Spelling the Month in Books: October

One Kick

Cassandra Kain’s novel is a few things—like an action-packed thriller with a social conscience, a vengeance story, and a look at the long-term damage childhood trauma can cause. Kick Lanningham survived a childhood abduction and found a measure of peace in learning to defend herself. Now, she’s been sought out to use her skills and experience to help track down other abducted children. She’s a great character—not perfect, she’s no Charlie Fox or Jack Reacher when it comes to combat, but she’s determined.

I so, so wish the promised sequel (and a few others) had come. But Tori Eldridge’s Lily Wong novels and Taylor Stevens’ Vanessa Michael Munroe novels deliver a lot of the same kind of action (and maybe deliver a little more realism).

The Calling

The same disturbed depravity, intensity, dedication, and drive that are displayed in each episode of Neil Cross’ show are in full force here. You’ve got one very, very sick murderer (and I mean that in every possible way) being hunted by Det. Luther across London. And even though most people who pick up this book know exactly how it ends (the opening scene of episode 1), you’re still on the edge of your seat, white-knucklin’ the book, breathing only when you remember. This had the promise of being a novel series to go along with the show, and I wish it had.

Team Human

Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan team up for this Twilight-y YA novel. But in this one, our protagonist is trying to keep her friend from getting involved with a vampire classmate. There are a handful of other shenanigans involving vampires and zombies, too—and it all falls upon our high school hero to save the day. I came for the “hey, maybe falling for a guy centuries older than you is a bad idea” and stuck around for the compelling characters and story.

The Oathbound Wizard

This sequel to Christopher Stasheff’s Her Majesty’s Wizard is one of those sequels that didn’t need to exist—Her Majesty’s was a great stand-alone that I fell in love with in high school (I’ve since wondered about that, but that’s for another time). This came along 7 years later and was in large part a re-telling of its predecessor (the third book that came out the next year was even more of a repeat, and I ignored the 5 following books that came out pretty regularly). However, there were a few moments in this book that made it worth a read or two. I don’t know if it was ever fully successful, but I admired, Stasheff’s attempt to blend portal fantasy, Roman Catholicism, and theoretical physics.

Bridget Jones’s Diary

I don’t know if I’ll ever forget the questioning look an older colleague gave me when she saw that I’d brought Helen Fielding’s breakout novel to read over lunch—”isn’t that a women’s book?” I shrugged and said something like “Maybe, but the review in Newsweek made it sound interesting.” She found my reply less than convincing (not that I cared). I found Jones and her struggles perfectly charming and relatable—Fielding’s voice won me over within a couple of pages. I think I’ve re-read it once since ’96, but my other attempts at it have fizzled out, and it just can’t keep my attention. But I still remember it fondly.

Ender’s Game

This is one of those books that I spent years putting off while everyone I knew tried to get me to read—even guys who weren’t big readers pushed it on me. And by the time I was about 50 pages in, I started kicking myself for ignoring them for so long. It worked on so many levels, and absolutely captivated me. I’ve never gotten around to finishing the series—or reading much of it—but the story of Ender Wiggins and the war with the Buggers is an all-time fave.

Rock On

Denise Vega’s novel about a high-school band, brotherhood, and coming of age checks all the boxes you expect it to. The highlight for me was the storyline about the protagonist’s older brother moving back home after dropping out of college, it gave the emotional heft the rest of the novel (though perfectly fine) didn’t quite manage. I remember liking it, my goodreads review suggested I did, too.