October Reads

Not many books this month, and that’s okay! Reading is reading, no matter how much or how little I do 🙂

Chelsea Girls – Eileen Myles

I don’t think any review I write about this book will do it justice. I have a few notes, but I wasn’t able to write down any quotes, or my overall thoughts. The story and Myles’s writing really drew me in, and I was so immersed in the story. I think it’s a requirement for any younger queer to read and experience queer stories outside of their social bubbles. 

Ghostbuster’s Daughter – Violet Ramis Stiel

I always feel weird reviewing nonfiction, especially memoir or autobiography. I loved the shorter chapters (especially after The Fellowship of the Ring), and Ramis Stiel was a fantastic audiobook narrator. Hearing about her father’s declining health broke my heart, especially since I like to think of myself close with my father and he had a recent health scare (he’s doing fine now, and recently went scuba diving). 

It was a very beautiful book, and I am so thankful to have been able to read about my favorite Ghostbuster.

Sadie – Courtney Summers

I thought this book would be an exploration of True Crime stories, much like 2023’s Penance, and it wasn’t. Part of me was glad, as it put more focus on Sadie’s actual story, but I would be interested in seeing how fans of the show would have reacted. To be fair, I am not active in the True Crime community nor do I consume True Crime, and I don’t know what the True Crime fandom (for lack of a better word) was like in 2018, when this book was released. (Although, in a bonus epilogue, the host of the podcast in the book does talk about the backlash he received)

This book was absolutely amazing, I love when audiobooks have a full cast and production! One of my favorite parts was Sadie keeping herself private with the different people she was with, but with the hitchhiker she picked up, she confessed her name and more of herself. Solidarity!

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – J. R. R. Tolkien

I was a little hesitant to start the Lord of the Rings series, since they are thick, dense books, and the audiobooks were nearly twenty-four hours long. Thankfully, I was able to consume the book at my own pace, and message my bestie my thoughts and questions, since they are the LotR expert in my life. 

I grew up watching the LotR movie trilogy, one time my family and I binged all three in one day during the holidays. Last year my bestie showed me the extended editions of the movies. I read The Hobbit back in high school to get myself ready for that trilogy of movies (which I never finished, because they weren’t accurate to the book). So, my first note is: props to Peter Jackson for taking these DENSE, THICK books and making them more than coherent movies. Having them were great starting points, although after reading this book, PIPPIN AND MERRY were SO underutilized in the movies!! 

Second, I absolutely loved the storytelling style! At times it read like a textbook, which actually wasn’t that bad (it also helped to have a great audiobook narrator). Other times it felt like someone was reading me a bedtime story. The themes of burden, especially generational, familial burdens, were very prominent. No one else can carry Frodo’s burden! But he can have help on this journey! Others can help! It’s like the saying goes, joy shared is doubled, grief shared is halved. Maybe it’s the same as burdens. 

Also, I knew that there was homoerotic subtext between ALL of the characters, but I didn’t realize the books were GAYER! Poor Sam couldn’t be without Frodo, they love each other!

Also also, Boromir sucks. Sean Bean made him slightly sympathetic, but that still could not stop me from being annoyed at him.