I chose Britt-Marie was Here by Fredrik Backman as my November pick and Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz as my second wild card.

#readingbracket2025 @cseydel

November was a good reading month for me.

#bookspin #doublebookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

I'm so excited for my #auldlangspine list from @CSeydel. The only book on the list I've already read is My Friends by Fredrick Backman.

I'm going to prioritize reading In Cold Blood, Tress of the Emerald Sea, We Solve Murders, Mickey7, and The Stardust Grail in January, but there are so many other interesting books on this list that I'll hopefully manage to read at some point!

Thanks @monalyisha for organizing!

4/5

Violet may have been a villain, but when evil adopted father dies, she has an opportunity to start over, by opening a florist shop in the town next to the castle she used to live in. But a power vacuum is tempting to other villains, and Violet may find it harder to be good than she expected.

I really enjoyed this cozy fantasy about people looking for a second chance.

#netgalley

December #bookspinbingo

#bookspin: Tender Cruelty by Katee Robert
#doublebookspin: Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin

@TheAromaofBooks

e-book: Violet Thistlewaite is not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz

audiobook: Queen Demon by Martha Wells

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

4/5

I thought this was both a fun retelling of Aztec mythology from the perspective of Xolotl, as well as a good introduction to some of the Aztec gods and mythology for middle grade readers. I really liked the part where Xolo sees himself in the dogs he helped create and sees that his flaws aren't as bad as he thought.

#netgalley

4.5/5

Simran is a witch. Vina is a knight. Both are trapped in a story that will inevitable lead to their deaths and then the cycle will repeat again. But something is hunting down and killing stories, and Simran and Vina must work together to find out what is happening if they hope to stay alive long enough to have a chance at changing their own story.

#netgalley

5/5

After a lifetime of caring for her home and family, Britt-Marie needs a job. She ends up in a small town in financial trouble, Britt-Marie ends up as the caretaker for a community recreation center that the local government forgot to shut down. Despite her dislike of soccer, she also becomes the soccer coach for the local kids.

Britt-Marie and the community change once another as they begin to let each other in.

#goodreadsgiveaway

3/5

Rottgor has spent centuries of his reanimated life as a Death Knight, but now he's retired and can make the most of his time to fulfill the dreams he had before his undeath. He decides to open a restaurant and to build a new life and new community for himself.

I really liked the concept of this book, but there were so many characters and so many things going on, that I found it difficult to get very invested in the characters.

#netgalley

4.5/5
Theo has just begun to adjust to her life as a fairy's familiar, when she's pulled into a thousand year old mystery that she must solve or put her own life into danger. Despite her un-likeable-ness, Theo must rely on her friends, to get to the bottom of who assassinated the fairy royal family.

This was another great adventure for Theo. I love Theo as a character, and I thought this was a really satisfying conclusion to her story.
#netgalley

4/5

Fern's life is in a rut, so she moves to Thune to relocate her bookshop next to her long-time friend, Viv. But when that fails to change how Fern feels, she ends up in the back of a legendary adventurer's wagon and ends up on a journey of her own.

I enjoyed the addition to the lore of this world, particularly the section about the penitents. The ending wasn't what I expected, but I hope that it can continue to be expand on.

#netgalley

Favorite October read: When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur

#readingbracket2025 @CSeydel

#bookspin: M.A.Y.A. by Nina Saxena

#doublebookspin: How to Survive a Fairy Bargain by Laura Mayo

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

I can't believe I more than filled in my October #bookspinbingo. Definitely my best reading month of the year.

#bookspin #doublebookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

4.5/5

It's 2030, and while segregation is still the law of the land, Annabeth has a good job at the time travel company CRONUS. Until she begins to remember a past that never happened, and learns that she isn't the only one.

#netgalley

2.5/5

Five monstrous roommates share a home they were drawn to when a professor successfully invented time travel.

I really liked the premise of a group of monsters living together to afford the real estate tax in Santa Monica, and I really liked the characters, but overall I didn't understand the story.

#netgalley

4/5

Esther can only remember a couple of years, but that's all anyone can remember, so she doesn't mind. Then she goes to the husband archive and ends up with a husband who tries to teach her what books are, and eventually what happened to the world he lived in.

I thought this was a very different take on time travel, but I thought it was a very interesting story as I tried to figure out what was going on.

#netgalley

4/5

Russ is a traveling salesman who sells opportunities by time traveling to the near past, but he's much rather be working in futures until he understands his presence. This was a really devastating short story about time and what matters in life that had me crying.

#netgalley

3.5/5

Jess finds an injured boy alone in the woods and takes him into her home, but he seems to know things he couldn't possibly know. This was a very creepy and unsettling read.

#netgalley #hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple #OneSnackToRuleThemAll

4.5/5

I really liked this concept of time travel where travelers can only return to their time after 3 days, 9 months, or 27 years in the past. I also loved that it was told by the time travel technician running the machine. It was a quick and fun sci-fi story.

#netgalley #hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple #OneSnackToRuleThemAll

5/5

I have been reading this series for a few years now, and this is the first year where I loved almost every essay in the collection. There were essays where I learned things, essays that made me tear up, and essays that left me angry and horrified. It was a fascinating collection that I enjoyed reading.

#netgalley #hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple #OneSnackToRuleThemAll

4/5

Rosemary's horror novel is being turned into a movie, which should be perfect, but instead she's annoyed they've cast action star Ellis as lead. Despite her attraction to him, she's sure he's all wrong for the role.

I thought the gothic horror movie set was a really fun setting for a romance novel. I really enjoyed Ellis and Rosemary's chemistry, and I thought the ghosts were a nice addition to the story.

#netgalley

3.5/5

Last summer, all of Nan's friends disappeared and Nan was left behind, but on the day of their memorial, Luce re-appears, and Nan knows whatever reappeared can't be the real Luce, since Nan's the one who killed all three girls.

Nan is an unreliable narrator, and I enjoyed piecing what was going on through her perspective. I also thought it was really interesting to read a thriller from the perspective of the killer.

#netgalley

e-book: Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi
audiobook: Kill Creatures by Rory Power

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

6 days left in October, and I feel like if I really focus on reading, I might fully complete my #bookspinbingo this month.

3/5

Dina was hexed so that anyone who loves her will be hurt, and she's sworn to avoid love to protect those around her. But then Scott starts showing up everywhere in her life, and it's impossible not to fall for him.

I had a little trouble getting into the characters are first, but I loved how Dina's relationship with her mother was depicted, and I thought the ending of the hex was very satisfying.

#netgalley

4/5

Ten years ago, Zelda left her chaotic life as a witch behind, as well as her vampire friends who encouraged her pranks. But now, she's having trouble managing her magic and a vampire with amnesia, Peter, has ended up on her doorstep. Zelda decides a road trip will give her space to get her magic back under control, and help Peter regain his memories, but who Peter was before he lost his memories may come to haunt them both.

#netgalley

5/5

Every 13 years, in Carrion, GA the cicadas rise up from the ground and with them come the mysterious deaths on Lake Clearwater. Four teenagers are pulled into the mystery when a boy they all are connected to goes missing, and they learn about the devils that return to Carrion every thirteen years.

This was a great southern gothic with language that really transported me to Georgia.

#netgalley

audiobook: When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur
ebook: Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi
print: Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

4.5/5

Easton is in Appalachia at the request of their friend Dr. Denton to look into a mysterious disappearance. They are once again brought into a situation something beyond human understanding is happening.

I loved reading another story in this series, and I was glad to see the return of Dr. Denton. The horror in this series always feels very grounded, despite being of otherworldly origin, and I continue to really enjoy it.

4.5/5

Ezra has since ghosts since he was a child, which made living next door to his family's funeral home incredibly difficult. Now he's seeing the ghost of his new neighbor's husband everywhere, but neither the ghost nor Ezra's life is following the rules he's come to expect.

I really enjoyed this book. It was more about grief, family, and community than about the ghosts, but I thought the ghosts brought a good element to the book.

4/5

Mateo's barely a witch, but he needs money to get the demon his mother trapped in his body exorcised. Topher hires him to undo the curse that causes people around Topher to experience deadly bad luck. Mateo gets pulled into a dangerous, magical mystery.

I really loved Mateo and all that was slowly revealed throughout the book about his past and his mother. I enjoyed the slow burn romance between Mateo and Topher.

4/5

Kinsey, the leader of an isolated research team in the desert, find a specimen and bring it inside before a deadly sandstorm hits. They are quickly infected by the virus it carried, and Kinsey's sexual desires get mixed up with the horror the virus unleashes on her team.

This is such a creepy and strange book, I almost don't know how to rate it, but I also couldn't put it down.

#netgallley #hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple

4/5

Luna crashes her car into an inn's sign during a snow storm. When she goes inside, she finds that the inn is run by an extremely grump werewolf, Oliver. She also ends up magically bonded to him and stuck in the town of Claw Haven until the snow melts and they can retrieve the ingredients to undo the bond.

#netgalley #hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple

3/5

A sleep paralysis demon is very bad at her job. I thought there were some interesting elements to this book, but I think overall I preferred the books in the series that had more of a “scary“ element at the beginning of the story.

#hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple

3/5

I liked this more than Spicy Little Curses, but of all the books in the Scared Sexy collection, this had the least going on. It was interesting to read a paranormal romance from Christina Lauren, since I've only ever read their contemporary romances.

#hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple

4/5

Edgar lives in constant terror of the ghosts he sees, but after meeting Jamie, he's motivated to start to examine his life and live in a way that allows him to be in a relationship.

This book was much more about anxiety, family, and relationships than ghosts, but I really enjoyed how the paranormal elements were able to create a cozy story.

#netgalley #hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple

This sci-fi horror is set an a planet covered in complete darkness with radio signals screamingly loud. Two humans find themselves stranded on the planet in a dire situation as they learn about the planet, and the planet learns about them.

An atmospheric #Hauntedshelf rec

#screamteam @imperfectcj

A couple of Unhinged #Hauntedshelf recommendations. These are both weird horror that involve a cloistered setting. I liked the Starving Saints more than The Unworthy, but they're both horrifying and strange reads.

@imperfectcj #screamteam

2.5/5

Petra is a reported who that becomes drawn into her own story as she uncovers the truth behind Dax and his cursed tattoos.

I felt like too much was happening too quickly in this book, and I found the characters a little annoying, but it was short and free.

#hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple

3/5

What could be scarier than being enslaved by aliens? Being abandoned in a space space station with the genetically modified monster the aliens created.

I felt like everything happened very quickly, and I would have liked to read more about Dana and Vlad figuring out life together on a new planet, but overall it was a fun read.

#hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple

4.5/5

Ethel knows very little about the vampire hunter Lazlo, despite having been hunted by him for centuries. Then he saves her life before she is burned to death after losing a fight to another vampire, and he immediately hits his head and forgets that hunters or vampires exist. Ethel has a chance to kill her enemy once and for all, or to learn who he really is while he's not a threat.

This has been my favorite in tje Scared Sexy series so far

4/5

A monster crafts the perfect small town romance for Lucy when her boyfriend leaves her behind on a hike, but Lucy's too observant to be fooled by a picture perfect romance for long.

This is part of a kindle shorts series Scared Sexy. They're very short, spicy reads if you already have amazon prime.

#hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple

4/5

This was a fun, light-hearted vampire romance. I did enjoy the twist that Reggie told Amelia that he was a vampire immediately, but she thought he was joking.

#hauntedshelf #screamteam #AllThingsApple

3.5/5

Five women are drawn into a plan to steal back stolen goods from a blackmailer right under the nose of the galaxy's most notorious casino's AI.

This was a fun sci-fi heist, with complex characters with interwoven backgrounds. There were a lot of jumps in perspective, and a lot of the broader world outside of the casino wasn't really explained, but overall it was a fun read.

#netgalley

5/5

Chih travels to Baolin where they plan to gather stories about the famine that struck the area, but Chih is captured by the magistrate who would prefer to control what the world know about Baolin's famine.

This was a dark book about the tragedy of famine and what desperate people are capable of, but I thought it was well done. I think I love the books in this series the most where there are multiple stories explaining one event.

#netgalley

4.5/5

Lyssa has sworn to kill the faerie creature that killed her brother 13 years ago. Her first lead comes from Alderic, a nobleman who has more money than sense, but also posses the beast's claw and a map to its lair. Lyssa is forced to bring Alderic along with her as they journey to craft a sword capable of killing the beast.

I really loved the way the faerie and their monsters were depicted in this book.

#netgalley

Booktrovert has a Halloween book bingo

@PuddleJumper #HauntedShelf

My #bookspin / #hauntedshelf list for October. The last six are super short Amazon originals, so hopefully, I'll make it through most of the list.

#ScreamTeam @ImperfectCJ
#bookspinbingo #doublebookspin @TheAromaofBooks