The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

Started: 4.10.26

DNF: 14.10.26

Kindle Unlimited

I had high hopes for this but I just wasn't getting into it. I didn't take to the main character (and her name drove me mad because it was just weird!), and I found the caving aspect quite boring, up to the point where I DNF'd. Probably didn't help that I also DNF'd The Starving Saints just a couple of weeks back, so I was a bit worried about reading another book by the same author.

Theo Of Golden by Allen Levi

Started: 4.10.26

Finished: 12.10.26

Kindle Unlimited

Started off ok, thought it was all quite sweet and charming. Got a bit bored half way through, have to admit I skimmed through the remaining chapters but did read to the end to see how it finished. Overall it seemed to be about being kind and trying to see the good in everyone, which is certainly an important message. I think, towards the end particularly, there were some heavy religious themes, but these were some of the parts that I skipped. 

Boy's Life by Robert R McCammon

Started: 26.9.26

Finished: 4.10.26

Kindle Unlimited

Well. What a book! I was inspired to add this to my TBR after watching the review from Paperback Journeys on Youtube, and I finally got around to reading it.

It's set in 1960s Alabama, and told from the perspective of 12 year old Cory Mackenson. Cory and his dad witness a car careening into a lake; when his dad dives in to rescue the driver, he realises that the man has been murdered, and handcuffed to the wheel. The murder mystery rumbles along in the background, but in the meantime we just follow Cory going through the usual trials and tribulations of friendships, school, small town life. The book has moments of magic and whimsy, but it also doesn't shy away from the politics, religious fervour and the civil rights issues of the time. We see wonder, joy, grief, and injustice through a child's eyes. The murder mystery comes to a conclusion, possibly a bit too quickly and conveniently, but the story was always about so much more than just that. It's a nostalgic look back at a magical childhood, it made me laugh and it made me cry, and I 100% recommend it. 

Good Girls Don't Die by Christina Henry

Started: 27.9.26

Finished: 1.10.26

Paperback

Another Christina Henry book that I've really enjoyed! First we meet Celia, who appears to be trapped in some kind of Truman Show fake life while being framed for murder. Then Allie, who is unwittingly dragged along to a cabin in the woods with her friends and has to try to survive the knife-wielding maniac outside. And finally, Maggie, who is thrust into a Hunger Games / Maze Runner style game, which she must complete if she ever wants to see her daughter again. These 'final girls' are not going down without a fight though!

There is a lot of misogyny in the book, but also a focus on strong women and female friendships. The ending was almost really good, until it wasn't. But overall though, it was still a good read.  

September Reading Wrap-Up

Mixed bag, this month

1. At The Bottom Of The Garden by Camilla Bruce

Enjoyed it, but it dragged a bit

2. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

DNF

3. No Exit by Taylor Adams

Really good 'survival in isolated location' story

4. The Mental Load Diaries by Cat Sims

DNF

5. Verity by Colleen Hoover

Not bad, not great

6. The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

Enjoyed it, another good 'survival/isolation' story

7. And The Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

DNF

8. Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

Started good, got progressively weirder.

9. The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling

DNF

10. Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

Another one that started good, got progressively weirder

11. Brother by Ania Ahlborn

DNF

Brother by Ania Ahlborn

Started: 24.9.26

DNF: 28.9.26

Kindle

I know I should give it more of a try, but I've got to Chapter 5 and, well, it's upset me. This was a book choice from several months ago and I feel like my tastes (no pun intended, re: the subject matter) are changing all the time. I don't think I want to read something this dark just now.

Episode Thirteen by Craig diLouie

Started: 22.9.26

Finished: 27.9.26

Paperback

An epistolary 'found-footage' style account of a ghost hunting reality TV crew's visit to a haunted house. I think epistolary can work really well when it's letters or written accounts (although having people still write journal entries in the dark or in the middle of life and death situations felt very clunky!). But I'm not convinced things like transcripts of video footage work as well. This was ok, but it got very weird and 'cosmic horror' at the end, not in a good way. 

The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling

Started: 23.9.26

DNF: 26.9.26

Kindle Unlimited

I gave this a try but I wasn't really getting into it. I've since read some reviews and I'm not sure that I would've enjoyed it really, so I'm happy to call it a day.

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

Started: 13.9.26

Finished: 23.9.26

Paperback then Kindle

At almost 900 pages the paperback is a chonker, so I gave in and bought the Kindle edition instead.

This book started off well, although my biggest gripe with it is that I just don't think 7 year olds are that eloquent and articulate. Not just in what they say, but how they think. This is an issue I have with most books involving kids. Anyway, it was giving Stranger Things vibes, with the kids and the 'imaginary side', but it just got weirder and weirder, and from about the 75% mark I was skipping chunks of it because I just wanted to get to the end. And when it did I just felt 'meh'. 

And The Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

Started: 21.9.26

DNF: 22.9.26

Hardcover

This was just a bit too weird for me, I couldn't get into it.