Everything I read in October Including my VICTOBER Reads

[@ameliabarlowbooks]

whenever I hear a Hardy plot, I imagine the faces of his mates who are sat in the pub with him as he explains what his latest novel is about 😂 bloody hell Tom

[@GemofBooks]

😂😂😂 you know that! He was one of a kind 😜

[@spreadbookjoy]

The Burial Plot cover IS lovely! Shame about the book itself. Love how Hardy kicks off a book with some wife and child selling - that is very Thomas Hardy!😂 Kaikeyi - have to read it. Have the beautiful hardback you bought me still so this is one I’m prioritising for my Read What You Own challenge.

[@GemofBooks]

Hardy is one of a kind for sure 😂😂 Can’t wait to see what you think of Kaikeyi!!

[@YourTrueShelf]

Love the importance of being earnest 😊 I've got this tender land on my kindle, so glad you liked it a lot. I have two TJ Klune books on my shelves but haven't read any of them 😬

[@GemofBooks]

You’ve got some great books to come from your TBR then matey 🤩

[@scallydandlingaboutthebooks]

I'm so glad Earnest made you smile. I read Kaikeyi for a previous year of the BookTube Prize and enjoyed it although not bowled over by it. I picked up House in the Cerulean Sea on your recommendation and might make it a lighthearted December read, maybe with Tilly.

[@GemofBooks]

Oh amazing! Can’t wait to hear what you think of it! And thanks again for the Earnest recommendation, a lot of fun!

[@BookwormAdventureGirl]

So many good books! Glad you enjoyed Krueger. I enjoyed Ordinary Grace even more than Tender Land. I want to read a few of your top books - Horrorstor and Kaikeyi on the TBR. 😊💙

[@GemofBooks]

Ordinary Grace is next up for me with Krueger, so that bodes well! Kaikeyi and Horrorstor are definitely worth a read!!

[@flcMorsalin]

Love this wrap-up video! 📚🎉 It’s so fun to hear about all the books you read in October, especially your Victober reads. Your reviews and thoughts are always so insightful-it’s giving me some great recommendations to add to my TBR! Can’t wait to see what you read next month! 😊✨

[@GemofBooks]

Aww thank you, that’s so lovely 🥰

[@flcMorsalin]

@GemofBooks You're most welcome, I was analyzing your channel. Your content idea is good, but there are some problems. If you want, I can show you the issues.

[@bjminton2698]

Oooh, a visit from Gem!! You have the very best assistant!! You had a pretty good month! The Cork O'Connor series by Krueger are my favorites from him - mysteries, of course 🙂. Glad some 5*s will be showing up in November for you. I enjoyed Cerulean Sea, so I need to get this Klune! My best fantasy reads in October are both books that I think you'd enjoy - Red Sister by Lawrence and The Will Of The Many by Islington. I'm now reading The Way of Shadows by Weeks. To me, it's YA type writing, but it's filled with extreme violence with lots of child abuse, so I hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Take care! ❤

[@GemofBooks]

I have both Red Sister and The Will of the Many on my kindle! Need to prioritise them!! I just finished the second in the Lightbringer series by Weeks and really loved it, perhaps I’ll stay away from his other series though 😂

[@novellenovels]

I sooo can’t wait for somewhere beyond the sea to come into paperback so I can get it 🎉🎉🎉💕

[@GemofBooks]

It’s so brilliant 🤩

[@savagereads]

I am so excited to get to Somewhere Beyond the Sea! I am on hold for it right now. I'm glad you liked Kaikeyi. I think the reason I didn't always love the foreshadowing in the book was just because I didn't already have a background in the story. I didn't know where it was supposed to end up so the flashes forward were more confusing than teasing what was going to happen. But I still loved the book!

[@GemofBooks]

I hope your hold comes on soon matey! I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on Kaikeyi, I completely understand your point on the foreshadowing, though I quite liked the confusion 😂 in agreement that it was a fab book though.

[@MLLatUtube]

I also loved Somewhere Beyond the Sea!

[@GemofBooks]

Fab book!

[@mariyamak]

I also read The Time Machine last month. I listened to it on audio, which was probably a mistake. I was really very bored. As an early sci-fi, I can see how innovative it was and I thought some points he made about humankind and gender were interesting, but I didn't care for the world he built or the guys adventures there. I found the "present day" parts with the narrator/dinner party more readable than the time travel. You've unlocked a memory - I read Ramayana (or some sort of kids' adaptation) as a child and completely forgot its existence until you just mentioned it right now! P.S. Kebabs have pretty good nutritional value!

[@GemofBooks]

Yeah, the Time Machine was pretty disappointing. I find that quite a lot with older sci-fi. I’d forgotten that I had learned about Rama and Sita until they came up in Kaikeyi! Funnily enough they are also getting a mention in A Suitable Boy which in reading at the moment, so it’s quite nice to be able to link the stories 🤩

[@CharlieBrookReads]

Mission for 2025 is to read some TJ Klune!! Love Charlie appearances in the background (little ledge) ❤

[@GemofBooks]

Yes!! House in the Cerulean Sea is defo one I’d recommend for you!

[@OliviasCatastrophe]

Andy weir and sarah andersen is such a bizarre combo to me?? I do want to read the time machine because I have liked all the other short scifi novels I have read by hg wells so far. But yes, definitely on the short side. I loved the oscar wilde I read this year (picture of dorian gray) and I do need to start with the importance of being earnest!! I need a funny play in my life and I do have it on my shelves as well. I really enjoyed horrorstor as well! I agree it has low nutritional value but it is one that is a lot of horror fuelled and book format fun. I liked a study in scarlet and I find it to be one of the arthur conan doyles I like more. I struggle with quite a lot of his with believability and sometimes racism too... I LOVED a house in the cerulean sea and I need to read my copy of somewhere beyond the sea soon!! I am very excited to do so :)

[@GemofBooks]

Earnest is definitely worth a read when you are in the mood for something light! Agree that the format of Horrorstor really added some fun 🤩 Somewhere Beyond the sea really has those heartwarming vibes, a good sequel 👍🏻

[@readingoffmyshelf2088]

I have Kalkeyl on my shelves. I think I might have to give it ago soon.

[@GemofBooks]

Yes!! You won’t regret picking it up matey 🤩

[@spexi513]

“Gave absolutely zero sh7ts about “ 😂😂😂

[@GemofBooks]

What can I say, I’m a top class wordsmith 😂😂

[@toweringtbr]

I liked This Tender Land. Do you plan to pick up more of his books? Ooh, excited to try Kaikeyi.

[@GemofBooks]

Ordinary Grace is also on my TBR, so I’ll give that one a go for sure. Kaikeyi is definitely worth picking up too!

[@JohnSaxon-vw5vi]

Well done to you for your great reading 📖 month of October five 5️⃣ stars 🌟 to you prayers and blessings to you and your family love 🥰 your Aussie family friend John xxx

[@GemofBooks]

Thank you

[@zachreads]

I dnfed Horrorstör at 10%, after the fifth s**tty comment about someones appearance. I was mostly mad at "how to sell a haunted house" which was for Emily Fox's book club, and I made it 26% in to that before rage quitting. (Hendrix is a never again author for me) My best was The Bird King by G Willow Wilson, which was a good historical fantasy! Providence Girls by Morgan Dante was a horror romance similar to Our Wives Under the Sea, but I liked Providence Girls significantly more.

[@GemofBooks]

Ooo - I’m looking up Providence Girls right now!!

[@harmonyln7]

I read "A Study In Scarlet" in 2023. Great book and I'm looking forward to reading the 2nd book in the series. Do you know the title of that one? I read some victorian poetry in October this year, "A Shropshire Lad" by A E Housman. It was fine, but hard to tell in places where one poem ended and the next began.

[@GemofBooks]

Sherlock Holmes is fab! The second is The Sign of Four - hope you enjoy it as much as the first one 😄

[@AbiofPellinor]

Part of me wants to read The Time Machine... and part of me does not 🤣

[@GemofBooks]

There are better options out there matey 😂😂

[@AbiofPellinor]

@@GemofBooks noted! I think I'll leave this one haha

[@glendaw5221]

I am so disappointed. A favorite author, a new to me format (graphic novel), and a great plot. Sadly I checked Goodreads to see if the reviewers agreed with you. They did. Bollocks! (I’m using that British word correctly right?). Cheshire Crossing will not be mine unless I find it for $.50 at a used book store.

[@GemofBooks]

You are absolutely using that word right 😂😂 I was really disappointed too, definitely not one to invest a lot of money in 😬