It kind of feels like I was waiting for October to roll around for so long, and then it just flew past! I’m feeling much better, which is a bonus, and I got to focus on what I like to call ARCtober. It’s not exactly cold here yet, but the leaves are changing, and it’s so beautiful outside. Here’s some of my October highlights:

• I have been flooded with physical ARCs lately, and discovered some new favorite authors.
• I read two nonfiction books, and Voices from Chernobyl was incredibly heartbreaking but also so impactful.
• As usual, incorporating books from diverse voices was important to me, and I read books by Asian, Jewish, Latine, Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ, and Māori authors, further expanding my perspective.
• I made massive progress with my ARCs, getting them closer to a manageable level.

Here’s my breakdown of monthly/cumulative totals for October:

October Totals:

• Books read: 43
• Books DNF’d: 1
• Pages read: 9,130
• Hours listened: 6 days, 8 hours, 55 minutes
• Average pages: 338.1
• Average hours listened: 9 hours, 33 minutes

Cumulative Averages:

• Days per book: 2.63
• Pages read per day: 125.33
• Books read per month: 38.45
• DNF’d books per month: 0.7

Genres Read in October:

• Biography/Memoir: 1
• Fantasy: 13
• Folklore/Fairytales: 1
• General Fiction: 6
• Historical Fiction: 3
• History/War: 1
• Horror: 1
• Mystery/Suspense: 13
• Romance/Erotica: 3
• Science Fiction: 1

Backlist vs. New Releases:

• Backlist books: 10
• 2022 releases: 33

Fiction Vs. Nonfiction:

• Fiction: 41
• Nonfiction: 2

Format Read:

• Print: 12
• Digital: 15
• Audio: 16

Age Range:

• Adult: 32
• YA: 11

My favorite books of the month were When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb and In the Shadow Garden by Liz Parker.

Here’s what I read in October:

• From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos
• Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich (Voices of Utopia #4)
• River Woman, River Demon by Jennifer Givhan (ALC)
• When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb (NG ARC)
• In the Shadow Garden by Liz Parker (Publisher ARC)
• City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita (NG ARC)
• Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander (ALC)
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (ALC)
• Better the Blood by Michael Bennett (NG ARC)
• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde #1) (NG ARC)
• Witchful Thinking by Celestine Martin (Publisher ARC)
• Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans (Books of the Usurper #1) (Publisher ARC)
• You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
• Dawn by Elie Wiesel (The Night Trilogy #2)
• Day by Elie Wiesel (The Night Trilogy #3)
• A Debt of Death by Jonathan Dunsky (Adam Lapid Mysteries #4)
• Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher
• At Midnight edited by Dahlia Adler (YABC ARC)

• The Dead Sister by Jonathan Dunsky (Adam Lapid Mysteries #2)
• Winterland by Rae Meadows (NG ARC)
• A Wilderness of Stars by Shea Ernshaw (NG ARC)
• Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (ALC)
• The Auschwitz Violinist by Jonathan Dunsky (Adam Lapid Mysteries #3) 

• Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller (Mask of Shadows #1)
• Marple: Twelve New Mysteries by Agatha Christie and Assorted Authors (ALC)
• Blood Moon Prophecy by Dilani Kahawala (Legend of the Nyx #1) (YABC ARC)
• Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra (Publisher ARC)
• The Storyteller’s Death by Ann Dávila Cardinal (ALC)
• Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales (NG ARC)
• Partners in Crime by Alisha Rai (ALC)
• The Villa by Rachel Hawkins (NG ARC)
• The Wind at My Back: Resilience, Grace, and Other Gifts from My Mentor, Raven Wilkinson by Misty Copeland (ALC)
• Cheddar Late Than Dead by Linda Reilly (Grilled Cheese Mysteries #3) (NG ARC)

• Vinyl Resting Place by Olivia Blacke (Record Shop Mystery #1) (NG ARC)

• Wait for Me by Sara Shepard (Publisher ARC)
• Phaedra by Laura Shepperson (NG ARC)

• On Bread Alone by Monica Boothe
• Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson (Goddess in the Machine #1)
• Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon (NG ARC)

• An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

• The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik (The Scholomance #2) — reread
• Up to No Gouda by Linda Reilly (Grilled Cheese Mysteries #1) — reread
• No Parm No Foul by Linda Reilly (Grilled Cheese Mysteries #2) — reread
• The Missing Crown by Cait Marie (The Nihryst #4) — proofread

How did your October reading go? Comment with your monthly wrap up links!