Recently Read - Show Us Your Books - Vol.1 (Oct. '15)

October flew by!  Seriously, looking back on last month, it's all a big blur to me now.  Work was busy, I was gone one weekend to WV to visit my family, and was gone for week on a cruise.  I managed to finish 6 books in between all the events and busy moments.  Today I am linking up with Steph @ Life According to Steph and Jana @ Jana Says for their monthly Show Us Your Books link up.  Here's what I read in October:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Considered one the "must read modern classics," Bradbury's dystopian tale was hard for me to get into and I'm not for sure why.  All is know is that I just didn't like it.  Now, let me state for the record, I feel certain that I will appreciate it in time, but it wasn't my cup of tea in terms of reading enjoyment.  I definitely can see the value in reading it, for Bradbury's envisioned future has some scary resemblances to our current reality.  It also deals with issues that would be beneficial for teens to discuss such as censorship.  I'm glad I finally experienced it, because I was beginning to think I was one of the few people in the United States who didn't read this in high school.  

My rating:  ★★

The Martian by Andy Weir 
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book so much that I devoted an entire blog entry to it!  See full review here.
My rating: ★★★★★

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson 
On October 12, I tweeted "HOLY MOLY! If you're not reading The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson ‪@PeterSwanson3, you should be! Twists and turns galore! Awesome!"  Even now, a month later, I still firmly believe that.

I love mysteries - police and detective stories, legal mysteries, murder mysteries, and thrillers.  It's by far my favorite genre.  Although the number of mysteries I’ve read has not ventured into triple-digit-land, I've read enough to know the difference between a lame, predictable mystery and a “holy freakin’ moly, I didn’t see that coming” mystery.  The Kind Worth Killing is the latter.

Rarely does a book shock me.  Rarely are the twists clever and so masterfully orchestrated that I'm actually surprised. The twist in The Kind Worth Killing blew me away.  Honestly, as the information spilled out from my headphones, I sat up in bed and said out loud to no one in particular, “What?” and rewound the audiobook to listen to it again.  And again.  And a fourth time.  I truly thought this would be a simple story about a guy who wishes to kill his wife.  Oh, no, no, no…  It’s so much more.  It’s a masterfully crafted work full of twists and turns and a plot that grabs a hold of you and doesn’t let until the very end.  It is by far and away one of my favorites of 2015.

My rating: ★★★★★

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
From the very beginning, I really, really wanted to love this book. The premise was entertaining and it started out with so much promise. Then... it hit a wall and slowed down significantly to the point of where I was seriously beginning to lose interest.  About 50-60% of the way through, out of the clear, blue sky the plot turned, picked back up and raced towards the end.  This book completely redeemed itself in the last half of the book.
My rating: ★★★★

You Are One of Them by Elliot Holt
This book had so, so much potential.  It's the story of Sarah, whose childhood friend, Jenny, was killed in a plane crash when she was around 12 years old.  One day, while Sarah is still in college, she receives a mysterious letter that suggests that Jenny is not dead.  Sarah sets out on a quest to find the truth.  What could have been a wonderfully intriguing story, turned into an extremely unsatisfying, letdown. 

Let me say for the record that Holt's writing was very descriptive and sometimes very poetic.  His descriptions of Moscow actually made me feel as if I had been to Moscow before because his descriptions gave me a sense of deja vu.  
My rating: ★★

Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen
At first, I was a bit unsure about this book.  You see, I'm not into fishing at all.  I bought this book to read (listen to) on the cruise I took last month.  Since my cruise departed from Miami, I figured a story based in south Florida would be cool to listen to.  As with the other two Hiaasen books that I've read, Double Whammy is chock full of hilarious characters whose antics literally made me laugh out loud.  The story's ending felt a little rushed and the only other complaint I have is that it was sometimes hard for me to keep all the characters straight (who was who and who did what and how this character tied into the story).  Otherwise, it was a very worthwhile and entertaining read.  I would recommend it to Hiassen fans and especially if you like noir humor.
My rating: ★★★★

All and all, it was a pretty good month in terms of reading.  Yes, I read two 2-star books, but the two 5-star and two 4-star books totally made up for the stinkers!

How about you?  What have you read recently?  As always, thanks for stopping by!