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Long time no see! I’ve not written a blog post for months as I have been super busy with my job. I was doing dusk bat surveys up and down the country, and packed my weekends full of plans so there was little time for blogging. I am excited to have some more downtime to blog; I’ve definitely missed writing. I’ve also not had a lot of time for reading, but I got back into the swing of things, and the books I read in October have been some of my favourites so far.
Swept Away by Beth O’Leary
Storygraph synopsis:
Lexi is looking for no-strings-attached fun with a stranger. She deserves one night for herself, doesn’t she?
Zeke is looking for love. But for one night with a woman like Lexi, he’ll break his rules …
Sparks fly at the pub – one passionate kiss leads to another, and they soon end up stumbling home to the marina together. But the next morning, they’re unable to part ways as planned.
The houseboat they stayed on last night has been swept out to sea.
How long can Zeke and Lexi survive on a drifting houseboat? Will search and rescue find them? And who will they have become if they both make it back to dry land?
What I thought:
I have been wanting to read Beth O’Leary’s latest book for ages so I was very happy when I came across it in my local charity shop! It did get a bit tense when they were stranded, and there were some parts that were a bit gory for me. I also didn’t love how the story turned once they got back to land, but the epilogue was very sweet. Overall, I really enjoyed it and read it in one weekend.
My rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Storygraph synopsis:
When Margaret Ives, the famously reclusive heiress, invites eternal optimist Alice Scott to the balmy Little Crescent Island, Alice knows this is it: her big break. And even more rare: a chance to impress her family with a Serious Publication.
The catch? Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud, Hayden Anderson, is sure of the same thing.
The proposal? A one-month trial period to unearth the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th Century, after which she’ll choose who’ll tell her story.
The problem? Margaret is only giving each of them tantalising pieces. Pieces they can’t put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.
And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story – just like the tale Margaret’s spinning – could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad … depending on who’s telling it.
What I thought:
I absolutely adored this book, at the moment it is winning as my favourite book read in 2025! Great Big Beautiful Life gave a similar vibe to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid which I also loved. The added bonus of Emily Henry’s book was the added romance between Alice and Hayden, as well as a few other twists. It seems like a slightly different genre to what Emily Henry usually writes, and I look forward to her next book!
My rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Expectation by Anna Hope
Storygraph synopsis:
What happened to the women we were supposed to become?
Hannah, Cate and Lissa are young, vibrant and inseparable. Living on the edge of a common in East London, their shared world is ablaze with art and activism, romance and revelry – and the promise of everything to come. They are electric. They are the best of friends.
Ten years on, they are not where they hoped to be. Amidst flailing careers and faltering marriages, each hungers for what the others have. And each wrestles with the same question: what does it take to lead a meaningful life?
What I thought:
Expectation is another book I read in October pretty quickly. We follow three young women navigating their life when it hasn’t turned out exactly the way they were hoping. It features friendship, love, fertility and loss. It is an emotional read but so interesting and although it was a fiction book, it felt like a non-fiction one. I’d really recommend reading it.
My rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes
Storygraph synopsis:
Welcome to the Kennedy household:
Lila wrote a bestseller about keeping your marriage alive, before discovering her ex was playing happy families with another woman. A woman she sees everyday at school pick-up.
Bill, her stepdad, moved in after Lila’s mum died. He’s kind, old-fashioned and driving her absolutely nuts.
Celie, Lila’s eldest, hates school. Hates it so much she’s stopped going. Her mother’s fine with that – because she doesn’t know yet.
Violet is nine and sings age-inappropriate rap songs, laughs at fart jokes and Lila dearly hopes she’ll never, ever change.
And Truant the dog, who has just bitten the American actor who’s suddenly landed on the Kennedys’ doorstep.
This is Gene – Lila’s estranged father, and no one’s idea of a role model. He walked out on Lila and her mum years ago – and wherever he goes domestic discord follows.
Because Gene’s presence changes things in unexpected ways. Soon the girls discover a kindred spirit in a man always chasing life’s joy. Bill even loosens up. And Lila finds herself, astonishingly, dating.
Something is happening to the Kennedy household – but what is it?
And will it break, or save, their family?
What I thought:
The last book I read in October is We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes. Once again, I read this one in only a few days and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a lot of characters all with a bit of their own storyline, which sometimes can be hard to follow but I think because they were intertwined it made it easier to follow. I also enjoyed the characters developing throughout the storyline.
My rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
October was a great month of reading for me, it definitely helped that it featured a few of my favourite authors. I’m out of my reading slump and excited to read more books in November.
What books did you read in October?
Caroline ♡
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