Hi, it's me (and hi to all the new people!)

If you just found me, welcome!! A lot of you came over in October and I'm genuinely so excited to have you here, so before we get into books, here's my friend-dating profile:

Name: Samia
Location: Jersey City
Day job: Data analyst
Night job: Forever reader, anime watcher, manga lover
Fueled by: Sour candy and matcha, in amounts I will not be disclosing
Ideal night in: On the couch under a blanket with my heating pad and a book
Ideal night out: Ask me again when it's warm, I'm a seasonal extrovert
Red flag: My currently reading shelf is at 29 books, and when I panic about it I just start a 30th book.
Looking for: People who read a little bit of everything and want to talk about it

Here I'll be giving you recs for interesting books across every genre along with my honest thoughts on what I'm reading, and as this grows, probably some thoughts on the book industry as a whole too. At the very least, you'll hear from me once a month!

October recap

October was crazy! I went to NYCC, and since I love Naruto I made a video at one of the activations, which ended up pushing me over 5K. It made me realize that maybe people want to know more about me than just the books, so I've been letting myself be more fun and free with my content. I also started a weekly advice post for people who are just getting started, because I'm not gatekeepy and I wish someone had told me all of this when I started.

This month also had so many positive highlights in terms of personal growth. I've been focusing on my health more, trusting my instincts more, and standing up for myself more, and I'm really proud of that. It wasn't all highlights though. I had a lot of anxiety and depression this month with some personal problems going on, and finding the will to get up every day and show up was really hard. I don't think people always know that about me, that as high functioning as I am I can have really low lows, so if you're going through it right now too, you're definitely not alone. 🩷

What I read in October

Here's everything I read in October and what I thought about it!

The one I need everyone to read

An Immaculate Deception by Isabela Livino ★★★★½
OMG, it was so good. I read this one late as an ARC (it's already out, so you can go grab it now), and it literally stressed me out so much. It starts out so simple, but you have this foreboding anxiety the whole time that things are gonna get crazy, and it really emphasizes how a POV can give you the right information or the completely wrong information. It's definitely a psychological horror and I was obsessed with it, so if I could make everyone read one book from this month, it would be this one.

Japanese Era

I'm fully in my manga and Japanese books era right now and I feel so deeply drawn to these stories. This is the good part about being a genre fluid reader, because when I find a genre lacking I can just pivot.

Firefly Wedding by Oreco Tachibana (the whole series)
Vol 1: ★★★★½ / Vols 2 through 9: ★★★★★ / Vol 10: ★½
This series was epic until the ending, which was so stupid and made little to no sense, and honestly it felt like the writer gave up? If you love dark romance, you should read the manga, but at the very least watch the new anime episodes each week. We're all hoping the anime changes the ending, because for once I don't want it to be exactly by the book.

Strange Pictures by Uketsu ★★★★½ and Laplace's Witch by Keigo Higashino ★★★★½
Both of these are great for anyone who wants to tickle their brain and solve a murder (or a few). They gave me the same vibe I used to get reading Goosebumps as a kid, where you feel actively engaged and you're trying to figure out what's happening the whole time, and they really make you a more active reader.

World Trigger Vol. 1 by Daisuke Ashihara ★★★★½
I'm actually rereading this one, and it's so nice to get back into the story because I love the anime a lot. It's very funny!

Spooky season

Dracula by Bram Stoker ★★★★½
I listened to the audiobook after going to the epic event Audible did for the release of their new adaptation. It was really well done and felt so immersive with the music, and the voice actors were fantastic. I took off half a star because there was a lot of gasping all the time, and at one point that started to annoy me lol.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones ★★★½
I personally didn't like the run-on sentences, and while I appreciate the story and what it was trying to say, I didn't find it that engaging while I was reading. Then I went to book club at Dungeon Books, and talking it through with everyone definitely changed my mind, so I bumped it up to a 3.5 from a 2. I liked the horror parts the most, especially the body horror, and I want to read his other books and give him another shot.

The Exorcism of Faeries by J.L. Vampa ★★★½
The last 25% was so rushed. This could have been two books, which the author announced after this first one came out, but she still tried to finish everything up in way fewer pages than it needed, and I think it should have been longer or just left us on a cliffhanger.

The rest of the stack

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro ★★★★
This was an okay book for me. I also saw an advance screening of the movie and didn't love it, and I liked the original story more.

Wench by Erynne Rivers ★★★★
A great, simple, cute romantic retelling of Robin Hood. I read it right before going to the Ren Faire, so it was such a fun vibe.

If you want more in-depth reviews of any of these, you can find me on Instagram at @bookaroundandfindout!

November plans

I'm notorious for not having a real TBR each month and just reading whatever I'm in the mood for, which is exactly how I ended up with 29 books on my currently reading shelf. So this month I'm going to try to tackle my backlog and finish some of the books I've already started. I also have a few ARCs coming out in November, and I've been really into graphic novels and manga lately, so expect more of that too.

See you next month!!

Samia