My Month Is Booked: November 2024

Welcome to the second-last My Month is Booked linkup of 2024! :] I managed to read 6 books this month!

I saw this bookstore in China and thought it looked super cool. <3

(As a bookshop.org affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases if you click the picture link (at no cost to you).)

The House in the Cerulean Sea, by T.J. Klune – After reading Under The Whispering Door a couple months ago, I was looking forward to reading more books by this author. This one popped up multiple times in my suggestions + ended up being the pick for a “cozy book club” I joined,  so I was all for it!

A by-the-book case worker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth is assigned a highly classified assignment to travel to an orphanage where 6 dangerous children reside, including the Antichrist (currently 6 years old) + he is to determine whether they will bring on the end of days.

Super cute read that also manages to touch on prejudice/racism (although in this case, more specieism than race?) and being open-minded and accepting of others and their differences — if you’re in the mood for a cozy found-family fantasy, this will definitely be your jam!

Cackle, by Rachel Harrison – This was a book pick from another virtual book club I’m in! After being dumped by her boyfriend of 10 years, Annie moves to upstate New York for a fresh start and meets Sophie, a beautiful, free-spirited woman who befriends her. Annie goes on a journey of self-discovery + learning to set boundaries and make her life her own.

Although I couldn’t relate to Annie at all, this was a great read. It’s marketed as dark, but I felt it was also more of a cozy fantasy (for the most part). I want a Ralph in my life immediately, please and thank you.

Some Choose Darkness, by Charlie Donlea – This is book #1 of the Rory Moore/Lane Phillips books. (After reading Don’t Believe It, I figured I’d go through all of his books…) Back in 1979, 5 women in Chicago went missing and no clues or bodies were ever found. The police receive a package from a mysterious woman named Angela Mitchell, who seems to have identified the killer (dubbed “The Thief”), but she goes missing before they can question her. 40 years later, The Thief is about to be paroled for Angela’s murder. Rory is a forensic reconstructionist (expert at cracking cold cases) who becomes entangled in the case and dark truths are discovered.

I used to watch Criminal Minds a lottttt. Charlie Donlea sure knows how to write about some sick, sick people, but this was a page-turner for sure. I didn’t see everything coming!

The Suicide House, by Charlie Donlea – This is book #2 of the Rory Moore/Lane Phillips books — I actually read this out of order by accident, but it recaps just enough that you don’t miss a whole lot even if you start with this one.

There’s a house on the outskirts of an elite boarding school where two students were brutally slaughtered 1 year ago — although a teacher was convicted of the murders, questions still remain, but the teacher can no longer be questioned, due to a failed suicide attempt that left him unable to speak or live unassisted. The remainder of the students who were present that night are dwindling, as they one by one return to the house to commit suicide.

Lane Phillips is a psychologist who lures his partner Rory (in a very nice way, haha) to help with this case. It starts off with a man reading from his journal + confessing to his first murder, and there are many POVs in this book — little bits and pieces reveal themselves as the book progresses — it’s confusing in a good way. The only thing that kinda grated my nerves was how often Dark Lords were mentioned (Rory’s choice of beer — if I had to take a drink every time this was mentioned, I would likely die of alcohol poisoning.)

Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan – I actually read this a longgg while ago (Lois Duncan was one of my favorite authors when I was in junior high/high school), but decided to pick it up again on a whim. (It was written in 1979, but was revised a little in 2011.)

Daughters of Eve is a national organization that raises money for the community and promotes sisterhood — members are sworn to secrecy and outsiders are not allowed at meetings. The novel is set in a fictional town that seems to be frozen in a time before feminism. It provides the perfect fuel for the club’s charismatic new advisor to ignite the flames for retribution/justice when, time and again, the young women are met with the varying degrees of injustice due to sexism.

I may just be apprehensive about the looming election, but I felt that some of the things that happened in this book were entirely justified. This is not a feel-good novel, but I think it touches on important subjects.

The Naturalist Society, by Carrie Vaughn – I found this book because of the Amazon First Reads program (it’s actually ! Set in 1880, the story revolves around nature, birds, and arcane taxonomy, a magical practice where an arcanist can tap into the unique abilities of whatever they classify (e.g. animals or plants). Beth Stanley is a gifted self-taught naturalist with arcanist abilities…but in this age, only men are allowed to train as arcanists, so she completes her work and research using her husband’s name. The story follows how she navigates the world after her life’s work is put in jeopardy when her husband passes away.

I started + finished this while I was on the tour bus in China and really liked it! The author does a great job with blending the magical realism into a historical fantasy + there’s some romance as well.

Got any book reviews from this month? Link em’ up below and make sure you visit others in the linkup too for reading inspiration! :]

• Did you read anything this month?
• What are you reading right now? I’m in the middle of Bookshops & Bonedust + The Spellshop (on a cozy fantasy kick…) + my book club’s last pick of the month is Remarkably Bright Creatures!