thought herself ready to give up forever. [Goodreads Summary]

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching position that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. She’s stunned by how perfect and picturesque the town is. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is dreamy too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation.

Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That’s how Sophie lives. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem…a little afraid of her. And like, okay. There are some things. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power…but she couldn’t be…could she?[Goodreads Summary]

Thank you for voting! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Reading!

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