Dear Readers, October was a fun month. I went to some great book signings, all part of the Southern Festival of Books. I got books signed by Jason Reynolds, Brian McAuley, Alix E. Harrow, Julie Clark, Adam Godfrey, and legendary Joyce Carol Oates. I read 6 books this month out of the 11 on my TBR. I overshot. I got too cocky since I read 10 books last month. The 6 books I read and completed for the month, I gave 3 five stars and 3 four stars. The genres I read this month were horror, middle grade urban fantasy, and historical fiction.  The books I’m moving to next month include Fiend by Alma Katsu and Play Nice by Rachel Harrison. There is also Widow’s Point by Richard Chizmar and W.H. Chizmar. Additionally, Coach by Jason Reynolds is on the list. Candy Cain Kills Again by Brian McAuley. I’m moving to December since it is a Christmas-based horror.

Five-Star Reviews:

King Sorrow by Joe Hill is a dark academia meets urban fantasy with some horror elements. I have been waiting 9 years for another full-length novel by Joe Hill. And, man, did he deliver this epic 880-page tome. The novel is an ensemble of 6 characters, Hill said on the Talking Scared Podcast. He was inspired by the show Friends to create the character dynamic. The basic plot is that six friends conjure a dragon to incinerate some people. But the dragon sticks around and demands a sacrifice every year, or a member of the group gets it. The plot reminded me of the Anime Death Note, where the guy has a list that a demon takes out. There was another part that reminded me of the show Grimm, where a bit of fairy tale meets real life. The novel is broken up into different books, where we get a new perspective with each book, so all 6 friends have their own perspective, though one chapter is a shared perspective. The pace of the story is incredible for a story of this size. There was only one part in the middle where I felt the lag. For the most part, the novel is a breeze.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a love story about space, both figuratively and emotionally. Space is the driving force and the setting for part of the novel, about NASA’s first female astronauts. The love story in the novel is about two astronauts. They cannot be together in the same space. This is due to their program and the times. The novel takes place from 1977 to 1984. The love is forbidden and beautiful. The book is half a love story and half a story about the life and commitment of an astronaut. The book starts with a crisis in space in 1984, with a mission going very wrong. We will get to know both the astronauts in the shuttle and on the ground throughout the story. The crisis of the 1984 space flight is the main story. It is broken with flashbacks. These show how Joan, who is the ground control, got started in NASA. They also show how she met everyone on the flight crew. Joan is our only perspective on the past. 1984 is broken up into two perspectives: ground control with Joan and a member of the flight crew. The story is emotional, heartbreaking, and tense at times.

Candy Cain Kills by Brian McAuley is a Christmas horror novella. The novella is concise and well-paced. Candy Cain, the villain, is sinister and mentally deranged. The story has surprising moments of heart. The twists are throughout this tale. Every twist is great and changes the narrative you thought you knew. Candy Cain Kills takes place on Christmas Eve and lasts until Christmas Day. McAuley packs a lot of story and a lot of kills in such a little space. I was a little worried we weren’t going to get that many kills, but don’t worry, more characters get added, and we get flashbacks. The dark side of religion gets explored in the story. McAuley shared he was dealing with his own religious trauma within the story. We see how religious manipulation and fear can spread hate and fear into this world. The story is not all about religion, but it is a slasher at its core. This slasher has humor, drug use, drama, and creative kills. The kills in Candy Cain Kills are so well thought out. If you were to capture these kills on screen, some would make it to the highlight reel of best kills of the year.

Four-Star Reviews:

Sunny by Jason Reynolds is a middle-grade novel written in epistolary format through diary entries. The diary takes the form of the reader, where sometimes it feels like he’s talking directly to you, the reader. Sunny is the third book in the Track series. The Track series follows the lives of the four middle graders, Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu, and their Coach. Sunny, the protagonist in this book, is self-admittedly weird. He is a quiet kid with a loud, questioning internal voice. Sunny runs long distances in memory of his mother, who died while giving birth. He doesn’t like running, never did, he likes to dance. So what if he stopped running? The story explores many internal issues. These include living up to parents’ expectations. It also covers burying feelings and choosing happiness despite hurting others. I think this is a good book for kids who have recently lost a parent. It looks at the pain of the other parent and what the kid is going through. The theme of this book is that life is always in motion. This fits with the track event in this book, the discus.

Man F*ck This House (And Other Disasters) by Brian Asman is a collection that features the title novella and 6 other short stories. The stories are all very unique. The writing balances humor and horror. Asman has a way with words and has some descriptions that made me wince. The stories all take place in California. The stories make use of California’s setting of hills, deserts, and the ocean. Almost every story starts with a forewarning, this story will not work out great. Every story has some moment of horror. The horror toes the line of being extreme but never crossing over. The gore is throughout, but no story is revealed in the details of the suffering. Asman’s specialty seems to be his endings. I did not like every set-up, but for the most part, I loved every ending but 1 story.

Lu by Jason Reynolds is about life and its hurdles. Hurdles are both physical and figurative. Lu is a hurdler, and in his last race, he got out of rhythm and clipped one and fell. Since that incident, the hurdles have gotten bigger, just as his life hurdles have gotten bigger. His mom is pregnant. An old bully has returned. Lu learns a secret about his father. This secret changes the way he sees him. Lu is the fourth book in the highly acclaimed Track series from middle grade author Jason Reynolds. Lu is an interesting character. He is a black albino and the mouthpiece of the track team that he leads as co-captain. We meet Lu when he has gotten over most of the teasing. He has reinvented himself. However, he is still plagued by that one bully who still gets to him. Lu has a mantra that he is like lightning. Being struck by lightning more than once is rare. It is almost as rare as being born an albino.