Blogmas Day 2: October Reading Wrap-Up
Hello, friends! Welcome to Day 2 of Blogmas!
It’s been a busy day for me so far, to be honest. It’s already dark outside by the time I’ve started writing this post, and I have a whole 14-book wrap-up to put together! Although, thankfully, I did review most of these books on Goodreads as I finished them. But for some of them, my thoughts on here will be brief. As always, I’ll link the titles to their Goodreads pages, so you can get more information on them if you’re interested. And my affiliate link to Bookshop.org is at the bottom of the page if you’d like to buy any of the books I mention while also supporting me.
But first, today’s advent jigsaw puzzle is a cute little gingerbread man:
Now on to the 14 books I read in October!
Victober Wrap-Up
I’ll start by wrapping up Victober, the Victorian-literature readathon I participate in each year. October spun out of control for me pretty early on, so I didn’t read anywhere near the amount of Victorian literature that I’d hoped to. Oh well, there’s always next year! Here are the 6 books I read for Victober, from least to top favourite.
The 3-Star Re-Reads
Oh dear. I absolutely loved this book the first time I read it 25-ish years ago. It did not live up to my memory of it.
To start with, it’s a very disjointed book. That’s pretty standard for Charlotte Bronte, to be honest, so I was expecting that, but it felt a little more extreme in Villette than in Jane Eyre. I’ve read Jane Eyre many times, and I can feel that the first few chapters are building towards something that pays off later on. In Villette, the first few chapters just seem like loose threads until quite a way into the book, and then they only turn out to have been building up to something for minor characters, not for the main heroine.
Speaking of the minor characters, there’s way too much reliance on coincidence for my liking. Every single significant person she meets has a mysterious link to another significant person. Again, in Jane Eyre the coincidental meeting builds to something, and it doesn’t happen over and over again. It became an overused trope in Villette, and I got tired of it.
And don’t even get me started on the main love interests. We’re always talking about how Rochester from Jane Eyre hasn’t aged well for today’s reader, but my goodness… can we talk about how Graham was a groomer and Paul was a narcissistic stalker? Charlotte Bronte would be a dark romance author if she were alive today, no doubt about it!
I love Charlotte Bronte’s writing, don’t get me wrong. I don’t completely hate Villette. I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected to, and I’m disappointed. I’m dropping my rating from 5 stars to 3. I guess I’ll have to revisit it again in another 25 years to see how I feel about it then!
I didn’t review Silas Marner on Goodreads, and it’s been a few weeks now since I read it. Unfortunately, that has revealed the main reason I gave it 3 stars – I find it rather forgettable. George Eliot is a very capable author, and the story of Silas the miser and his redemption is lovely to read. But it’s also a bit meandering and dull. I’ve read it twice now, and I think that’s probably enough.
The 3-Star New-To-Me Read
Again, I didn’t feel like reviewing this for Goodreads when I read it, and now I’m struggling to remember my thoughts about it. It wasn’t what I expected, and I had trouble shaking my expectations while reading it. I was expecting a fallen-woman story, but I don’t think that’s what Ruth is at its heart. Yes, it’s about a woman abandoned by the man she loved at a time when that spelled social ruin, but it’s really the story of a found family and unconditional love. I did enjoy that aspect of it, but I kept expecting things to happen that didn’t, if you see what I mean. It’s a good book, though, and my feelings towards it might improve on a re-read.
A 4-Star Memoir
The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands by Mary Seacole
Mary Seacole was a free Black Jamaican woman who nursed soldiers during the Crimean War. She basically did the work of Florence Nightingale (of whom she had little good to say) without the accolades. She was a tough lady who suffered no fools, and she certainly did have adventures. I was a little taken aback, though, at the amount of casual racism in this book. Not directed towards her – there was surprisingly little of that, since she mostly passed as white and commanded respect everywhere she went – but participated in by her against other groups. I know it was rampant at the time, so it shouldn’t surprise me. But I was disappointed.
The 5-Stars of Victober
The Wonderful Visit by H.G. Wells
Where has this charming little work been hiding? I loved it! It’s basically satirical criticism of the “collector” trend in Victorian England, where people would kill and display any “unusual” bird, animal, insect, or plant they found, and it takes pot-shots at several other ridiculous social norms of the time period, too.
Unfortunately, there’s one white-supremacist outburst that was quite a jumpscare right in the middle of all the hilarity and philosophizing, but thankfully it was short-lived and the character never reappeared.
Aside from that, though, I had a really great time with this. Read it in one afternoon, which is unusual for me! Was almost moved to tears at the end, too, which is also unusual for me. Really enjoyed it.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
This masterpiece is my favourite book of all time, and this was my umpteenth time reading it. Do I need to say more? Sydney Carton, you will forever own my heart.
The Rest of My October Reads
And now, here are the other 8 books I read in October. Let’s start with…
The 3-Star Reads
It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over by Anne De Marcken
My Goodreads review of this one reads simply, “Beautifully written, but I wish it made a little bit of sense.” Seriously. I can’t get on board with zombies living like they’re alive. And the rules (if there were any rules?) were hard to pin down. I’m guessing the whole thing is a metaphor, but I didn’t grasp it, sorry.
A Play About a Curse by Caroline Macon Fleischer
This was a NetGalley ARC I was really excited about. It sounded like something I would absolutely love. I’m craving that weird-girl-losing-her-marbles genre lately, and I’ve always loved novels that play around with what a novel can be. So, a book about a woman who places a curse on her mentor, written largely as a play script? Sign me up!
For the most part, I really enjoyed it. I thought placing the curse was a huge overreaction to what had happened with the mentor, but that’s okay because most classic plays involve a major overreaction, when you think about it. That’s all part of the main character’s psychosis… right? And the way the narrative sections shift back and forth between verb tenses was kind of jarring, but that’s probably part of the main character’s psychosis, too… right??
The problem is, I’m not actually sure. Nothing about where the story goes suggests that these and other quibbles I had are anything other than flaws in the writing. So while I was really trying to enjoy it and kept making excuses for things that started to bug me as I was reading, after I’d finished the book and had thought about it for a day or two, I felt less forgiving.
Basically, I loved the story and the experimentation with form, but I didn’t love the execution. It’s a fun, quick read that’s worth picking up if you love the genre, though.
I reviewed this one on my blog here. Basically, I found it weird and confusing, possibly problematic, and yet also kind of engaging.
Another 4-Star Memoir
On the Ground: My Life as a Foreign Correspondent by Brian Stewart
I reviewed this memoir on my blog here. Brian Stewart has had an extremely eventful, fascinating life, so this is a great read.
And the 5-Stars
Bud Finds Her Gift by Robin Wall Kimmerer
What a lovely book! Beautiful illustrations, and an important message about being thankful to the Earth for its gifts and becoming the kind of person the Earth can be thankful for, too. 🥰
Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds by Jess Zafarris
I had so much fun nerding out over this one! I reviewed it for my blog here.
She’s a Lamb! by Meredith Hambrock
Some of the best reading fun I’ve had all year. I reviewed it for my blog here.
This was a re-read of my #1 favourite read of 2025. I listened to it on audiobook this time, and the narrator really had the cutesy bunny voices down. I had lots of fun reliving the madness! If you’re curious about my original thoughts after I first read it, here’s my Goodreads review.
Phew, I made it to the end! See you on Day 3!