October 2024 BookSnacks

Vol. 22 — A lighthearted list with a lean into the holidays and winter.

Happy Halloween to all who celebrate!

First…

If you find something in here to bump to the top of your TBR or your TBW(or to remove from them) then become a paid subscriber! There’s more where that came from and I’m happy to be your book curator!

The Crumbs Podcast

This month’s podcast is all about a book I really didn’t like. And a CLASSIC that I’d never read until now.

The Crumbs—Episode 10.

Regular Programming:

Wow. The end of October. Do I marvel at the passing of time in each newsletter now? It looks that way. A small personal update: the driveway has been poured! Alert! We have a driveway! (See also: I really really want to be living in that house already)

Currently Reading

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

Recommended by one of my favorite college, turned lifetime, friends.

Read if you like:

• In the Company of Witches by Auralee Wallace

• What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon

• This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

Amazon—$16 | Barnes & Noble-$28 | Bookshop-$26

This is the kind of book I want to read in the fall. Spooky, magical, seemingly high stakes but not actually high stakes(open to interpretation, honestly). The story of a young-ish woman waiting for her family’s curse to find her. Her grandmother, who’s now passed on, has left clues for her to help her on this path, and she becomes determined to break her family’s curse and discover what happened to her mother decades before.

This book is so bewitching. It feels like a mix of Practical Magic, In the Company of Witches, and so many other magical realism books that I’ve loved in the last year or so. I’ve said several times while reading these books that I need to annotate and carefully study the writing styles of these authors because something they’re doing sucks me in every time. Needless to say, I’m loving it so far.

Just Finished Reading

People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry

Read if you like:

• Emily Henry

• Miscommunication

• A Sharp Wit

Amazon-$7 | Barnes & Noble-$16 | Bookshop-$16

Continuing my Emily Henry trek, my third read of hers! Only two left. Unfortunately, she releases a book year so it may be time for another release as soon as I finish the two I’ve yet to read. Hopefully, that’s not the case, but only time will tell. And have you seen all the ‘leaked’ photos of them shooting this film? See below.

This one was more laborious to get into. The only reason, at this point, I’m going to keep reading her other two is because of her wit and humor. She has some pulse on quick-witted banter that I’m just not seeing anywhere else. It’s kind of weird that we’re not seeing it in any other books, but maybe it’s just that hard to write? This one is essentially a modern When Harry Met Sally. Two very unlikely friends, become just that and can’t let one another go.

My only qualm with Emily, that is continuing to grow, is that the levels to which her characters miscommunicate is bubbling into unrealistic territory. Some of the scenarios are just not believable. And her romance novels are very formulaic, which when you set out to read all of them, is getting a little overdone. I would love to see her write something that leans more toward LitFic. And if I know the publishing world to the expert level at which I believe I do, that is coming down the pipeline in the next five years for her.

Anyway—next up is Beach Read! Where do you rank it on the Henry’s you’ve read?

Vintage Read

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Read if you like:

• We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

• Historical Fiction, of course.

Amazon-$10 | Barnes & Noble-$18 | Bookshop-$17

This book was released so long ago. I’ve always heard rumblings of it here and there but hadn’t picked it up. While making a reading list for the year this was one that had an adaptation I hadn’t seen, and a book I hadn’t read. I was excited to add it to my list. The story is of a book club that was formed during the second world war on the island of Guernsey. A place people once thought might be free from German occupation but did not end up being the case. This is the type of journey that readers and writers alike have dreams about. Discovering a beautiful story and being able to immerse yourself in it and share it. This book came to life while the author was actually searching for another story that didn’t end up being found. I loved the book. Might have loved it better if I’d read the physical book but loved the audiobook still.

The Movie:

I loved the movie. It stars Lily James, who is so delightful. Glen Powell makes an appearance and has a much more full character than the one written in the book. I loved it and it was a quick watch. The cinematography is lovely, as is the music. It’s on Netflix and if you have a couple hours, it’s worth a watch.

For the Kids(and sometimes adults, too)

My favorite children’s book of the past month!

The Littlest Yak: Home is Where the Herd Is by Lu Fraser and illustrated by Kate Hindley

Apparently, we’ve been missing out. This is the third book in the Littlest Yak collection and I can’t believe I’ve been missing these the last few years. Fraser’s lyrical writing is exactly the thing I love in children’s books. This is a fun to read, delightful story. I hope I’m not the last to know and I could share this book with you and convince you to add it to your library.

Snacks To-Go

🍫 Three Women by Lisa Taddeo I really didn’t like this book. It was just written almost like a police report or a very dry investigation. And it was so dark. It was not for me.

And that’s it! So happy you made it here this month.

There are now 189 of us here! I’m grateful for you!

If you found something here to add to your TBR, your TBW, or something to remove from either of those, become a paid subscriber so you don’t miss the mid-month content coming in two weeks!

Talk soon,

Adri