What I Read in September 🍁 | The Book Castle | 2024

[@flowerpixel]

Agree on kingfisher, she's a staple for me

[@TheBookCastle]

Yes!! 🖤

[@readingwarlock]

I love T Kingfisher's writing! She seems to effortlessly blend dark elements with the cozy, earnest and whimsical. Her stories somehow remind me of Studio Ghibli films but darker and funnier. Maybe that's just me

[@TheBookCastle]

Totally agree! 🖤

[@Merima28]

Im glad more people are reading and talking about vita nostra

[@ReadingNymph]

Vita Nostra is a difficult one to describe, its one I really want to reread. In the Company of Witches is one I've got my eye on

[@starlasell5698]

🍁📚🎃📚🍁 I think Thornhedge sounds really good. I added to the list. I'm glad you had a good reading month!

[@arlievaughn]

I just finished The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman - dark and atmospheric; a 4 star read.

[@carladiaz8399]

I just read Tender is the flesh and IT WAS BRUTAL, in a long time a book didn't get me to stare at the wall thinking about the human and society like this book did, I wanted to stop reading but at the same time I wanted to keep because I needed to know

[@TheBookCastle]

Exactly how I felt!!

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Some great books mentioned. Food for thought. The ever expanding tbr! Happy reading to you.

[@TheBookCastle]

Thank you! You too! 🥰

[@mentinfusion]

It was a slooow reading month for me because I kept working long hours and ended up being too tired to read and that will be a trend for the next 2 months, so for October I picked a few short classics so that I can find the audiobooks easily :D I've finished Summers End (the 5th book in the Shady Hollow series), Bookshops and Bonedust and Weyward, which was a pleasant surprise. And am in the middle of A Discovery of Witches, which I'm enjoying more than expected.

[@TheBookCastle]

Oooh you’re on the fifth book in the Shady Hollow series!! I can’t wait to pick up the first one 🥰

[@joannalexander]

Try RAY BRADBURY. There are a bunch relating to Autumn... a fave. If you need title recommendations just let me know. 🍂🖤🧡🍁

[@surpriseitsus9622]

The best!

[@user-oj8tw8dx6sbookfortress]

Vita Nostra is amazing book! One of my favourites ❤❤❤ I totally understand why it's hard to explain what this book is about 😂

[@TheBookCastle]

Exactly 😅

[@udishaverma7862]

This month I didn't read much, I read Piranesi, Perfume (thanks to u

[@TheBookCastle]

That’s great 😍😍

[@Ms.SpookyNerd]

Great wrap up 📚☕🎃🍁🍂💀🦇👻

[@TheBookCastle]

Thank you!! 🥰🖤🍂

[@jackiesliterarycorner]

September 1. Gilmore Girls: At Home in Stars Hollow by Micol Ostow, Illustrated by: Cecilia Messina 2. The Fall by Ryan Cahill 3. The Lady of the Camellias by Alexander Dumas Jr. 4. The Magicians by Lev Grossman 5. One for my Enemy by Olivie Blake 6. A Winter’s Promise (Mirror Visitor) by: Christelle Dabos, Narrator: Emma Fenney

[@TheBookCastle]

Amazing!! 😍😍 Thank you for sharing!

[@ShanReads]

In the Conpany of Witches is on my TBR for Oct and I'm so excited to get to it. Just finished House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson (which I really enjoyed) and currently reading the Woman in Cabin 10

[@TheBookCastle]

😍🖤

[@hellopaulie]

The confusion you describe with Vita Nostra is the same sort of confusion that I get after reading Virginia Woolf. With Woolf it is the stream of consciousness and I don't expect Vita Nostra to be the same at all. It's just that when reading Woolf I am quite confused. When I am done one of her novels it sits with me for a few days and the connections and my understanding grows. Whie I'm reading Woolf I'm not sure that I like her writing. But afterwards, I do. It's so strange. I just got a copy of Weyward and am looking forward to reading it during October. I won't read Tender is the Flesh. There are so many books I will never have the time to get to and so I wouldn't make time for that. I've read books with cannibalism before, like Cormac McCarthy's The Road, but it was never presented as an approved thing in that society. It disturbs me greatly, the thought of the morality being flipped or at least gray when it comes to that.

[@TheBookCastle]

I felt that way about Woolf when I read her first too! Now I love her writing 🥰

[@ambrazamuner9847]

I've been meaning to get "In the Company of witches" for quite some time but I was waiting for an insightful review, thank you! I am currently reading "Hazardous spirits" by Anbara Salam is set in Edinburgh in the 1920's! In an high society family the husband of the main character starts to see ghosts... Funny and misterious so far, great setting and atmosphere🕯️

[@TheBookCastle]

Awesome! Your current read sounds fantastic 👀 I may have to add it to my TBR!

[@pedrabrulez5075]

I am currently reading The Silent Companions and I really like the alternating storylines. Thanks, Alice for introducing this book. A spooky Halloween read. I also very much like the Frey and McGray books. 👻 🎃 📚

[@TheBookCastle]

The Silent Companions is perfect for spooky season! 🥰 Enjoy! 🖤

[@Girlytang]

I recently stumbled on your account. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to your summaries and observations. You are a natural and very enjoyable to listen to. Also, off topic, you are gorgeous! Love your look with the dark lipstick. Wish you would share what you’re wearing, haha. Thank you!

[@TheBookCastle]

Thank you so much! 🥰 The lipstick is from Charlotte Tilbury in the shade Glastonberry 🖤

[@ClaireGreen-wd2gm]

Ah I just listened to Weyward. It was probably a one time listen for me but I did like it.

[@sandyokey7728]

I don’t think I can do Tender is the flesh. I read Weyward last year and I agree with you. I liked it but wasn’t blown away, it felt familiar to me also. I’m still concentrating mostly on dark academia and loving it. I haven’t found my next Secret History or if we were Villains, but Tana French’s The Likeness was very good and probably my favorite so far. Auralee Wallace was a favorite for me last fall. She has a second book in the series that is also very good.

[@TheBookCastle]

I really want to read The Likeness, glad to hear you enjoyed it 😍

[@БлогОчевидныхВещей]

Totally agree that Vita Nostra is very odd and the ending is basically not possible to understand. The authors released a continuation - Assasin of Reality in 2021, and I was hoping the ending will be explained...BUT [spoiler alert!] it's touched upon, but a lot of questions still remain. I don't know if the authors are hoping to write part 3. I will probably still read it if it ever comes out. But honestly, I think Vita Nostra was unique in its way, and other sequels will always read like fanfictions or spin-offs.

[@TheBookCastle]

Interesting! I didn’t know there was a second book, but good to know it doesn’t explain everything 😅

[@jufmartine3591]

I just read Vita Nostra as well and found out there is also a third book. Hoever it hasn't been translated in English yet. Some people on reddit speculated it would be translated next year. Why they think that, I am not sure

[@munajedski]

I can't read or watch anything involving animal cruelty. :( I have a hard time walking through the "meat" section at the grocery store. That book would be a big no for me. Interesting to hear your point of view.

[@KimSneden]

I loved wayward.

[@TheBookCastle]

🥰🖤

Hi Alice! I agree with you, Agustina Bazterrica made such a brutal story. Brutal is the right word. I think it is also very true, because breeding and slaughtering animals is brutal. She decided to change the victims but everything she has written is real and happens to pigs, cows and chickens every second. Such an important book to think about it and to try to understand what it's like to be a non-human being in our society. Thanks for the lovely and interesting video ❤

[@TheBookCastle]

Totally agree! 🖤

[@bebebrownsdollhaul6444]

Agreed. I am a vegan but I don’t think I can read it.

[@belaboocreations2020]

Your review of Tender is the flesh made me laugh so much 😂. I have heard others review it and already knew it wasn't something i would read but your review really reinforced that 😂. I have company of witches on my October TBR list and I'm really looking forward to it. I have only read 2 T Kingfisher books but lov3d them both, especially nettle and bone. Have you ever read Hex by Jenni Fagan? If you enjoy witchy books you might enjoy it. It's very short and best read all at once. I am currently reading Death at Morning house by Maureen Johnson. I don't read a lot of YA but but i really enjoyed her truely devious series .

[@TheBookCastle]

Hahaha I’m glad it made you laugh! 😂👀 I haven’t read Hex but I’ve seen it around!

[@bujobyfilo]

Your reviews on Vita Nostra and Tender is the flesh are fun to watch 😆 I wouldn't read them but thank you for reading them so we don't have to 😅 I agree about Kingfisher, Thornhedge is really good! But I prefer her dark stories, like this one and Nettle and Bone. She also wrote lighter stuff like Swordheart and What moves the dead and that did not work for me.

[@TheBookCastle]

Hahah I’m glad you enjoyed them! 😂

[@telola56]

Your review for Tender is the Flesh is spot on. It was so hard to read and I wanted to put it down so many times but I couldn’t. And I did feel slightly sick while reading it. I recommend it if you want a visceral experience. But I find it hard to recommend over all. I hesitate to say that it was good. It was horrifying and good. Well written. It did what it was trying to do. PS. The author is a vegan. 😊 no shade as I’m a vegetarian.

[@TheBookCastle]

You sum it up perfectly, horrifying and good 👀

[@Kathkira]

I read Weyward this September as well, and I agree really good, but I didn't *love* it. Looks like there's another T Kingfisher book to add to my TBR... I think I've added at least 3-4 recently (haven't read any from the author yet, but potentials keep popping up from many sources) My other reads this month were middle grades and non-fiction. I read: The Story of Green River by Holly Webb (fabulous world-building, and nice illustrations too. I really enjoyed this one) The Royal Rabbits of London by Santa Montefiore (had a little twinge of darkness like many of the books I read as a kid, and didn't seem to talk down like a lot of younger reads do sometimes) The Secret life of the Owl (non-fiction, but very narrative, not dry) The Hedgehog Handbook by Sally Coulthard (non-fiction, more textbook-like than the owl one as it's a literal guidebook. separated nicely into the months of the year with adorable illustrations, very nice autumnal cover too)

[@TheBookCastle]

Love that! 😍 Some of those nonfiction books look like something I need to add to my TBR 🦉

[@Darkpumpkinspice]

I know I will never ever read Tender is the flesh. It makes me really uncomfortable. 😖 I can’t wait to finish The little friend and read something else! Not gonna be a dnf, it is good, somewhat long though and a bit all over the place to be honest but not bad. I’m curious to know if you had a lot of dnfs!

[@TheBookCastle]

I very rarely dnf, but I should get better at it 😅

[@bebebrownsdollhaul6444]

Have you read Affinity? Dark and twisty. I just finished it and loved it. Also, I just read a very light bi romance that started as fan fiction for When Harry Met Sally. It has true autumn vibes. Enemies to lovers. Thanks always for your reviews.

[@TheBookCastle]

I haven’t but it sounds great! 🖤🍁

[@AbiofPellinor]

Tender is... so much 😅 human and inhumane at once is the best way to describe it

[@TheBookCastle]

😅🖤

[@ririschannelx]

Her descriptions are so vague lol I want the details!!!!

[@TheBookCastle]

Hahaha for Tender is the Flesh, no you don’t 😂👀

[@nicolekarem1184]

Is there animal cruelty in weyward?

[@TheBookCastle]

There is some stuff with animals, yes.

[@allisonk5007]

If you want to cry and throw up at the same time😂😂😂. I just bought tender is the flesh..here we go😅

[@TheBookCastle]

Good luck to you 🥲😂

[@sams5963]

I don't know if you have priced steak lately, but it is becoming a luxury item. I wish I could afford it more though. In reference to Tender is the Flesh, you also said the phrase, Food for thought. There must be a lot of dark humor waiting in this story.

[@TheBookCastle]

Gosh I didn’t even think of the food for thought thing 💀

[@77stephani77]

Just finished nettle & bone by T. kingfisher, half way with unfortunate side effects of heartbreak & magic by Breanna Randall, next up haunting of Blackwood house by Darcy Coates then ninth house by Leigh bardugo…..thx for a fun video. 🫶🏻🤓💗💀👻🎃

[@ClaireGreen-wd2gm]

I enjoyed Nettle and Bone. I listened to it on a road trip actually. It was my first by that author. It made me read more Kingfisher books.