Hi everyone and welcome to halfway through October!

I meant to read some creepy / horror books this month due to it being Halloween, but instead, I’ve been on a psychological thriller kick.

Soon as this is sent out I’m going to get stuck into a Bentley Little novel I think so I can right that ship!

I listened to Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica last week. I’d previously listened to a book by Mary (The Good Girl; her debut) and wasn’t a big fan of it but decided to give Mary another try.

It was a bit hard to keep track of. There were a few stories all taking place all at different times. There was also a description of a difficult childbirth that – well if you’re expecting, I wouldn’t read this book!

It’s one of those books I feel where you generally enjoy it but then when you think about it more, you find a lot of stuff to pick at and end up a bit frustrated over the book. I don’t think I’ll be reading any more books by Mary, although I did enjoy this book. Many other psychological thriller authors out there that I simply enjoy a lot more.

I read First Strike, the 6th novel in the Dewey Andreas series by Ben Coes. If you like Mitch Rapp etc – this character is like that. I generally enjoy this series but not so much this one.

It’s hard to describe but I was basically sitting there reading the book, flicking from page to page, and just not into it at all. I was just completely disconnected from the story and just didn’t care. It’s a weird feeling and I felt the same way when I read The Terminal List by Jack Carr.

It’s not like it’s the genre or anything as I read the new Mitch Rapp in the course of one evening. Couldn’t put it down. Not sure why I felt that way with this Dewey book but it was frustrating (to me) and I hope a one off. That new Rapp book was another great one though and the highlight of the last couple of weeks for me.

I realized I had 3 books still to read so I could mark Ruth Ware on my “completed authors” list so I read The Turn of the Key.

It always feels like such an achievement to be able to look at an author listing and note that I’ve read them all.

Almost feels like progress in this never-ending world of reading!

I really liked it. The ending seemed a bit rushed and I later found out that there were a lot of questions about the ending – to the point that Ruth had to send out an e-mail to her mailing list explaining a few things. Never a good sign when you have to do that! It was a very enjoyable book though and I read the majority of it in one sitting.

I also read The Lying Game by Ruth. I was quite excited about this one as the premise was a group of four girls who played a game involving lying in boarding school, and the effect of this 17 years later.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t like that at all. It was more like “The Lying Game” in name only with very few flashbacks to the boarding school days. The entire “game” they played was barely mentioned.

Thought it was an okay book but I was really disappointed that the game didn’t play a bigger part and it ended up just a standard psychological thriller, with a lot of filler, and a flat “twist”. Cool concept that was just executed poorly.

I’ve started listening to The Silent Sister by Shalini Boland. Another psychological thriller – I’m going to wear myself out on these! I read one of her novels last month and really enjoyed it but I’m a few hours into this one and it’s dragging.

It’s funny – with audiobooks, I probably get about 70% of them via the library, and 30% of them I purchase off Audible. When it’s a library book I have no problem just returning it and giving up on it if I enjoy it.

But when it’s a purchase? I feel like I have a commitment to it that I have to see through, even if I have to fly through it at a faster speed just to get it done. I don’t feel that way with books. There’s something about the Audible credit system that makes me feel that way, and how I feel the obligation to use them optimally, etc.

I’m going to experiment with the 1.5x or 2x speed option I think on this one. I know a lot of people who enjoy audiobooks that way so it’s a good excuse to try it. Who knows – maybe I end up liking it and start consuming audiobooks in half the time!

Each month we give away 5 prizes to 5 random subscribers of $25 each in the form of Amazon gift certificates. To win all you have to do is be a subscriber. Nothing more! When we go to hit “Publish” we take a list of all of our subscribers, throw them into a random draw and those are the winners.

Our winners this month are:

Joe W. from Jamestown, NC
Eileen (Email starts with eplo) from USA
Vicki C. from Peoria, AZ
Don F. from Los Osos, CA
Sue J. from Fort Lauderdale, FL

All of you have been e-mailed. If you don’t see anything, check your junk folder or contact me.

Graeme
OrderOfBooks.com

Quote of the Mid-Month

“I saw then, perhaps never more clearly than in that moment, how my father’s hands were just stronger versions of my own hands. They were the same as any man’s hands his age. The same, the same, the same. The same as those of the innocent man in the death camp and the same as those of the Nazi soldier who’d raised his rifle and shot him dead. What made the three men different from one another was not their nationality or the shape of their hands or even the blood that flowed under the skin of their fingers. What made the three men different was how they chose to think.

We decide who and what we will love and who and what we will hate. We decide what we will do with the love and hate. Every day we decide. It was this that revealed who we were, not the color of our flesh or the shape of our eyes or the language we spoke.”
— From The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner.

Submitted by Eliece. Feel free to submit your own quotes to site@orderofbooks.com or just hit reply. It can be just general quotes about books, author quotes within a novel or even character quotes.

Book / Series Recommendations

In this section I give book or series recommendations. They can be old books, they can be new. But either way – I recommend you read them if the type of genre they are in appeals to you. Feel free to e-mail suggestions to site@orderofbooks.com as many of the suggestions each month are from our readers. If you wish to add a description for the book around the same size as the ones below that’d be great too!

The Day Before Midnight by Stephen Hunter

For a period of time, Stephen Hunter was my favourite author. The original Bob Lee Swagger trilogy. The Earl Swagger Trilogy and some great standalone novels.

One book that I really enjoyed and go back and read every couple of years is The Day Before Midnight. This is a very fun action thriller that could easily be made into a movie.

It takes place in the course of one day, when terrorists take over a top-secret nuclear complex with the aim of launching nuclear missiles. This complex is a place that is very secure and should never be compromised. Now the bad guys have control of it, and are on the verge of starting a nuclear war.

A very fun and exciting read. Nice little “popcorn” book.

Noah Wolf Series by David Archer

Surprised I haven’t recommended this series before. Ruth wrote in to recommend it, stating:

“I highly recommend the Noah Wolf series by David Archer. Noah Wolf, leader of team Camelot, is an assassin in a team of four. He works for a highly secret agency that answers only to the President. Due to a childhood trauma he cannot feel emotions, which makes him an interesting character. I listen to Audible books and the narrator is excellent.”

You may know David from his Sam Prichard series and he has written a few others.

Kopp Sisters Series by Amy Stewart
This is a very popular series and was recommended by Barbara, who wrote: “I’m not sure it’s up your alley, but I thoroughly enjoyed these quasi-historical books about the first woman Sheriff in New Jersey. I think cozy readers would like them as I do. ”

Girls Waits with Gun is the first book in the Kopp Sisters series by Amy Stewart. Constance Kopp isn’t what one would consider “ordinary.” She towers over most men, has no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, and has been isolated from the world since a family secret sent her and her sisters into seclusion fifteen years ago. One day a belligerent and powerful silk factory owner runs down their buggy, and a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats as he unleashes his gang on their family farm. When the sheriff enlists her help in convicting the men, Constance is forced to confront her past and defend her family – and she does it in a way that few women of 1914 would have dared.

OCTOBER CHARITIES

While I appreciate all offers of donations to show your appreciation for the site and newsletter, I’d much rather you do that by supporting some great causes. Each month I pick a few select charities broken down by our most popular countries that you can support instead. Thanks! And please note you’re not restricted to the country you reside in of course – pick any you wish to support!

USA: Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s
UK: Hospice UK
Canada: Canadian National Institute for the Blind
Australia: The Smith Family (Children’s Charity)

Top Humour Books

I asked readers on our Facebook page for funny/humorous books that will make readers laugh out loud. Special thanks to Katy B. who was the motivation for this question, and contributed many of the below.

October 2021 Book Of The Month (16th-31st)

Better Off Dead by Lee & Andrew Child

Jack Reacher is back!

This will be the second outing of Lee Child working together with his brother Andrew, who is slowly taking over the Reacher series.

I enjoyed the first outing. Reacher was certainly different and a lot more talkative. It was a bit hard to get used to, but it was something different from a series that has been hit or miss lately.

I’m looking forward to this one and seeing if they have fine-tuned the writing. Plus I still usually enjoy Reacher.

.

10 More Notable Books Releasing Oct 16-31

  1. A Tryst of Fate by Piers Anthony
  2. Over My Dead Body by Jeffrey Archer
  3. Child of Light by Terry Brooks
  4. The Judge’s List by John Grisham
  5. A Line To Kill by Anthony Horowitz
  6. Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
  7. It’s A Wonderful Woof by Spencer Quinn
  8. The Extinction Trails by A.G. Riddle
  9. Archangel’s Light by Nalini Singh
  10. Fatal Storm by Carrie Vaughn

Random Top 10 of the Month

10 Award Winning Horror Books

How about picking up an award winning horror novel to read this Halloween? Here are just some of the great winners or nominees of the Bram Stoker Award over the years.

A heads up to be sure to read some reviews / descriptions before buying. When it comes to horror, there can be some messed up stuff. Prodigal Blues for example features a lot of child abuse.

  1. Prodigal Blues by Gary A. Braunbeck
  2. The Lost by Jack Ketchum
  3. Misery by Stephen King
  4. The Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale
  5. The Haunted by Bentley Little
  6. Funland by Richard Laymon
  7. Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon
  8. Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman
  9. Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
  10. Mr. X by Peter Straub

Reader Mailbag:

This month’s question:

What childhood memories do you have involving reading?

It could be the first book you read, or when you first fell in love with reading or just your favourite memories from reading as a child.

Many of you have written to me in the past and shared your stories as a child reading. Walking miles every day as a 6 year old just to go to the library and get a pile of books etc. I always enjoy reading those.

As for my own memories? The one that always sticks out to me involves my favourite childhood author, Enid Blyton. Like many, I had to rely on the library for books. Their collection was poor though and also popular. They only had 13 Famous Five books out of 21 for example, and they were often borrowed.

I remember I would stand outside a bookstore at our local shopping centre, just looking in at a bookshelf they had on display in the window. It had EVERY Famous Five book on it, as well as all the books from her other popular book series.

I remember standing there many times, looking in and wishing I could just read them all, never mind owning them. Every time we’d go to the shopping centre, I’d honestly stand there for about 30 minutes staring. Maybe I was just hoping someone would feel sorry for me and buy me one ha.

I had to stand outside because I started to go in and read the books on previous visits, and was yelled at by the staff to get out if I wasn’t going to buy!

And don’t worry – I own all of them now! I actually went back and re-read every single Famous Five and Five Finder-Outers book a few years ago, and it was the greatest time of my life! They were worth the wait.

Tied into that – I was a member of the Boy’s Brigade growing up, which to cite Wikipedia was an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values.

My main memory from that is they gave out awards and prizes at the end of the year. They spoke to the parents to ask what the best gift to give their kid would be. Many got GI Joe figures, other remote control trucks etc.

I was given Shadow the Sheepdog by Enid Blyton. I remember my mum was all apologetic after that saying she had told them to get me some Famous Five books. But as a dog lover I didn’t mind, and as a book lover who owned very few books, I was over the moon. I remember going home that night and staying up all night long and reading it. .

Just such a great memory, and that’s a book that has traveled with me over the last 30 years. It resides on my bedside table, and is just a nice little reminder of one of the most positive experiences in my childhood.

Although funnily enough – I don’t think I have read that book since that initial reading. I recall it doesn’t end well – and whenever I pick it up to read I shake my head and think “I’m not ready for this”. I’m going to change that this month.

What about you? What are some of your childhood memories involving books?

E-mail us your feedback to site@OrderOfBooks.com or just reply to this e-mail, and we’ll pick the best comments and feature it in next months newsletter. Five people will also randomly win a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.

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Order of Books » Newsletter » October 2021 Mid-Month Newsletter

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