Whew, the LQ team did some serious reading in October! What a list. I wonder if it has to do with the cooler weather, the sun setting earlier, and cozy reading season starting to settle in. I personally didn’t read more than usual (in fact, I only have one physical book and two audiobooks on my list…although the physical book was long), but the other contributors stepped it up!
How was your reading life in October? Read anything great?
On to the list.
Cathy
Istanbul Dreaming by Denise Derya Brandt
Seventeen-year-old Ayten is forced into an arranged marriage after sneaking away to Istanbul for a night of dancing with her best friend. Ayten initially resigns herself to her fate but after her husband sexually assaults her on their wedding night, she flees to Istanbul and starts her life over.
I started this book early in October and am not quite at the end yet, but itโs been an emotional read so far. Aytenโs story is distressing and sad at times. Her desire to please her father almost completely overshadows who she is as a person. Her interactions with her best friend (the supposed rebel) are some of my favourite parts of the story because you actually get to know who Ayten is and what she actually thinks and wants.
Istanbul Dreaming caught my eye because the author has chosen to use Turkish words in the story (with a brief explanation of their meaning at the start). And, as a translator, I love this decision. There are a hundred ways to interpret this but for me, the untranslated words disrupt your reading experience in a good way that nudges you back towards the cultural and geographical setting of the novel.
Itโs a 3 stars for me and a full review is coming soon.
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One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
Iโm so late to the party with this duologoy but Iโve made it and I love both books in the series.
The protagonist, Elspeth Spindle, has a monster living in her head. The Nightmare is an ancient spirit who lives with Elspeth and protects her. After being accosted by highway men looking aiming to complete the deck of cards that will free the realm from tyranny, Elspeth joins their efforts to rid the kingdom of the disturbing magic thatโs been haunting it for centuries.
I loved the story and the magic system – a deck of cards, each with their own special powers, that needs to be united in order to be destroyed was fantastic. Elspeth and the Nightmare as a hero / villain duo was amazing – their internal monologue with each other was very funny at times. And Rachel Gilligโs writing style is fabulous – luscious and lyrical.
I binged both books in about four days so itโs 5 stars.
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Jess
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (Audiobook)
I was recommended this book a few months ago, and I dragged my feet on listening to it. I had no idea what it was about, so I went into it blind.
Even now that Iโve finished the book, I find it difficult to give a synopsis. Itโs about an old Portuguese man named Theo who moves to a small town in Georgia. While there, he buys portraits from a coffee shop and bestows them to their subjects. Thatโs it, really. Thatโs the whole plot. But the story is captivating. Thereโs no real climax, no shocking plot twists, and minimal drama, but the old man is a comforting presence, and you get caught up in spending time with him.
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You Deserve to Know by Aggie Blum Thompson (Audiobook)
This thriller kept me awake until 2 a.m. I could not stop listening! The story follows three neighbors, Gwen, Aimee, and Lisa as they navigate suburban life. When Gwenโs husband is murdered, the story becomes less about quiet game nights and more about deception and revenge.
I couldnโt guess the ending of this one. This is the first book Iโve read in years that had me literally gasping out loud! I was shocked by every twist, and despite my best efforts, I could not guess the ending.
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Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (Audiobook)
I leaned into the suspense novels this month, and Beautiful Ugly was intriguing, if not a bit predictable.
The story begins with author Grady Green on the phone with his wife, Abby. His novel had just become a New York Times best seller, and he was excited to tell Abby the good news. Heโs interrupted when Abby sees a figure laying in the road. He makes her stay on the phone with him while she gets out to check on the person in the street, but she never gets back in the car. She goes missing, and he goes into a deep depression that leaves him unable to write.
A year later, full of grief and writerโs block, he heads to an island in Scotland to try and get back on track. Sadly, his ghosts follow him there, and heโs stuck in a chaotic realm of grief and loneliness.
The concept of the story was good, but it was really predictable, and there were a lot of loose ends. I was left wanting more and wondering why we werenโt given more answers. I felt that there should have been more foreshadowing or backstory, and therefore I havenโt really recommended this story to many people. It was pretty โmehโ overall.
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Joli
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Audiobook)
I’m usually a pretty big fan of books where the setting has main character energy, and this one didn’t disappoint in that arena. It’s set on a remote island in the subantarctic region between Australia and Antarctica, and the fictional island is based on a real one: Macquarie Island.
In the beginning, a mysterious woman washes up on the shore of the island, where a single family is marooned, taking care of one of the world’s last seed banks, while they wait for transport off. Right away, there are so many questions. Who exactly is the woman? What happened to the scientists who used to live at the research base? Why is the radio equipment broken?
Questions continue to pile up as the woman begins to ingratiate herself with the family (a father and his three children). Relationships form in spite of what’s left unsaid and the intense stress they’re experiencing as they try to save the seeds from warming temperatures.
The audiobook was fantastic. I loved both narrators and had a hard time stopping to take breaks!
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Babylonia by Costanza Casati
At 460 pages, this is the only physical book I finished in October. Bablylonia was my book club’s pick for the month, and it was a choice I probably would not have made on my own. That said, it was quite the story and kept me wanting to read it to find out what happens!
Set in the 9th century BC in ancient Assyria, the story was rather brutal. You’d infer that from the bloody dagger on the front, right? There was a lot of war and brutality happening that I didn’t necessarily enjoy reading, but as the book is based on real stories from that time period, they kind of had to be there.
The story follows Semiramis, an orphan child who follows an unexpected path to join the royal ranks. It was a little bit predictable overall (I mean it says “queen” both on the cover and on the sprayed edges), but finding out how that whole trajectory happened was entertaining.
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Long Bright River by Liz Moore (Audiobook)
Long Bright River was my third book by Liz Moore (I’ve read and loved both The Unseen World and The God of the Woods). I chose to listen to this one on audiobook and really enjoyed at that way! The narrator was great, the story was compelling to listen to, and it definitely held my attention.
I also learned after I listened to it that it was made into a miniseries starring Amanda Seyfried in 2025. Would definitely check it out if I had Peacock!
Although I wouldn’t really call it fast-paced, it’s a detective mystery with some suspense and a lot of family drama. I didn’t love it as much as I enjoyed Moore’s other books, but I’d definitely continue reading any more that she writes. A solid 4 stars.
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Renee
The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper
There are two timelines in The Library of Lost Dollhouses.
In the present timeline, Tildy finds a hidden room in the library where she works. Inside that room are beautiful, ornate dollhouses with miniatures that tell a whole story. She is, in fact, shocked to find a miniature portrait of her deceased mother in one of the houses.
One hundred years ago, in the second timeline, Cora Hale arrives in Europe, ready to begin a new life. A painter who is keen to put her artistic skills to use, she finds herself drawn to creating miniatures. Her host commissions a dollhouse replica of her own home, built at 1/12th the size, scaled.
See my full review on StoryGraph.
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All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Born with only one eye, when Joseph ‘Patch’ Macauley is a child, he embraces the pirate life. He knows all the tales. He carries guns and swords. His mother makes him an array of eyepatches. Patch is from the wrong side of town, his mother working hard just to feed them, and most of the other kids make fun of him and call him weird. Everyone except his best friend, Saint.
One morning on his way to school, the entire trajectory of Patch’s life changes. He’s walking through the woods when he witnesses a man trying to attack his crush, popular Misty Meyer. Using his pirate sword (this was the 1970s), he’s able to distract the attacker so Misty can break free and run. But the man takes Patch instead.
This is a sprawling novel that spans somewhere around 30 years if I recall. All of the characters are flawed in the most beautifully human ways. The writing is fantastic. I loved the friendship between Patch and Saint. It felt a little like what you’d get if Scout Finch and Demon Copperhead were on the same timeline, in the same book.
See my full review on StoryGraph.
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A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle
A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle was a fun closed-door whodunnit. The year is 1924 and the luxury ocean liner Endeavor is sailing from England to America. Many of the passengers are en route to a major art fair that’s happening in NYC.
Timothy Birch is a ship’s officer, and when a passenger is found dead one morning, he is assigned to help James Temple, a passenger who also just happens to be an inspector from Scotland Yard, with the investigation.
As the days go on, art is stolen, more people die, and a mysterious woman is leaving notes for Birch. They can’t be certain that anyone they’ve spoken to is being completely honest, and the investigation is further complicated by Temple’s desire to work alone and not include Birch.
See my full review on StoryGraph.
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It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell
One morning, when Jane is out with her dogs, she finds a lost dog. She takes it to the vet to see if it has a chip and discovers that it’s quite far from home. Being that its owner isn’t terribly far from her step-children, Jane decides to take the dog back herself and use it as an excuse to visit.
When she arrives at the property, she has the sudden realization that she’s been there before, about 20 years ago. She remembers the owners: a couple and their children. She remembers the Jeep that sat in the driveway, and it still sits there now. She also remembers that she had a terrible feeling while she was there that something bad was about to happen to her and that she needed to get out of there immediately.
Lisa Jewell always does dysfunctional families so well. This is another example of a family that has been completely broken down, and the evil things that have happened in their house. Jane becomes consumed with finding out what happened there.
See my full review on StoryGraph.
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My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney
Eden Fox goes out for a run in her new neighborhood in Hope Falls, just a few hours before her big art gallery opening. All she takes is her house key. When she gets home, however, back to the house known as Spyglass, that key doesn’t work. Her husband comes to the door, but he doesn’t seem to know her. Another woman is there with him. She looks quite like Eden, but not, and even goes by her name. Eden doesn’t know what to do. They won’t let her in the house. They say they don’t know her. She’s so confused and no one will help her because they think she’s gone mad, impersonating someone else.
6 months earlier, Olivia Bird (aka Birdy), inherits Spyglass from her grandmother — the woman who died twice. She didn’t even remember her grandmother and doesn’t want to keep the property, and because of a diagnosis she’s received, she’s eager to sell it quickly. While she’s looking through some of her grandmother’s belongings, she stumbles across mail from a company called Thanatos that claims it can tell you, through AI, your exact date of death. Birdy and her grandmother shared the same name, so she decides to investigate this company a little further. What has she got to lose?
The stories converge when Birdy returns to Hope Falls after the original Eden Fox goes missing, teaming up with Sergeant Luke Carter (as his new boss) to investigate Eden Fox and her husband Harrison Wolf. But are Birdy’s motives pure?
See my full review on StoryGraph.
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Stephanie
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
I leaned into spooky season this year with this charming cozy fantasy/magical realism novel by Sangu Mandanna (also the author of A Witchโs Guide to Magical Innkeeping, which is on my TBR list).
When Minka Moon, a witch gets an unexpected message from someone begging her to come to Nowhere House, sheโs shocked. No one is supposed to know sheโs a witch, and the letter claims to need her help teaching three young witches to control their magic.
Intrigued, she says yes. At Nowhere House, she meets and eccentric retired actor, his gardener husband, the homeโs caretaker, the brooding librarian, and, of course, the three witches that sheโs supposed to teach.
What follows is a sweet story about finding your place in the world and a home when you didnโt think you had one.
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Gone Silent by Kate White
The book opens with a text exchange between Gideon and Gillian, two best friends living their own grown up lives but doing their best to stay in touch. Abruptly, Gillian stops texting and finally ends the conversation with one final response, โyou of all people should know.โ
Gideon is confused and crushed, but things get worse when the finds out that months after ending their friendship Gillian died in a hiking accident. Gideon heads to the Adirondacks where Gillian had moved with her children and new husband Aidan.
When Gideon gets there, she starts to suspect that Gillianโs death wasnโt entirely accidental, but the question remains, who was responsible?
White does a good job building suspense throughout the story, though some of the moments felt a bit contrived. I did get pretty hooked at the end and raced along with Gideon as she follows her gut to get justice for her friend.
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The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon
This comprehensive account of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a Great Lakes freighter, on November 10, 1975 was phenomenal. Through first-person accounts from over 100 people, including family, friends, and former crew mates, Bacon creates a narrative that dives into the Great Lakes shipping industry, life on a freighter, the passion and purpose of crew members, and the tragic sinking of the Mighty Fitz.
The beginning of the book lays the foundation in the form of a comprehensive account of what the Great Lakes shipping industry looked like in the mid-1900s and was truly fascinating. Throughout, we meet the crew members that would ultimately go down with the ship, learning about their lives and families. In the latter half of the book, Bacon lays out the timeline of the Fitzโs final night on Lake Superior, going into details that have been shrouded in mystery for over 50 years.
Reading this book was a bit like watching the movie Titanic โ I knew what was going to happen, but it didnโt make it any less sad. It was a truly incredible book.
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That’s it! That’s what we’ve been reading. What did you read in October?
More About Me
- What We Read in October 2026 - November 5, 2026
- What We Read in September 2026 - October 13, 2026
- Reading While Neurodivergent: The Sensory Magic of Books - October 2, 2026