the books I read in October

 

It was another really good reading month! I was sad to mostly finish one of the best series of books I've ever read...the Nantucket Inn series by Pamela Kelley. Other than that, I was surprised by some of the books I read, in a good way. (You can click on each picture to be taken to the link on Amazon.)

First up this month was Nantucket Threads by Pamela Kelley. 

I wasn't sure about this one, because I wasn't sure about the main character at first, but it quickly grew on me and I loved it as much as I've loved her other books in this series. This book introduces Izzy, the sister of the main character from Nantucket Weddings. Izzy is pregnant and on the fence about whether or not to try to make the relationship work with the baby's father. I don't want to say too much to give anything away, but it was really good. 

Next up was The Hotel by the same author. 

The author told me to read this book next, even though it's not in the series. She told me that because characters are introduced in this book that make an appearance in her sixth book of the series, Nantucket News. I was a little slow in getting into the hang of totally different characters, but once I got them straight in my head, I loved this book. I loved that each chapter was in the perspective of a different family member, but this one big family runs this big hotel on the island. It's all about the ins and outs of the family business, with some good tension in some of the relationships between family members. (It's weird that I wrote that sentence...I may like it in a book, but I don't want it anywhere in my own family in real life!) 

Did you read that the author told me to read this book next? I know I've mentioned this before, but I'm a lifelong fan of this author just because of how she corresponds with her readers. I'm in her book club on Facebook and she's always engaging us in conversation. Well, it's either her or someone who manages her account really well, but I'm 99% sure it's her. She gives us lots of recommendations for other authors and books as well and she's always asking what we're reading, because she loves to read. I love this about her and will read every book she writes.

I strayed to a different author for my third book of the month, and I was not disappointed! I read Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland.

A blog friend recommended this book and I am so glad I decided to read it. It was a little slow getting into, just because it's about two pretty large families...but once I got all of them straightened out in my brain, it took off and I flew through the last half. This book is all about two families who own this historic hotel in the Catskills. Have you seen the movie Dirty Dancing? Think Kellerman Resort. Back in the days before AC made it into most homes in the city, a lot of the inhabitants escaped into the mountains for a reprieve from that heat. The problem in this present day is that the hotel crowd is dying down, and less and less people are coming for a summer at The Golden Hotel. The two families decide to meet there over the summer for one last hoorah as they decide on whether or not they're going to sell the hotel. There are tons of ins and outs in the two families, the Goldmans and the Weingolds, but at the halfway point of this book, there is a huge shift and new family members are introduced...once they start contributing their dialogue to the book, it got so much more interesting. There were some huge twists at the end, but the ending was SO GOOD. 

I'm a fan of this author from here on out and plan on reading more of her books.

Book four of the month was The Happy Camper by Melody Carlson.

I love Melody Carlson, normally and I'll keep reading books by her because I know she'll redeem herself, but I only somewhat liked this book. I did keep reading it, so there is that, but two characters got on my nerves SO BAD. Also, the main character was wishy washy and, like I've mentioned before, I do not like that quality in a person. Anyway, this book is about a girl who breaks up with her boyfriend and loses her job, so she moves back home to the farm she grew up on. She has an estranged relationship with her mom, so when she discovers her mom at her grandfather's house, things don't go exactly as she'd planned. Their house is crowded, so when her grandfather sees her struggling with not having a room of her own, he gives her this old camper that was handed down to him from a friend. She fixes it up and starts to live there just to get away from her mom and her opinions. There are other things that go on in the book, but I don't want to give anything away, should you decide to read it in spite of what I said. 

All that to say, her books are usually great! Especially her Christmas books. (She is a Christian fiction writer.)

My fifth book this month took me back to the beloved series I've come to love by my new favorite author, Pamela Kelley. This is her latest (hopefully not last) book in the Nantucket Inn series and is called Nantucket News.

I've been looking forward to and dreading reading this book, but I couldn't wait any longer and started it...and then finished it the next day. It was SO GOOD. This seventh book introduced a new character and talked about some newer ones from her previous books. This one was about a new addition to their town paper and the ins and outs of their job. There's a movie star on the island with another star because of a film project they're working on, and Taylor gets to know some of the residents on Nantucket. Rhett (Lisa's husband) is surprised to find that someone is stealing from his restaurant and takes measures to find out who the culprit is. Meanwhile, you get glimpses into the lives of all the favorite characters from the previous books. Have I mentioned how much I love books in a series? I become so invested!

Next up was Six Months in Montana, also by Pamela Kelley. 

Molly lives in Manhattan and runs a busy boutique hotel when she is summonsed back to her hometown in Montana for the will reading of someone she loved and looked up to as a young girl. Her old friend's grandfather passed away and the only way he can inherit the ranch is if he marries Molly for six months. She agrees to this strange request and uproots her life for this six month stint back in her hometown with someone she used to be best friends with....can her and Christian make it through these six months? Will they end the six months and go on as if nothing happened...or would love take them by surprise? This one was just okay for me...pretty unrealistic and super predictable, but it was also her debut novel, so considering that, it was pretty good. 

My next book was The Restaurant by...you guessed it. Same author!

Three sisters inherit their family restaurant. Two of them don't even live on Nantucket, but they come together to work at the restaurant for one full year before deciding what to do with it after the one year is up. This book was full of the ins and outs of a big family, with lots of drama and history thrown into the mix...and as usual, every single time I read one of her books, I'm either hungry or inspired to try something new for dinner. In this book, I loved learning a little of what happens behind the scenes in the restaurant business. 

My final book for the month was Forgiving Paris, by Karen Kingsbury.

I always pre-order Karen's books and this one was really good, even if it was quite unrealistic. I will say that for her, this book was a little darker, but it's about a woman's previous life in the city of Paris. She makes the decision to go back to Paris for an art show and she faces some dark memories while she's there, also while reconciling some of her past and making the choice to forgive herself and this city that has haunted her all of her adult life. Like I said, this was a really good book, but so many things happened that would likely never happen in real life... and while I love that sometimes, all of them together made this book a little too predictable and unrealistic for me. I love her books, don't get me wrong, and I'll keep reading her books....this one just wasn't my favorite. 

So, those are the books I read in October! I am going to finish the book I'm reading now, then making the switch over to Christmas books for the rest of the year. I already have a lot on my Kindle that I've been saving, so I'm pretty excited. Also, the book I'm reading right now is SO GOOD! But I'll post about that on my next bookish post. I hope this post inspires you to go and pick up a book to read! 

Love to all. ❤