October '22 Wrap Up Pt. 2

You may remember that I decided to read my books for October in order of page number from least to most. Because of that, I read more of my books in the first half of the month, leaving only 4 books for this wrap up. So here we go.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - This is a haunted house book set in Mexico in the 1950s. Yes, the house has a ghost, but mostly it's haunted by a fungus. I have since learned that this is a particular kind of horror called Sporror. Ha! It worked. I think fungus is weird and creepy anyway, but this particular fungus messes with people's minds in some very weird ways. I did like the book. The main character/narrator was smart and sassy and I liked following her around.

To Have and To Hoax by Martha Waters - Pros: I like books set in the Regency. The side characters are great. They may not be fully fleshed-out people, but they are sane and not evil. Cons: Both of the main characters are whole idiots. At first, you think it's just the wife. Her husband fell off a horse and was knocked unconscioous at their country estate. His friend sent her a note and she raced to be by his side, even though they hadn't spoken in 4 years. Halfway there, she runs into him at a rest stop. He was fine and on his way back to London. She was furious at him for making her worry, and decided to pretend to have consumption to pay him back. Ridiculous, yes? But then you find out that the reason they haven't spoken in 4 years is because he is a pig-headed ass. Now they are both just stupid. I enjoyed their reunion, but my god we could have avoided this whole mess with just a little common sense.

Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontes by Devoney Looser - This popped up on my NetGalley options and I was on board. I'd never heard of these ladies. The older sister was born the same year as Jane Austen. The younger one got her first book published when she was 15. They were both famous for their writing, but their useless brothers managed to keep them desperately poor their whole lives. They were funny girls as evidenced by their letters. They had Austen's dry, ironic wit.

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff - Yes, that's right. I did it. I finished this on October 31. I really thought I would still be reading this come November 1, but I did it! Gabriel is our main character and he is a vampire hunter. He was born the child of a human woman and a vampire. I think. Something like that. Anyway, he has special blood that makes him stronger than the average man. He joins a monastery for vampire hunters. Turns out, he's the best they've ever seen. It's a really long book, so I'm not going to give the whole synopsis, but rest assured he runs around killing a bunch of vampires. It's very bloody. It didn't really bother me until we got to things like entrails. I mean it's a vampire book. You can expect to have a lot of blood. I liked it a lot.

So with that, I finished my whole October TBR! So many books! I'm super proud.