What I Read In October

Y'all! October was a very big month for me. I landed my very first listing as a real estate agent, decided to take on the brunt of social media marketing myself as an agent (lol, but thanks Canva!) AND I LEARNED HOW TO LET PEOPLE SKIP ME IN LINE FOR MY DIGITAL LIBRARY HOLDS. This is a big deal to me, as you know, I always end up with too many library holds and not enough time to read them all. So now let's check in on what I read in October! Head here if you missed what I read in September!

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a kindle with the page "The Groupie Daisy Jones" displayed sits next to a mug of beer at an airport bar.
The Girls of Atomic City: I rated this all the stars on goodreads, but I'm not sure I stand by that after having time to really digest it. I liked the personal stories about the real people and I learned a handful of new things too. It might be that I've been spending too much time in the WWII era. This tells the stories of a handful of the women who worked in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a secret city developed by the US Government to help with the Manhattan Project. I'd recommend it if you're into the actual history behind stuff, even though it kind of reads like a bit of fiction. 

City of Girls: I honestly can't remember how this one got on my library holds. When they're on hold for like 35 weeks I kind of forget why I wanted to read them. I also have a copy of Big Magic that someone gave me for Christmas and I just haven't picked up yet. I've heard great things about it or whatever, so maybe I will. ANYWAYS. I honestly almost didn't finish this one. I did not like the narrator one bit. She reminded me a little bit of Daisy from The Great Gatsby because she's just this poor little rich girl gallivanting around with no real consequences for her actions. The story is written as though she's telling it to this girl, Angela, who wants to know what she (Vivian, the narrator) to her father. It takes 400 pages for Vivian to get to her father. FOUR HUNDRED PAGES. The book is only 450 pages. I feel bad for Angela who had to go on this long ride with Vivian about her charmed life to finally get to the part she had asked for.

I don't recommend this one, but it might have just been me, hating Vivian. 

We Were the Lucky Ones: I think this might be my last WWII novel for a little bit. This one was SO good, I was even more shocked when I realized it was a true story. I think maybe everyone else knew that going in, but I have no idea until I read the epilogue or whatever. It's one of those stories that you almost don't believe until you realize it really did happen. That's what I clearly haven't gotten over. It's almost a feel good story, because even when everything is terrible horrible no good awful, there are good stories. It stuck with me, so I gotta take a break from the devastation.

Daisy Jones and The Six: This one has such a specific review from the SUYB linkup, either you love it or absolutely hate it. I was a little nervous to pick it up, but by adding it to my digital holds the library was just like "heeeey this book has been automatically downloaded to your kindle" I confess: I didn't love it. I didn't hate it? It was just fine. It was an easy airplane read and a nice break from all of the WWII drama I've been stuck in. It just felt very much like the movie Almost Famous and in the thank you portion, I learned it was loosely based on Fleetwood Mac recording Rumors. I don't know, I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads, maybe more of a 3.5 but I always round up.

I think it's a good read, probably worth checking out if you've been thinking about it, just maybe manage your expectations? The ending kind of pushed me over the edge towards the 3.5 stars, but I don't wanna spoil it for anyone.

Currently reading: The Vine Witch : Every month, Amazon sends out an e-mail to Prime members where you can get "Amazon First Reads" and you get a free book, presumably because they want reviews or maybe they're trying to reward us? Who knows, but that's where I got this one. It's very different from most of what I've read this year, because I somehow took a fantasy break and over indulged on WWII.

That's it for October! As always, I'm linking up with Steph & Jana for Show Us Your Books! What have you been reading lately? Anything I should add to my list OR anything that everyone says I should add that's just really not worth it?
Life According to Steph