So, I missed this update in November. I was super busy with all the Thanksgiving shenanigans and starting plans for Christmas. Anyway, I completed my reading challenge! In fact, I read three extra books.
Survive the Night (Riley Sager)
Rating: 4/5
Chasing Magic (Stacia Kane)
Rating: 4/5
Frightmares (Eva V. Gibson)
Rating: 4.5/5
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
Rating: 4/5
Little Fires Everywhere (Celeste Ng)
Rating: 3.5/5
Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant (Darci Hannah)
Rating: 3.5/5
Forget You Saw Her (Noelle W. Ihli)
Rating: 4/5
Trappings, Turkeys, & Thanksgiving (Tonya Kappes)
Rating: 3/5
The Engagement Party (Darby Kane)
Rating: 3/5
The Cotton Candy Massacre: The F-F-F-Final Chapter (Christopher Robertson)
Rating: 5/5
Every Single Secret (Emily Carpenter)
Rating: 4/5
The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson)
I felt like I didn’t accomplish much reading this month, but as it turns out, I did. I finished eight books! Maybe it was simply that I expected to knock out a few more Halloween-themed cozy mysteries. Or maybe it’s because it took me so long to get through Jane Eyre…
Anyway, here is what I read in October, complete with my ratings.
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Don’t Look Behind You (Emily Kazmierski)
Rating: 3.5/4
The Girl from Rawblood (Catriona Ward)
Rating: 4/5
Suicide Forest (Jeremy Bates)
Rating: 3/5
Listen for the Lie (Amy Tintera)
Rating: 4/5
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë)
Rating: 2/5
What Lies in the Woods (Kate Alice Marshall)
Rating: 4/5
Eat, Pray, Hex (Tara Lush)
Rating: 3/5
Pretty Girls (Karin Slaughter)
Rating: 4.5/5
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I am currently reading Survive the Night (Riley Sager) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde).
I haven’t shared a life update with pictures in ages, it seems, so here we go!
I turned 38 back in August. I was spoiled by my BFF and her husband that weekend. They took me to dinner, then I crashed at their place and did nothing but eat junk, watch movies, and swim. (Oh, and indulge in her fantastic cooking!) It was a much needed break from reality and did wonders for my depression. When we went out, I got dolled up and, honestly, I looked cute as hell. So cute, in fact, that we were barely inside the restaurant before a waitress ran over to tell me how cute I was. Lol.
My two work besties showed up, as well, which completed the perfection that weekend was. I spent Sunday with my parents, who bought me a red velvet cake. Then, on Tuesday, one of my older coworkers left a homemade lemon cake for me. I felt very loved.
In early September, I attended the Carbonstone show in Birmingham. They opened for Julien-K, Spineshank, and The Union Underground. Hanging out with Corey and Chrystal again was a balm to my soul. I also got to meet Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh from Julien-K. I almost chickened out, but Chrystal made me say hi to Ryan when he walked past their merch table, then Ryan was like “Come over here” and led me to their merch table. I bought a vinyl of my favorite album, Death to Analog, and we took a couple of selfies. It was an extremely good night, capped by my college football team winning their game.
Chrystal CoreyRyan and Amir
And now, it’s October. My favorite time of year – spooky season – is here. Which means, of course, that I’ve been living on fall drinks from Starbucks and Dunkin, and my mom and I have been exploring local cemeteries. Our most recent day out was spent at Athens City Cemetery. We actually have family buried there, but we kept our ventures to the older graves.
This is the Confederate Circle, taken from a bit of a distance.
October, November, and December are my favorite three months of the year, even if Christmas doesn’t excite me the way it did as a child. This year, though, my brother and his wife are back in Alabama, so maybe Christmas will regain some of its magic!
September has been a productive reading month for me! I have added a few fall- and Halloween-themed cozy mysteries to my TBR list, preparing myself for my favorite time of the year. And, of course, I’m still sticking to my original plan and going for the classics that I have yet to read (though I did not finish one this month).
Here are the books I read in September.
Hour of the Pumpkin Queen (Megan Shepherd)
Rating: 3/5
Sacrificial Magic (Stacia Kane)
Rating: 3.5/5
Lock Every Door (Riley Sager)
Rating: 2.5/5
They All Fall Down (Roxanne St. Claire)
Rating: 3/5
It Began With a Lie (Michele Pariza Wacek)
Rating: 3.5/5
Killer Content (Kiley Roache)
Rating: 4/5
The Girls Are All So Nice Here (L.E. Flynn)
Rating: 4.5/5
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I am currently reading The Girl From Rawblood (Catriona Ward) and Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë).
I think I’m back on track, at least with my reading challenge updates! Since I posted the catch-up blog on the 6th, I have finished six more books, including another classic (The Wind in the Willows).
I am very excited because we’re creeping ever nearer to fall and there are a few books I’ve been saving, ones that I feel are best read curled up under a fuzzy blanket with a candle burning and a mug of tea in hand. I can’t wait!
The Last One at the Wedding (Jason Rekulak)
Rating: 3/5
Friends Like These (Kimberly McCreight)
Rating: 4/5
I Think I Was Murdered (Colleen Coble/Rick Acker)
Rating: 3/5
A Cornucopia of Murder (Michele Pariza Wacek)
Rating: 4/5
City of Ghosts (Stacia Kane)
Rating: 4/5
The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame)
Rating: 3/5
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I am currently reading Sacrificial Magic (Stacia Kane) and Hour of the Pumpkin Queen (Megan Shepherd).
So, the blog has been on a bit of a hiatus for reasons that I will explain in a separate post. The only thing I’ve kept up with over the past two months is The Mostly Music 2025 Playlist, which means, of course, that I haven’t updated my reading challenge since May. But I am rectifying that right now! There will be another post at the end of this month, just to get back on track. For now, let me fill you in on all I’ve read in June and July.
You Shouldn’t Have Come Here (Jeneva Rose)
Rating: 3/5
The Collected (K.R. Alexander)
Rating: 2.5/5
There’s No Way I’d Die First (Lisa Springer)
Rating: 3/5
Rock, Paper, Scissors (Alice Feeney)
Rating: 4/5
Summer Rental (Rektok Ross)
Rating: 3/5
Spring Harvest (Rektok Ross)
Rating: 4/5
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
Rating: 2/5
Clown in a Cornfield (Adam Cesare)
Rating: 2/5
Carnival Kills (Caesar Daniels)
Rating: 3/5
Red Hot Murder (Michele Pariza Wacek)
Rating: 4.5/5
They’re Watching You (Chelsea Ichaso)
Rating: 4/5
I Know What You Did Last Summer (Lois Duncan)
Rating: 2/5
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight (Kalynn Bayron)
Rating: 2.5/5
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I am currently reading A Cornucopia of Murder (Michele Pariza Wacek) and I Think I Was Murdered (Colleen Coble).
Y’all are going to laugh that it took this long, but I finally bought a Kindle. I’ve had Kindle Unlimited for two years, and I’ve been reading like a fiend on my phone. However, I decided I needed something with a bigger/adjustable display (after frequent headaches from the constant eye strain of looking at my phone and the computers at work). I decided on the Kindle Paperwhite and so far, I’m enjoying it immensely.
Anyway, I’m telling you that to tell you this: I’ve been sailing through novels since the device arrived! May has been productive. So much so, in fact, that I changed my goal for the year. I am now aiming for 75 books instead of 50.
Here is what I have finished over the past month.
The Cheerleaders (Kara Thomas)
Rating: 3.5/5
Satan’s Affair (H.D. Carlton)
Rating: 3/5
The Summer She Went Missing (Chelsea Ichaso)
Rating: 4/5
No Place Left to Hide (Megan Lally)
Rating: 4/5
Hide (Kiersten White)
Rating: 3/5
Such Quiet Girls (Noelle West Ihli)
Rating: 3.5/4
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
Rating: 3/5
The Final Scene (Steph Nelson)
Rating: 3.5/5
The Collector (K.R. Alexander)
Rating: 2.5/5
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I am currently reading Little Women (Louisa May Alcott), The Collected (K.R. Alexander), and You Shouldn’t Have Come Here (Jeneva Rose).
Hello! I hope you have had a fantabulous April. Mine has been…well, I guess I’d say wash, rinse, repeat. Lol. Same shit, different month. However, I did read six books, so that’s at least one improvement, right?
Here are the books I finished with my ratings.
Every Summer After (Carley Fortune)
Rating: 4/5
A Peach of a Murder (Livia J. Washburn)
Rating: 3/5
The Stranger in Her House (John Marrs)
Rating: 4/5
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
Rating: 2/5
Murder in Cottonwood Springs (Dianne Harman)
Rating: 2.5/3
Home Before Dark (Riley Sager)
Rating: 3.5/5
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I am currently reading Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte), No Place Left to Hide (Megan Lally), and The Cheerleaders (Kara Thomas).
I visited my brother in Colorado for his birthday. He and my sister-in-law have moved since I last saw them, and their new home is in the middle of nowhere. Actually, it’s in an area considered to be a ghost town, which is right up my alley, haha! Needless to say, I wanted to explore all the deserted structures nearby, but we also visited Bishop Castle, North Lake, Monument Lake, a few cemeteries, and Lathrop State Park.
It sounds like we were constantly running around; however, we had plenty of downtime, too. We lazed around the house with a fire going, watching horror movies and TV shows (mostly of the cooking variety). My brother caught up on “Outer Banks,” and his wife and I got him hooked on “Squid Game.”
It was so relaxing. I didn’t want to come back. We’re already planning my next trip. I want to go out in the summer, because I always seem to go when it’s cold. On the other hand, Marilyn Manson is touring in September and has stops in both Denver and Albuquerque, soooo…
Anyway, here are some photos from my trip.
The most haunted building in TrinidadMonument LakeNorth LakeBishop CastleLathrop State ParkThis was at one of the cemeteries in AguilarSame cemetery Another Aguilar cemetery Walsenburg cemeteryNot far from where my brother and his wife live. I Googled it and the area is defined as a ghost town.
“80’s/90’s country! Sawyer Brown is a fave. Other than that, I listen to a lot of girl pop with my daughter. Olivia Rodrigo is punk AF.” – Deadly Vices
Mostly Music 