All I wanted to do in October was read books, hide under covers and enjoy the gorgeous fall leaves and lights outside with a steaming cup of tea. Well, I needed to work, lots of stuff going on. However I managed to pick up a few more books than previous months so yea to that. And all of them have been interesting or entertaining. So overall a good reading month. Let’s have our Book Talk October.
Dolly all the Time by Annabel Monaghan | ★★★★☆
Book Blurb: Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.
So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield—annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family—with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and swinging on the porch, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself, can she really start now?
First Sentence: Good Sports. This is a recorded line. Can I help you?
What I thought: This was fun. I listened to it in two days and it was lighthearted, fun and cute. Usually I am not a big fan of the millionaire trope. So I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I loved the way Christopher was incorporated. I liked the dynamic between Gus and Stewart. I liked that the hiccup was not solved in a day and everything was back to normal and happily ever after. I felt the ending was a bit rushed though.
Curious count: not counted since it was audio
Characters: Dolly – 39 woman, hustler, Guz – son to Dolly, Christopher – disabled brother to Dolly & Patsy, Patsy – sister, Naomi – best friend to Dolly, Stewart – millionaire, Henry & Veronika – Stewart’s parents
Setting: Whitfield, Rhode Island, Boston
Medium: audiobook through library
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: no German translation yet
Recommend to: Everyone loving a good romance specially when you are visiting Rhode Island. That must be fun.
Author’s Origin: born in Los Angeles, U.S.A. | January 14th, 1970
Stone Witch of Florence by Anna Rasche | ★★★★☆
Book Blurb: 1348. As the Black Plague ravages Italy, Ginevra di Gasparo is summoned to Florence after nearly a decade of lonely exile. Ginevra has a gift—harnessing the hidden powers of gemstones, she can heal the sick. But when word spread of her unusual abilities, she was condemned as a witch and banished. Now the same men who expelled Ginevra are begging for her return.
First Sentence: One wicked July, a boy approached the ancient archway of the Porta di Santo Stefano.
What I thought: I really liked this story. It was a different approach to witch hunts and medieval stories. I liked the focus of the stones as a healing power. I would have liked to learn more about each stone and what they stood for. The author is a gemologist and jewelry curator museums so all the knowledge is there. I would have liked to get a bit more nerdy. Many people complain about the naive writing. It wasn’t the best writing but I was invested and I think this was a debut so give it time. I think there will be more.
Curious count: 8
Characters: Ginevra di Gasparo – healer, nun, exile | Taddea – nun, friend | Lucia – abandoned rich wife
Setting: Florence during the Plague 14th century
Medium: eBook library
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: not yet translated to German, saw Italian and French translations
Recommend to: Everyone loving historian fiction and needs something else than WWII and is interested in medieval, healing and gems.
Author’s Origin: born in U.S.A. (?) | unknown
Additional note: her new book “The Cursed Diamond” is release Nov 3rd 2026
Hoffnung im Herzen, Freiheit im Sinn by Zekarias Kebraeb | ★★★✶☆
Book Blurb: Eritrea’s youth have no future: Immediately after receiving their diplomas, high school graduates are taken by bus to military camps, where they are broken through drill and torture. To escape this fate, 17-year-old Zekarias Kebraeb has only one option: to flee to Europe.
The hellish journey lasts four years, and Zekarias barely survives it. He endures hunger, thirst, and misery on his journey through the African bush, the Sahara, and across the Mediterranean Sea. Upon arriving in Italy, he believes he has reached his destination. But he encounters rejection and resistance from the police and authorities. Once again, he must flee, and his dream of leading a normal life in freedom slips further out of reach…
First Sentence: Asmara-Flughafen. Kurz vor meinem Abitur setze ich mich nach Schulschluss auf mein grünes Fahrrad. made in Italy, und radle los, sechs Kilometer direkt bis zum Flughafenterminal, dort, wo Asmara nach Afrika aussieht und die Straße aus der Stadt, die einmal Piccolo Roma hieß, in einem Kreisel endet. | Asmara Airport. Shortly before my high school graduation, I hop on my green bicycle—made in Italy—after school and pedal off, six kilometers straight to the airport terminal, where Asmara begins to look like Africa and the road leading out of the city, once called Piccolo Roma, ends at a roundabout.
What I thought: One of those books that will stay with you because of the peek into an experience I’ll never have. It was at times uncomfortable to read. Not only because of the topic but I realized that I was confronted with a view and my opinion that was challenged here. I was bothered by the naiv view of Europe and Germany and how it was seen as paradise. The disbelief and entitlement that the author voiced that in paradise everything should be available made me angry at times. However, I questioned my reaction and wondered if this is my privilege speaking. I tried to change my perspective to the 17 year old. Who sees all the wealth that is not shared. While I still belief it is not as easy it made me more open to let the story sink in. And the bureaucracy of things asylees have to go through just to learn a language or work in Europe is ridiculous. I wasn’t to fond of the writing and at the same time it read easily. Weird.
Curious count: 8
Medium: eBook through library
Original Language and Title: German
Publications: only Tigrinjae and Afrikaans translations found.
Recommend to: Everyone wanting to learn about the hardships of popele fleeing their country and especially trying to file for asylum in Europe.
Author’s Origin: born in Asmara, Eritrea | 1985
Read Around the World: Logged for Eritrea in my Read Around the World Challenge – even though it was written down by some other person I am counting it towards my Read Around the World challenge.
Additional note: Read for my church bulletin to recommend for topic “Courage & Hope”.
How we learn to be brave by Mariann Edgar Budde | ★★★✶☆
Book Blurb: On January 21, 2025, many Americans were introduced to Bishop Mariann Budde thanks to what The New York Times called “an extraordinary act of public resistance.” During her prayer service for Donald J. Trump’s second inauguration, Bishop Budde addressed the president directly, imploring him “to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now,” from those who are part of the LGBTQ+ community to immigrants and refugees.
But for Bishop Budde, this moment was the culmination of a lifetime spent thinking about those pivot points when we’re called on to push past our fears and act with strength. With How We Learn to Be Brave, she teaches us that being brave is not a singular occurrence; it’s a journey that we can choose to undertake every day.
First Sentence: One Monday, June 1, 2020, at 7:06 p.m. the president of the United States strode defiantly across Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park–trailing a retinue of aides, Secret Service agents, his daughter Ivanka, the attorney general, and Americas top military leaders, including the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chief’s of Staff–in order to be photographed holding a Bible in front of St. John’s Church, who’s parish house had sustained minor fire damage during protest the previous evening.
What I thought: I listened to it and as with most non-fiction audiobooks at times it is hard to really follow and grasp the deeper meanings or stop and think about a thought for a minute. Nevertheless, I felt this book gave me something. It was inspiring to hear about how courage can look like. I like the struggles she mentioned and how she and people got through. I liked the biblical stories woven in and the new light they were cast in. It gave me some new perspective. I also enjoyed her take on “deciding to stay in a situation can require more courage than leaving”. Overall good read and if you are not put off by Christian influence I recommend.
Curious count: not done as listened in audio
Medium: eBook through library
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “Mutig sein”
Recommend to: Everyone who is seeking counsel to be more courageous and/or wants to learn about her as a person.
Author’s Origin: born in Summit, U.S.A. | December 10th, 1959
Additional note: Read for my church bulletin to recommend for topic “Courage & Hope”.
The Last Marriage of Dot Brightmore by Laura Pearson| ★★★☆☆
Book Blurb: Dot Brightmore has never been one for lists. But now she’s been given one of her own, by the love of her life, with whom she’s finally been reunited. Dot’s list has just two words on it:
1. Marry me
The problem is, Dot can’t get married. Because what Dot hasn’t yet told anyone is that she’s still married. To a man she hasn’t seen in years. But her beloved Mabel isn’t a woman who can be stopped easily. After all, her own last list helped her find Dot again. So now – together and with all the other friends they’ve met along the way – they have to find a way for Dot to answer ‘yes’ to the question on her very first list…
First Sentence: I am at the table, making a shopping list, and Dot’s chipping in.
What I thought: I enjoyed this book and the world of Dot and Mabel merging. And I still love all the female multigenerational friendship that is going on. I don’t think I can name one other book where I have had that. Really great. However this book fell a bit flat compared to the first one where I cried my eyes out and was so moved.
Curious count: 5
Medium: eBook through library
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: no translation found
Recommend to: Everyone who loves books about female friendship and second-chance love.
Author’s Origin: born in Glasgow, Great Britain | May 30th, 1984
Additional note: Sequel to Last List of Mabel Beaumont
Mut und Menschlichkeit by Tankred Stöbe | ★★★☆☆
Book Blurb: What really matters in life? Tankred Stöbe has found his answer to this question. For years, he has been traveling as a doctor to crisis zones around the world. Whether it’s secretly crossing a border in a jungle in Myanmar or spending days and nights without sleep in a cave clinic in Syria—his missions demand everything he has. Yet even in the most hopeless situations, he encounters selfless courage and deeply moving humanity. His experiences give him hope: “We shut ourselves off from many experiences out of a need for security. But it’s worth exploring your own limits, no matter the field. Everyone can rise above themselves.”
First Sentence: In der Hitze der tropischen Nacht weckt mich ohrenbetäubender Lärm. | In the heat of the tropical night, a deafening noise wakes me up.
What I thought: Everyone has heard about Doctors without Borders but I never sent much of a thought about how these deployments work, what it must feel like coming form a fancy western hospital and suddenly being forced to do surgeries in a cave amid an air raid. I have the uttermost appreciation for people like that risking their lives to show some humanity. I would have loved for the book to be not as vague though. I understand that many things can’t be discussed in order for safety reasons. But often it felt like a list of things that were run down. I missed a bit of storytelling, a bit more personal insights and thoughts. I think this book could have been a bit more. But my feeling is that a lot of stuff was not allowed to get into. Fun Fact: the author is employed in the hospital I work in, in the emergency ward but I didn’t put it together until I was half through the book.
Curious count: 4
Medium: eBook through library
Original Language and Title: German
Publications: no translation found
Recommend to: Everyone wanting to learn about the work of “Doctors Without Borders”.
Author’s Origin: born in Nürnberg, Germany | February 1st, 1969
Additional note: Read for my church bulletin to recommend for topic “Courage & Hope”.
Ghost Walk by Cassandra Gannon | ★★★☆☆
Book Blurb: Grace Rivera just wants to be normal. She’s the only member of her spell-casting, fortune-telling family who isn’t hunting unicorns or trying to discover the lost recipe for Troll Powder. Trained as a crime scene investigator, she believes in science and cold, hard facts. And right now, the cold, hard facts are telling Grace that she’s lost her mind. It started last July, when she “hallucinated” that she traveled back in time to relive a crime before it had even happened. Her resulting breakdown cost Grace her forensics job, so now she’s stuck working as a tour guide in her Revolutionary War themed hometown. After a year of rebuilding her life, she’s finally convincing herself that she might just have a chance to be normal, again. …Until a handsome, sarcastic, and really real seeming ghost shows up on her Ghost Walk…
First Sentence: The alleyway was a gory mess.
What I thought: This was my only ghostly read this October. It was okay. It was fun and overall I liked that we had a crime investigator as a main character. I also enjoyed the pirate ghost. However, I was put off and annoyed by the “possession talk” this book had. It is sooo boring and also slightly toxic. It really took away from the story for me. Bonus points for the time travel. Overall okayish read.
Curious count: 2
Characters: Grace Rivera – crime-scene investigator, tour guide, Jamie Riordan – ghost pirate from Revolutionary Era
Setting: Harrisonburg
Medium: eBook through Kindle library
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: none found
Recommend to: Everyone loving time-traveling ghost romances and some weird humor.
Author’s Origin: born in unknown | unknown
Book Stats for October
New books on the shelves
Always buying books even though I am trying to reduce my TBR pile. Here is this month purchases. Please hold me accountable and ask if I read them or just piled them up.
- The Art of fighting by Priya Parker – bought for my business book club for 23,40€
What is the last non-fiction book you read? Do you prefer fiction over non-fiction? Last book you spent money on? Last book you gifted to someone? Any book that will be on your tBR after reading my post?
