Spell the Month in Books: October

Reviews From the Stacks

For 2025 I have decided to have a go at Spell the Month in Books which is hosted at Reviews From the Stacks. The link party opens on the first Saturday of the month, but I won't be posting until after that as I already have other things scheduled every Saturday and for the first two Sundays of the month. I will be sharing this post with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.

The idea is that you use the titles of books to spell the month name. The theme for October is This month’s theme is Trick or Treat: books that you feel strongly about, whether positively or negatively

Let's get started

O - Once Upon a Thyme by Jane Lovering - I started reading Jane Lovering's books a couple of years ago now and I really enjoy them. Most of them are set in Yorkshire which is near where I lived when I lived in the UK.

C - Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon - Don't be confused. This isn't a Diana Gabaldon book hou havne;t read. In the UK and Australia the first novel in the Outlander series was originally called Cross Stitch.

T - To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis - I feel like a reread of this whole series wouldn't go astray!

O - On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta - I also feel like I could easily reread all of Melina Marchetta's books too. I think of this book every time I hear the song Flame Trees by Cold Chisel. Every time without fail!

B - Beartown by Fredrik Backman - This was a 5 star read from earlier this year. I need to read the second book in the trilogy!

E - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - This one was a five star read from a few years ago!

R - Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly - I loved the Rose trilogy from Jennifer Donnelly and this book. I haven't read much by her since then but I have such fond memories of the books I love.

November's theme is Nostalgia. Not sure what direction I will take that one in. Good job I have a month to think about it.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Names/Character Names in the Title

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Books with Names/Character Names In the Titles (Submitted by BookLoversBlog and Lucy @ Bookworm Blogger)!

To create this list I went back to my handy dandy spreadsheet, started at the latest book and found 10 books. This is a fun topic though, and I am sure I could go back further and find another 10 titles without trying too hard! In fact, I am pretty sure you could do a list just featuring one or two names!

Flora's Travelling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin - I could have chosen one of several of Rebecca Raisin's books (review)

Matilda Next Door by Kelly Hunter - This was part of two quartets set in a small Australian country town, and all of the books had character names as titles. In the end I chose this one because Kelly Hunter is an author I love to read. (review)

Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook by Celia Rees - I read this book 18 months or so ago now and I really enjoyed it. It is set in the immediate aftermath of WWII and it was a really enjoyable read. (review)

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys - This book was originally published as a series of letters during WWII. 

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn - I guess technically I could have featured The Rose Code here too but let's change it up a bit and choose this one instead.

Dear Banjo by Sasha Wasley - The main character of this book's really name is Willow Patterson, but she is affectionately known as Banjo, hence the title.

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta - Oh, an opportunity to feature a Melina Marchetta book! I'll take that.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - I suspect this book might be on a few lists this week!

Circe by Madeline Miller - Circe is the daughter of a god and this book tells her story.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - I nearly forgot this one!!

And a bonus one just so I can share this video...

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl - This was already a magic book but right back at the beginning of the pandemic, Taika Waititi gathered together some of his famous friends and shared the story of James and the Giant Peach and it was so much fun! Here's the first episode

Six Degrees of Separation: Shuggie Bain to A Rose for the Crown

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

I decided to make this exercise a bit harder for myself this month because I knew the starting point, and I knew where I wanted to end up. Normally, you just see where you end up, but by having the end in mind meant that it took me a few attempts to get from point A to point B, but I got there in the end!

The starting point this month is Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart which is a book I don't see myself reading any time soon. What I did know about that book is that it is set in Scotland.

The Shakespeare play Macbeth is often known as the Scottish play, so my next link is Lady Macbeth by Susan Fraser King which I read an enjoyed many years ago because you can't get more Scottish than that really.

A more recent read about a Scottish woman is Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Moving away fromm Scotland, this time I am linking with the name Eleanor. Eleanor of Aquitaine  was queen of both England and France, the only woman in history to hold both of these titles. There are a number of books about her I could have chosen but I have chosen to use The Autumn Throne by Elizabeth Chadwick as my title. This is the final book in a trilogy about Eleanor.

Eleanor is part of the Plantagenet dynasty from whom the houses of Lancaster and York derived. In turn these were the two sides of the War of the Roses, which was part of the inspiration for A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin.

From fantasy inspired by the War of the Roses, I am turning back to history with The Rose of  York: Love and War by Sandra Worth. This is a story about Richard, Duke of Gloucester and his wife, Lady Anne Neville.

Another book about Richard, who eventually became Richard III, the last of the Plantagenet kings is A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith, which is where I wanted to end up because, well, it is Easter Sunday!

Next month's starting point is Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I've Loved But Haven't Reviewed

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's topic is Books I Loved but Never Reviewed.

Once upon a time I used to review everything, and then I had a few years where I didn't  review anything, and now I am reviewing some things. What this  basically means is that this week's topic is easy to find books for. I just have to refer to my handy-dandy spreadsheet and look for 5 star reads and there's my list. I am, however, a bit stingy with 5/5 gradings so this is a mix of 4.5 and 5 star reads

The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary - I read and loved this last year. From memory, I read it while on a plane going....somewhere and it was a perfect plane book!

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - I listened to this on audio and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Peacock Summer by Hannah Richell - This was another audio book that I thoroughly enjoyed. This was also my first Hannah Richell book. I am waiting for this year's book to come into the library so I can enjoy that, unless I end up listening to it first of course.

In Falling Snow by Mary-Ann McColl - I had forgotten about this book until I saw it's name on the list. This is a WWI novel about a young woman who finds herself working in a hospital in France. It is a dual timeline where Iris is looking back at her life.

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta - In a way it is a bit of a travesty that I have never reviewed this book. I mean, I have listened to it four times now and rated it as a 5/5 read three of those four times. This is 100% a comfort listen.

Something to Talk About by Rachael Johns - This is the sequel to Talk of the Town, which I also read this year. Rachael Johns is one of the authors who I still read when I wasn't really reading.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See - I have read many Lisa See books over the years, usually featuring Chinese characters. This time, the book is about the divers of the Korean island and Jeju and it was totally fascinating.

The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati - I have been a fan of Sara Donati's writing for years. This book skips forward a couple of generations from where the Into the Wilderness series finished and features two lady doctors in 1880s New York. I really must read the next book.

The Lost Man by Jane Harper - I have enjoyed all the books by Jane Harper, and I am really looking forward to her new book which is out next month!

The Quarantine Station by Michelle Montebello - This was another enjoyable read. This book is another dual timeline, this time with the historic section being on the quarantine station in Sydney in 1918.

Have you read any of these books?