October started with a visit to Ilkley for their annual literature festival. I’m a huge fan of Ilkley and need little excuse to visit. I did get a little carried away this year and, not content with visiting for one weekend, decided that I needed to visit two weekends in a row to make the most of the festival! It’s perhaps a little excessive, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I have no regrets! You can see my festival book haul below.
The fun didn’t stop there, as my other half and I took a road trip to France at the end of the month, staying mostly in Fontainebleau but with an extra little trip to Chablis for a wine festival. We were lucky with the weather for the wine festival. It was a beautiful and surprisingly warm day to spend outdoors, made all the better by the wonderful wines available to try.
All this interrupted my blogging activities once again, and I only managed two reviews this month, although I did at least manage to keep my This Week in Books post going.
My favourite books this month
- Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab
- The Life Experiment by Jess Kitching
- Le Fay by Sophie Keetch
I also read / reviewed:
- Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd
- The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt
- Of the Flesh – a collection of short stories by various authors
- Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang
- The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker
- Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Other blog posts
I also shared some of the books that I’m particularly looking forward to in the coming months.
Books acquired
My Ilkley Literature Festival acquisitions:
And a few other books that needed a good home!
TBR Watch
And that’s my bookish month! Happy reading! 🩷
Jo's Book Blog 
What a great month you had, Jo!
Wasn’t it though?! 🤗
It sounds like a fab month, Jo! x
Can’t complain! 😂
I see you C.J. Cooke 😏.
Getting somewhat jealous of your travels. A wine festival is so totally me 💁🏼♀️.
I wonder whose fault that was…?
The wine festival was great, and I recommend Chablis (the place and the wine!) at any time!
I’ve no idea but they clearly have great taste 😏.
🤣🤣🤣
I wish I get to attend a book festival. I have that C. J. Cooke book on Tbr. I hope November turns out as good as October.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for, Yesha! Are there any near you at all?
We have book fairs but not author events. Fest usually takes place in neighbouring state every year but i don’t think it took place in my state or city so far.
That’s a shame 🙁
Your road trip in France sounds lovely x
Really nice! Quite a long drive each way, but worth it x
Wait your backlist is almost entirely gone? I can only be jealous of that! Looks like it’s been a good month ❤️
Thanks, Inge! And yes – I’ve almost cleared the backlist 💪