October Reading Plans + All Hallows Read – A Reading Challenge

A couple weeks ago I signed up for a reading challenge for October, details are here. There are two tiers and a fun little bingo card to go with it. 😀

The two tiers I signed up for are-

Do The Monster Mash – Anthology – For this category I’m picking His Hideous Heart, a collection of 13 short stories by 13 authors. They’re all retellings of Edgar Allan Poe classics, and the original short stories are also included in the book. I’ve seen many ARC reviews of this pretty new title (released September 10, 2019.) My local library has this one in both digital and physical form so I’m looking forward to reading it ASAP.

Halloween Town – Set In A Magical Place – I picked Spin The Dawn by Elizabeth Lim for this. And have already finished it, lucky! 🙂 Spin The Dawn takes place in a world with magical floating carpets, spirits, demons, and enchanted scissors that can create beautiful works of art in no time at all.

Pumpkin Picking – A long-time TBR choice – There are multiple books that fit this criteria that I plan on reading this month. The Shining by Stephen King, We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson are the two main ones. Hoping to read at least one, and probably both.

Trick or Treat – Have someone else pick a book for you – Amanda (she has a reading blog, here is a recent post) picked out Cruel Works of Nature by Gemma Amor, a collection of 11 ghost stories. I’m halfway through the book and it’s been very enjoyable so far. Many thanks to her for the suggestion. 😀 Her blog is flowing with great October/horror recs btw, if you’re looking for such reads..

I also chose this theme, as I’m the ultimate sucker for vampires. ❤

A Taste For Blood – Book With A Red Cover – I am thinking of Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman for this one, it’s mostly red but has some orange on the cover. But am also tempted by The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh which also has some very eye-catching red on its cover and seems more vampire-y. We’ll see!

Immortal Being – A Gothic Classic – I’m going for We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson. I recently flipped to and read the first page and honestly, it has me at the first page. Really looking forward to this one. Was also considering Wuthering Heights, it is still high on the TBR nonetheless.

Prince Of The Night – A Dracula Retelling – I’m thinking of Dracula by Manga Classics for this one if I can pick it up in time. Otherwise, Deathless Girls sounds like a very intriguing new release that is told from the perspective of Dracula’s brides.

Reflection – Read A Graphic Novel – There are so many vampire-themed manga on my manga TBR. Have been thinking of re-reading Vampire Knight (I left off on volume 12 or so) there’s also a full-color vampire romance Korean manhwa called Orange Marmalade that I’m curious to try. It’s lengthy and easily available. There are also these two called Midnight Secretary and Bloody Kiss. We’ll see, I’ll probably try multiples throughout the month and see what sticks. ^^”

What We Do In The Shadows – Urban Magic – I am picking Moon Called by Patricia Briggs for this. It’s the first book in a series, and I know multiple people who’ve read it. Will be fun to talk about.

Also high on my TBR

• The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys (Release Date : October 1st)
• Ninth House (Release Date : October 8)
• Dominion Of The Star by Angelica Clyman (Review Request, Out Now)
• Unnatural Magic by C.M. Wagonner (Release Date : November 5)
• Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayton (Release Date : October 15)
• Songs From The Deep by Kelly Powell (Release Date : November 5)

13 books + 2 manga I’m hoping to complete this month. Ironically, this is the exact number of titles I’d read last month. It should be doable, I hope. Fingers crossed for no reading slump.

Lucysnovelpurpose also made a wonderful bingo card for this reading challenge.

Illuminae will probably be the audiobook, really hoping rate a book 5 stars will happen multiple times. All of these seem very simple except re-read a book which I usually don’t do. Might choose Vampire Knight after all for that purpose.

Thanks for reading this post! Are you doing any reading challenges for October? How many books are on your immediate TBR? Hope everyone has a great week and is having an enjoyable October so far. ~ Kitty