November 2019 - Page 2 of 2 - Diary of Difference

october 2019 monthly book wrap up book books blog blogging reading goodreads netgalley diary of difference

Welcome to the October Book Wrap Up!

I can’t believe it’s November already! It’s also my Birthday Month and I am so excited about it!

This was a very fun October, I was reading a lot of books I wanted to read, and most of them were spooky, which matched my Spooky October Theme. I read 7 books in total, of which 4 were on my Spinning Wheel list. Sometimes, I have a tendency to ignore my list and pick up other books, and I hope November is a bit different.

I ended up giving three 5-star ratings. zero 4-stars, two 3-stars, zero 2-stars and two 1-stars.

Books I read in October:

~ To read my review – click on the book titles! 🙂

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1. The Awakening by L.J. Smith (The Vampire Diaries #1) – ★★★★★

The first book from the Vampire Diaries series. I have watched and loved the TV Show, so wanted to read the series as well. It’s a story about a popular girl Elena, who meets the mysterious boy Stefan, and the adventures and dangers she is yet to have. I really loved the first book!

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

2. The Struggle by L.J. Smith (The Vampire Diaries #1) – ★★★★★

The second book of the Vampire Series. A continuation of Elena and Stefan’s adventures, but with a little twist – Stefan’s brother Damon appears. And he wants Elena as well. I loved this book too, and cannot wait to read the rest of the series. BTW, team Damon all the way!

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

3. Blood Shadow by Dianna Hardy (Blood Never Lies #1) – ★★★

Blood Shadow (Blood Never Lies #1) is a companion novel for An Eye of The Storm Series.

This book can be read without reading the previous books. At the beginning, the author has included a recap of everything you need to know about the main character, before you start reading this book. It is a story about a woman, who is a werewolf, but then has an accident and anonymous person gives her a new life, but she is also strangely human now. But there is a danger coming, and the anonymous person has to reveal himself to her…

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

4. Reverie by Ryan La Sala – ★

I wanted to love Reverie by Ryan La Sala so much!

Reverie has a wonderful cover that draws you in immediately. The plot mentions a boy and a fantasy world that revolves around dreams. Everything I hoped this book would be – it wasn’t.

Kane is a gay teenager who is trying to pick up the pieces of his life back together after an attack leaves him with no memories of the past. He is in the search of who he is and who he was, and he discovers an alternate reality that he was involved in.

Reveries are worlds born from a person’s private fantasies, and once they manifest they can only be unraveled by bringing their conflicts to a resolution. Reveries have rules and plots, magic and monsters – anything you could wish for. And one wrong step can twist the entire thing into a lethal nightmare maze.

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

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5. The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell – ★★★★★

The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell was a very pleasant read for me for many reasons! I am so glad I got the chance to read it!

The Plot

A terrifying novel set in Czechoslovakia in 1935, in which a brilliant young psychiatrist takes his new post at an asylum for the criminally insane that houses only six inmates–the country’s most depraved murderers–while, in Prague, a detective struggles to understand a brutal serial killer who has spread fear through the city, and who may have ties to the asylum.

Psychiatrist Victor is starting a new job in the Asylum where the Devil’s Six are – Czech Republic’s most dangerous murderers. Victor has a theory by the name of the Devil Aspect, where he believes that is manifested in these six murderers. He believes it comes out in certain circumstances, making these people commit crimes, but not being aware they have done it. Something similar to a split personality, but in this case, the murderers think that the Devil is next to them, and he is making them do all these things.

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

6. Close to Home by Cara Hunter (DI Adam Fawley #1) – ★

Close To Home is, I believe, the first mystery/thriller book I have given one star to. I had very high hopes for this one. And it crashed my hopes quite hard.

Close To Home is the first book in a series called DI Adam Fawley.

The books are not related to themselves and can be read as standalones. They all feature the detective Fawley, therefore the series solution. Something similar to Dan Brown’s series. I listened to the audio book, and I think that the format might have a little blame on my rating.

In this book, the 8-year-old girl Daisy Mason disappears from her parents’s summer party. No one in the neighbourhood saw anything, not even the parents, and the detective is trying to keep an open mind in this whole situation, as someone is clearly lying.

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

7. Love, Heather by Laurie Petrou – ★★★

Love, Heather is one of the most disturbing YA novels related to bullying I have read! Please be aware that this book has bullying and assault triggers.

Stevie and Lottie have been friends since they’ve known about each other. And when Lottie starts to hang out with the popular kids, Stevie wants to fit in too. One thing leads to another, and Stevie gets bullied by them, which quickly leads to the whole school avoiding her.

Then Stevie becomes friends with Dee, and they start plotting a revenge on the popular kids, which very quickly gets out of hand. The ” Love, Heather ” pranks are now spreading without anyone being able to stop them.

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

And that is my October Wrap up! How did your October go? How many books did you read? Let me know! I love reading your comments!

november tbr edition halloween dojo draculadear edward christmas her crown of fire movies ann napolitano bram stoker temple house vanishing death dojo goodreads netgalley blog blogging diary of difference

Hello, my lovelies!

I can’t believe it’s November! I love November, because it’s my Birthday month. It is also a month when winter slowly starts to show its face and autumn is going away. I hope to get some snowy days – but not sure if that will happen…

October was an interesting month for me, in a very spooky mood. I managed to read 7 books in total. However, I didn’t manage to read all the books from my TBR, so some will be getting back here again.

What can I do – I am still getting used to the idea of following a list of books I want to read, and I managed to pick up a few books that weren’t on my TBR list – how mischievous – I know…

Hopefully, in November, I will be a good girl and will stick to my reading list. Let’s see.

As I have announced in my TBR Update, I have changed the way I am choosing my books – if you haven’t read this update yet, please go and have a look.

All the books that are currently on my TBR can be found HERE. This is the list that I will choose from when spinning the wheels.

My TBR for November

I always start with 8 books on my TBR, because this is what I read on average. If I happen to read all of them, I will add a few more books at the end of the month. If I don’t manage to read the books from last month, I don’t unhaul them. They go into the next month’s list automatically, which leaves me with less spins. This month I have 4 books that are extended, which leaves me with 4 spins.

These are the 8 books I am planning to read for October:

1. Dracula by Bram Stoker

Carry-over book

I am currently reading Dracula, but I didn’t manage to finish it before the month ended – so this will go back on my November TBR. It was a great pleasure to be reading this in time for Halloween though, so I am not even sorry that this book is now here.

2. A Darker State (Karin Müller #3) by David Young

Carry-over book

The second book I didn’t manage to read in October. Still looking forward to it.

A mystery / crime novel, where a teenage boy’s body is found and the main character of this book (and series), Karin, is investigating the mystery. I haven’t read the previous books of the series, but it one of those that you don’t have to read the in order, as they are all standalone mysteries, it is just Karin that stays the same.

3. Death in the Dojo by Sue Leather

Carry-over book

I didn’t manage to get to this one as well – so here we go.

This will be a re-read actually, as I have read this book a couple of years ago. This is a mystery that takes place in a Karate dojo (training room) and as a karate lover myself, I enjoyed this book a lot. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to come back to this lovely book!

4. The Temple House Vanishing by Rachel Donohue

Carry-over book

I was really supposed to read this one, as I have a blog tour for it in November, but I guess it’s still not too late.

I was kindly sent this book by the team at LoveReading UK, and I will be participating in the Ambassador Buzz around mid November for this book. It is a book that solves a mystery of a disappearance of a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl and her teacher that happened 25 years ago.

5. Her Crown of Fire by Renee April

Spin: TBR Jar

In the dull, everyday world, seventeen-year-old Rose Evermore struggles to plan beyond her final year of high school. But when fire suddenly obeys her every command and her dreams predict the future, she becomes hungry for more of this strange power.

Under her dreams’ guidance, Rose lands in the fantasy realm of Lotheria–with a tagalong. Tyson, her best friend since childhood, winds up there with her, just as confused and a hell of a lot more vulnerable. In Lotheria, Rose is welcomed and celebrated as a fire mage at the Academy, while the very un-magical Tyson is forced into hiding under threat of death from the headmasters of Rose’s new school.

As Rose’s talent in fire magic draws unwanted attention and Tyson struggles to transition from high school student to blacksmith, Rose must find a way to return Tyson to their own world before the headmasters discover and execute him–no matter the cost.

6. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

Spin: New Author

A heart-wrenching, life-affirming novel about a 12-year-old boy who is the sole survivor of a deadly plane crash

One summer morning, a flight takes off from New York to Los Angeles. There are 216 passengers aboard: among them a Wall Street millionaire; a young woman taking a pregnancy test in the airplane toilet; a soldier returning from Afghanistan; and two beleaguered parents moving across the country with their adolescent sons. When the plane suddenly crashes in a field in Colorado, the younger of these boys, 12-year-old Edward Adler, is the sole survivor.

7. I’ll Be Home For Christmas by Abbey Clancy

Spin: Beautiful Cover

Last month I became an Insider for Mills & Boon, so expect to see more romance novels from me in the next period. They were kind enough to send me this book, and I will be part of their Blog Tour on the 11th November.

All she wants for Christmas…
Popstar Jessika Malone can’t believe her luck! Not only has she signed a major record deal and is topping the charts with her latest single, she’s just been offered the chance of a lifetime: a tour with gorgeous megastar Cooper Black…

It’s everything she’s ever dreamed of – except that it means travelling thousands of miles from her boyfriend, Daniel, just when he’s finally got down on one knee and popped the question!

Far from home and followed by the paparazzi, her relationship is tested more than Jessika ever imagined – will she make it home for Christmas before it’s too late?

8. You, Me and The Movies by Fiona Collins

Spin: Netgalley

Two people. Ten classic films. A love story you’ll never forget.

Arden has just started university when she meets Mac – and quickly falls head over heels for the handsome, charismatic film lecturer. Their love affair is dramatic, exciting and all-consuming; the sort of thing you only see in the movies.

It couldn’t last. But thirty years later, leading a very different life, Arden is visiting a friend in hospital when she suddenly comes across the man she never forgot. Badly injured in an accident, Mac can only make brief references to the classic films they once watched together: Casablanca, A Star is Born, Pretty Woman among others… and they make Arden remember everything.

The bittersweet memories of their relationship help Arden re-connect with the world in a way she no longer thought was possible. But will a movie-worthy love ever be hers again?

A romantic, moving and inspiring love story that readers of Jill Mansell, Hilary Boyd and Maeve Haran will adore.

And that’s my November TBR! I hope I will manage to read all of these books, and I hope that maybe I can squeeze in one or two more, before the end of the month?

Make sure to follow me on Instagram, so you can stay up to date with my current updates during the month

What are you planning to read this month? Let me know in the comments!

Month: November 2019