Books Read in 2026: October

 Freckles by Cecelia Ahern. I love Cecelia Ahern's novels.  Unfortunately, there are a few that I cannot get from my library because not only does that particular library system (county with about a dozen branches) not own a copy, apparently no library in Michigan that participates in the state interlibrary loan system does either.  So I will in such instances buy a used copy off eBay.  This is one of those 'hard to get' novels: I had to buy it.  In a way, I found the novel much different than her others; most of it reads rather dark and depressing.  I hurt for the main character and hoped that the hole she seemed to be falling/digging herself into via her personal choices wasn't going to end badly.  I won't spoil the story, but the closer I got to the end of the book the more I liked it and I could see the author's trademark storyline (or, at least what I count on her books to contain) become revealed.

One For The Money by Janet Evanovich.  Other than a short Christmas-themed novel, I had not read any of this widely known author's books.  While I hadn't been very impressed with that one holiday book I did read, I've heard glowing recommedations about this series and I was determined to finally give it a real try myself.  Well, turned out I DNF'ed it after about three attempts to read it.  Just not my style, I guess.  A bit too crass, and fluffy at the same time.  Sorry Janet Evanovich fans, Stephanie Plum is just not for me.  In a way, I guess that's a good thing, as now I don't have to worry about getting ahold of the two dozen-some books about her.

Murder on Millionaires' Row by Erin Lindsey.  This is a book I had picked up at a book swap either this spring or last fall.  Set in the late 1890's, it sounded like it could be interesting. For most of the book, I really liked it.  There were a few parts I found a bit unrealistic (interactions between classes, genders and races being specifically mentioned appropriate for the time period, yet a page later being more modern day), and I was willing to overlook them because it was fast paced and I was interested in solving the whodunit portion, as it is supposedly a mystery book.  After more than 250 pages, I just couldn't go on.  Not only were the interpersonal depictions getting annoyingly modern, the paranormal aspect of the story that had just been a passing mention in the beginning--and I thought went along with the time period as lots of people at that time believed in spirits, etc.--kind of took over and depictions of that detracted from the whole mystery aspect for me.  Paranormal is not my genre, and I lost interest in finding out whodunit.  I was really disappointed because the book had started so promisingly and I had been looking forward to a mystery set within that time period.

The Jump by Natalie Keller Reinert.  I stumbled across this one at my local library, saw the horse on the cover, read the blurb, and it sounded appealing.  It sucked me in.  Comparing my personal experiences through 40+ years, I found this book to be believable (horse themed fiction books written by people with little to none actual horse farm/training experience drive me up the wall) and accurate in its decriptions.  Can't wait to look up more by this author!