October News 2022.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

October wasn’t a bad month. Here’s the good news I’ve mentioned the last time: all three of my books got a new edition, all as e-books. Here are the covers!

I’ve spent a part of the month on an unexpected vacation (staycation, really), and I’m definitely not complaining about that. It gave me some time (and energy) to watch and read stuff.

And this year, unlike the previous one, I managed to get the flu shot. My pulmonologist would be glad. I’m glad, too.

Other than all of that, it’s the usual: watching movies and series, reading, working…

Currently reading: A Sister’s Story by Donatella Di Pietrantonio, the sequel to A Girl Returned (which is what I’ve previously read). Both books remind me of Elena Ferrante a bit; the first one is about a thirteen-year-old girl suddenly returned to her biological parents and having her life turned upside down with no explanation at all, as well as the relationship she builds with her sister, while the second one follows both of them (and their troubles) as adults. I liked the first one, and I’m liking the second one so far, too.

Recently read: The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (a good, and sometimes brutal novel about a family falling apart after the death of the oldest son), Amok: A Luxembourg Love Story by Tullio Forgiarini (a novel about young offenders, could be good for teens), In Mercy, Rain and Skeleton Song by Seanan McGuire (both are stories from her Wayward Children series, and both are good), Les enfants sont rois by Delphine de Vigant (part thriller about a missing child, part a painful novel about the abuse of kid influencers), My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh (some parts can be perceived as funny, but it’s mostly about depression, with characters who are unlikable on purpose), Rearview by Meghan O’Flynn (a short story with an ending I didn’t see coming), Earthlings by Sayaka Murata (I liked her previous novel better), The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik (great ending for The Scholomance trilogy), A Cup of Salt Tears by Isabel Yap (a bit of horror/dark fantasy, a bit of Japanese folklore, and a love story), The Grief of Stones and Min Zemerin’s Plan by Katherine Addison (more about the priest/detective and the cases he solves, yay!), and The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa (sad and nice and sad).

Currently watching: Little Demon (an animated series for adults (seriously, don’t let your kids watch!) about a thirteen-year-old girl who, after getting her first period, discovers that her dad isn’t dead, and is actually Satan himself, which makes her the Antichrist. Weird and fun.

Recently watched: Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (pretty good, with a lot of attention given to the victims and their families, as well as the circumstances that allowed it to keep happening for so long; Evan Peters is brilliant in the role), Hellraiser (2022) (another good one, not perfect, but pretty good), Last Night in Soho (great actors, visually nice, good soundtrack, good idea, and a mostly boring movie; it’s as if they couldn’t decide whether they wanted to make a psychological drama or a psychological horror, and the result is neither), The House (2022) (a stop-motion animation movie on Netflix, three stories about a certain weird house and its tenants, very much not for children; weird, spooky, with a wicked British sense for humor; I loved it), Prey (2019) (basically, native Americans against the Predator; I loved the dog, and the movie was mostly fun to watch), Downton Abbey (2019) (if you loved the series, the movie is more of the same, and pleasant to watch), Knives Out (2019) (a nice play on the whodunit movies with an all-star cast and plenty of humor), The Suicide Squad 2 (lots of fun), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Americanized kung fu movie with a few Marvel characters, and a perfectly fine kung fu movie at that), the rest of the first season of The Rings of Power series (pretty to look at, nice music, doesn’t really make sense), and the rest of the first season of the House of the Dragon series (still fun).

Currently working on: work, when there’s any, plus trying to promote my books when I remember to do it (I’m terrible at marketing).

That’s pretty much it, see you next time, and once again, Happy Halloween!