I was on holiday in October, so I had plenty of time to read!

In October, I read the following books:

• In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune
• The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris (Chocolat #2)
• The Club by Ellery Lloyd
• The Last to Disappear by Jo Spain
• The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
• No Country for Girls by Emma Styles
• Fahrenheit 451 by Raymond Bradbury
• Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
• On the Road by Jack Kerouac
• Reputation by Sarah Vaughan
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau

The stand-out title for me was definitely The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune. My cousin recommended this fantasy title, and it blew me away. It reads like a children’s book but has some strong adult themes and I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like it. Definitely one I intend to read again, maybe tucked up under a blanket on Boxing Day. It’s a feel-good read for when real life gets a bit too much!

The Club, The Last to Disappear and The Last Party were all thrillers set in exclusive resorts. As such, there were a few similarities between the books. They’re all good suspense thrillers and I particularly enjoyed the setting of The Last to Disappear, which is set in Lapland.

No Country for Girls was billed as the Australian ‘Thelma and Louise’ and has two great teenaged characters on the run. I also really liked the setting of this book, the Australian outback.

Fahrenheit 451 was another recommendation from my cousin, and I loved it. It felt very dark and prophetic, and I couldn’t help wondering what Raymond Bradbury would think about social media. It was a bit depressing, but one of those books that stay with you long after you finish reading it.

Another author who might have something to say about social media would be Henry David Thoreau who writes about his time in isolation at Walden Pond. I really enjoyed this account of his attempt to live a simple life, away from society, and there were some real take-aways from the book, not least the benefits of vegetarianism and living a life more attuned to nature. Again, I think this may be a book I will come back to.