Y’all, how is it November already? I can’t believe we’re already approaching the end of the year! And I kid you not, when I was heading to work yesterday morning, I saw people decorating the front of my neighborhood for Christmas, and I was like, “what?” Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas. But October wasn’t even done yet! It’s funny to see everything rushing to Christmas now, but I’ve got my sights set on Thanksgiving…and the break from work and school that’ll come with it! I don’t know about y’all, but I am ready to read this month! Take a look at my TBR!

Seasons of Chaos by Elle Cosimano

Genre: Romance/Fantasy

Synopsis: As immortal Seasons, Jack and Fleur wielded powerful magic in their roles as a Winter and a Spring. Yet there wasn’t magic strong enough to keep them apart, and they risked everything for their love, for the freedom to live their lives as they choose—together.

That choice came at a cost. Jack sacrificed his Winter magic—and his immortality—to ensure their survival. Although he’d do anything for Fleur, he can’t deny the emptiness he’s felt since. Or the fear that his choice to give up his magic may have doomed them after all.

The world they thought they left behind is still dealing with the fallout of the rebellion they started. With Professor Lyon as the new Chronos, Seasons are free to do as they please. But not everyone is happy with the change in leadership. When an old enemy seeks revenge, the world’s most powerful magic runs wild and unchecked, creating global chaos.

Thrust into the middle of a new war, Jack and Fleur are faced with the aftermath of their choices. But are they strong enough to save the world from a storm that’s spinning out of control?

~ ~ ~

This is has been on my TBR list before, but I really want to get to it this month! I keep putting it off for what I would call a petty reason (actually, two reasons, but the other is a good reason, haha!). For one, I’m worried I won’t like it. I loved the first book a lot, and I thought it had a satisfactory ending. But, now the story is going to keep going, and I’m not sure what to expect from that. My petty reason is because there was this Lofi playlist I listened to whenever I read the first book and it fit SO WELL with it, and now I can’t find the playlist anywhere! I really want to listen to the playlist for nostalgic purposes when I read the second book, but I’m going to try and track down that playlist beforehand. If I can’t find it…oh well.

The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Fantasy/Crime/Mystery

Synopsis: For years, frontier lawman turned big-city senator Waxillium Ladrian has hunted the shadowy organization the Set—with his late uncle and his sister among their leaders—since they started kidnapping people with the power of Allomancy in their bloodlines. When Detective Marasi Colms and her partner Wayne find stockpiled weapons bound for the Outer City of Bilming, this opens a new lead. Conflict between Elendel and the Outer Cities only favors the Set, and their tendrils now reach to the Elendel Senate—whose corruption Wax and Steris have sought to expose—and Bilming is even more entangled.

After Wax discovers a new type of explosive that can unleash unprecedented destruction and realizes that the Set must already have it, an immortal kandra serving Scadrial’s god reveals that Harmony’s power is blocked in Bilming. That means the city has fallen under the influence of another god: Trell, worshipped by the Set. And Trell isn’t the only factor at play from the larger Cosmere—Marasi is recruited by offworlders with strange abilities who claim their goal is to protect Scadrial…at any cost.

Harmony’s vision of future possibilities comes to an abrupt halt tomorrow night, with only blackness after that. It’s a race against time, and Wax must choose whether to set aside his rocky relationship with God and once again become the Sword that Harmony has groomed him to be. If no one steps forward to be the hero Scadrial needs, the planet and its millions of people will come to a sudden and calamitous ruin.

~ ~ ~

I am sooooo excited for this book! The third book in this series, The Bands of Mourning, left off on such a cliff hangar, and I’ve been waiting for a while now to see what becomes of some of my favorite book characters ever. I wanted to wait until my next paycheck to pre-order the book, and today is finally the day! This book will release on November 15th, so I will have to do a little more waiting. But as soon as it comes out…READING TIME!

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Austere Academy | The Ersatz Elevator | The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: (The Austere Academy) If you are looking for a story about cheerful youngsters spending a jolly time at boarding school, look elsewhere. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are intelligent and resourceful children, and you might expect that they would do very well at school. Don’t. For the Baudelaires, school turns out to be another miserable episode in their unlucky lives.

Truth be told, within the chapters that make up this dreadful story, the children will face snapping crabs, strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, violin recitals, S.O.R.E., and the metric system.

It is my solemn duty to stay up all night researching and writing the history of these three hapless youngsters, but you may be more comfortable getting a good night’s sleep. In that case, you should probably choose some other book.

(The Ersatz Elevator) If you have just picked up this book, then it is not too late to put it back down. Like the previous books in A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, there is nothing to be found in these pages but misery, despair, and discomfort, and you still have time to choose something else to read.

Within the chapters of this story, Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire encounter a darkened staircase, a red herring, some friends in a dire situation, three mysterious initials, a liar with an evil scheme, a secret passageway, and parsley soda.

I have sworn to write down these tales of the Baudelaire orphans so the general public will know each terrible thing that has happened to them, but if you decide to read something else instead, you will save yourself from a heapful of horror and woe.

(The Vile Village) You have undoubtedly picked up this book by mistake, so please put it down. Nobody in their right mind would read this particular book about the lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire on purpose, because each dismal moment of their stay in the village of V.F.D. has been faithfully and dreadfully recorded in these pages. I can think of no single reason why anyone would want to open a book containing such unpleasant matters as migrating crows, an angry mob, a newspaper headline, the arrest of innocent people, the Deluxe Cell, and some very strange hats. It is my solemn and sacred occupation to research each detail of the Baudelaire children’s lives and write them all down, but you may prefer to do some other solemn and sacred thing, such as reading another book instead.

~ ~ ~

I’m continuing with the A Series of Unfortunate Events series, and I’m probably going to read more than the ones listed above. I’m actually getting these books from my school library, and since I won’t be a student anymore after December, I’m trying to read what I an from this library. I’m sure I couldn’t find them at another library, but having them at the school is just more convenient. They are easy to read and I finish them pretty quick, so I think I could read the rest this month, hopefully!

The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Genre: Mystery/Romance

Synopsis: To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets, and they know her.

But as the clock ticks down to the moment when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help—and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player.

Secrets upon secrets. Riddles upon riddles. In this game, there are hearts and lives at stake—and there is nothing more Hawthorne than winning.

~ ~ ~

This book came out in September, and as excited as I was for it, I found myself in a reading slump and it was hard to get into. It’s strange, because the chapters are easy to get through, but something about it is getting on my nerves! I can’t place why, though! That being said, I am pretty far into the beginning, but it still hasn’t hooked me that much. I’m going to give it another try this month!

And not to mention that Barnes announced another book in this series, The Brothers Hawthorne! I was so excited to see this reveal! The color is super pretty with the purple, so I’m going to try and get my hands on it when it releases!

Seven Dirty Secrets by Natalie D. Richards

Genre: Thriller/Mystery

Synopsis: I know seven secrets:
One caused the fall. One did nothing. One saw it all.
One didn’t care. One used their head. One played the hero.
One was left for dead.

On her eighteenth birthday, Cleo receives a mysterious invitation to a scavenger hunt. She’s sure her best friend Hope or her brother Connor is behind it, but no one confesses. And as Cleo and Hope embark on the hunt, the seemingly random locations and clues begin to feel familiar.

In fact, all of the clues seem to be about Cleo’s dead boyfriend, Cyrus, who drowned on a group rafting trip exactly a year ago. A bracelet she bought him. A song he loved. A photo of the rafting group, taken just before Cyrus drowned. And then the phone calls start, Cyrus’s voice taunting Cleo with a cryptic question: You ready?

As the clock on the scavenger hunt ticks down, it becomes clear that someone knows what really happened to Cyrus. And that person will stop at nothing to make sure Cleo and her friends pay. Can they solve the hunt before someone else winds up dead?

~ ~ ~

I started this book in September, I think, but stopped because I was a little annoyed with it. I’m not all that fond of Natalie D. Richards, but somehow I always rope myself into reading her books. I mean, I didn’t dislike Five Total Strangers entirely. But in this one, I think that the characters are just so dumb that it’s hard to read, haha! Also, some of the concepts are just stupid. I don’t want to be harsh, but it honestly just annoys the crap out of me sometimes. I still would like to finish it, because now I want to know whether I’ve got the mystery figured out, or if there’s a red herring thing going on. Richards is no where near Agatha Christie’s level of skill in writing mystery, but sometimes there can be twists I didn’t really think of. We’ll see!

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Genre: Crime/Mystery

Synopsis: Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the famous Orient Express in its tracks as it travels through the mountainous Balkans. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year but, by the morning, it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside.

One of the passengers is none other than detective Hercule Poirot. On vacation.

Isolated and with a killer on board, Poirot must identify the murderer—in case he or she decides to strike again.

~ ~ ~

Speaking of Agatha Christie, of course I’m going to have one of her books on my list. I’ve already read Murder on the Orient Express before, but this time I’m going to try out the audiobook. This is one of my favorite stories, so I can’t wait to relive it!

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis: Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.

~ ~ ~

I’ve had this book on my mental TBR list for a while now, and it’s been on my shelf for the last few months, too. I just haven’t gotten around to it! It seems like it’ll be a pretty quick read, so I should get to it this month. Maybe I’ll find I like Garber, which I’m really hoping since I have another one of her books from a different series on my shelf, too! Here goes nothing!

The Honorable Imposter by Gilbert Morris

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: Forced by his family to become a minister in the Church of England, Gilbert Winslow is offered a dangerous and challenging task by one of the most powerful nobles in Britain. Taking the post offers fortune and escape from a life he despises, but Winslow discovers it also means becoming a spy. His mission is to infiltrate a group of religious separatists and to ferret out the whereabouts of their leader, who is accused of dissension against the King. In spite of his initial uneasiness, infiltration proves to be an easy matter. But will the ultimate betrayal be so simple? With the influences of good and evil, faith and doubt, compassion and selfishness pulling him apart, to whom could he turn?

~ ~ ~

I got this as a gift from my BFF, Christian Girl Writes (go check her out)! I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while now, so I’m hoping to get to it here soon! I actually read The Gentle Rebel by Gilbert Morris this time last year, so I guess this might become an annual thing, haha!

That’s all of them! I would really like to read more than ten, but we’ll see what happens! I’m thinking things might wind down in at least one of my jobs, but I’m not sure what school will be like. All I can say is that over Thanksgiving break, I just want to read! So, what are y’all going to be reading this month? Let me know in the comments below!

And as always, God bless y’all and have a wonderful week!

Synopses taken from Goodreads.