I’ve decided to streamline my book ratings moving forward. Choosing between 1-5 with no half ratings is how I will rate each book moving forward. Hopefully this makes things easier when deciding which of my recommendations you want to read!
Everything I Read in October 2026
The Girls Before
The premise of this book sounded more interesting than it ended up being. Bummer. At times, I even struggled to follow the story because it seemed to veer off and lose momentum. Audrey is a search and rescue expert who is fueled by the disappearance of her childhood friend. When word gets out about another missing teen who authorities think just ran away, Audrey knows there is more to the story. While searching nearby woods for any sign of the missing girl, Audrey stumbles upon a hidden bunker that she thinks was used to house missing girls from the area. Local law enforcement doesn’t seem to be doing enough so Audrey tries to find answers on her own. Honestly, I got lost too many times throughout the story to follow what was actually happening so it was definitely not a favorite from this month. Rating: 2
Hollow Bones
I had barely finished the first chapter of this book when I knew it was going to emotionally destroy me (in the best way). And BOY WAS I RIGHT!!! No one knows how to build emotion quite like Jodi Picoult. Molly runs the Rhode Island Emergency Preparedness Department, a job that she feels she was suited for from a very young age. At only 2 months old, Molly’s mom died in the September 11th tragedy forever altering the course of Molly’s life. She never got to know her mother though her father and new stepmother were the most loving parents who gave Molly a wonderful life. It’s not until Molly and her husband find out they are expecting their first child do old secrets reveal themselves. Molly must face a new reality that makes her question everything she has ever known about love, life and soon to be motherhood. I could have read 1000 more pages from this book…it was a true masterpiece. Rating: 5
The People We Keep
I wanted this book to be so much more than it was. There are so many great reviews on it so maybe it just wasn’t for me. I also found it depressing in a way that I had trouble trudging through without wanting to quit. I did finish it but it was a struggle. April is a young teen girl with a deadbeat dad and a mother who abandoned the family years ago. She lives alone in a trailer her father owns but visits infrequently leaving April to essentially parent herself. When things between April and her father come to a head, April decides to leave and look for a new life in a neighboring town. Thankfully she finds community in this new city but doesn’t disclose to her new friends that she is only 16 years old. The lies about her age can only go on for so long before April must make the decision to move on again. She continues this nomadic lifestyle until she finds herself pregnant a few years later. April decides to return home and face her past in hopes of reconciling her feelings in order to be a good mother. There were moments where I would like the story but ultimately found the overall plot to be lacking. Rating: 3
Cold Cold Heart
A bit of a predictable mystery/thriller but one that kept me engaged nonetheless. Dana was a promising TV reporter with a bright future ahead of her until she was kidnapped by one of the state’s most notorious serial killers. In an act of desperation and survival, Dana was able to kill her abductor and put an end to his years long spree. Dana’s family hoped that with the proper help and treatment she would return to her old self and assimilate back into their lives. But that did not happen. Dana’s trauma fundamentally changed her and who she thought she was. After returning back to her hometown, Dana comes face to face with the memories of her best friend who mysteriously disappeared one night and never was seen again. Viewing things through a new lens, Dana decides to look into her friend’s disappearance and questions everything she thought she knew about the people around her. But certain people don’t want Dana asking questions and will stop at nothing to make sure she never learns the truth. There are a few twists and turns but all are quite predictable though I still enjoyed the story. Rating: 4
A Good Person
What I love most about reading and always have is how books can make us feel so many different emotions. And those emotions don’t always have to be positive. To absolutely LOATHE and DESPISE a main character is not a bad thing always. In the case of this book, I could not stand the protagonist Lilian which made me LOVE this book even more. Ha! The absolute disgust I had for her made this book almost impossible to put down. Sometimes we hope a character will evolve throughout the book seeing the error of their ways but that was not the case in this story. And while infuriating, it was also fascinating and so true to real life. Lilian is a complex young woman living her life in Boston, working a basic corporate job and trying to navigate love. When she meets Henry one night at a bar, the hope for more is immediately there. But their dynamic stays complex which only further frustrates Lilian creating a recipe for disaster. When Henry is found murdered one night outside a local bar, Lilian faces scrutiny that she feels is unwarranted though her actions may provide a different story. Allow yourself to completely hate Lilian through and through, but don’t let that stop you from reading this book! Rating: 5
Heart of Glass
This is a sequel to Jennifer Hillier’s book Wonderland but you don’t have to read that before in order to follow along. The story is easy to follow without any of the history. An easy to get through mystery/thriller that kept me guessing all the way through. There were some obvious tells here and there but I did enjoy how the story played out. Barb, Nicolette and Lorelei were teenage best friends until Lorelei was found dead in a cranberry bog. She was though to have been murdered by a well known serial killer who she was seen with that evening. The killer even confessed to her murder along with 4 other women. But after decades behind bars, the killer is being interviewed for a documentary about his crimes and reveals that he never killed Lorelei. The cops wanted to close the case and got him to admit to her death. During the decades since Lorelei’s death, Barb and Nicolette have gone separate ways fracturing a friendship that seemed unstable to begin with. Barb remained in their hometown, while Nicolette went on to star in one of the top reality shows on TV. It’s only when Nicolette is forced to go to rehab due to alcohol abuse does she return to the small seaside town where she ran from years ago. Barb and Nicolette meet up but only to make sure each is still keeping the secret surrounding Lorelei’s death. It’s not until the documentary airs that they have to possibly devise a new story in order to stay out of jail. There are a lot of characters in this book but you can easily follow each storyline which helps to build the suspense. Rating: 4
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