![October 2023 Reading Recap and Ratings by The Espresso Edition cozy bookish blog](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/October-Recap-2.webp)
I’m ridiculously excited to share my October 2023 reading recap because this was the month I finally got my reading mojo back! Let me tell ya, it feels great.
For the last several months, as I walked through all the challenging life things, I haven’t felt as excited about reading. I was so busy that I barely had time to sit and actually get through a book and listening to audiobooks just wasn’t cutting it like it used to. I think it’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to a true slump (and I still read at least a page or two every day… it’s the principle of the thing). But then October came around, and maybe it was the leaves changing colors and the crisp, cool air in the mornings–or it could’ve been something else entirely–but it was like I just fell back in love with reading all over again.
I did manage to read every book on my initial TBR, as well as several more. The goal for my October 2023 reading was to pick up as many witchy fantasies and romances as I possibly could, and I certainly did just that, adding several new favorites to my list! At the end of the month, I started rereading all of my most beloved autumn books, which made the last few days especially enjoyable. I’m looking forward to my November list even more now that I’ve found a renewed passion for reading as the year winds down. Keep on scrolling to see what I thought of the books I read this past month.
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The NUMBER Books I Read in October 2023
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October 2023 Reading Stats
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/October-Moods.webp)
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/October-Genres.webp)
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/October-Pages.webp)
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/October-Formats.webp)
Books That Got a 5-Star Rating (*reread)
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Babel.webp?ver=1691621237)
Babel: An Arcane History
by R.F. Kuang
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Gone-Wolf.webp)
Gone Wolf
by Amber McBride
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/A-Discovery-of-Witches.webp?ver=1691620642)
A Discovery of Witches (All Souls #1)*
by Deborah Harkness
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-Very-Secret-Society-of-Irregular-Witches.webp)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches*
by Sangu Mandanna
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Winterwood.webp?ver=1691620677)
Winterwood*
by Shea ernshaw
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Nature-of-Witches.webp?ver=1691522384)
The Nature of Witches*
by Rachel Griffin
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Books That Got a 4 or 4.5-Star Rating (*reread)
![Vengeful by V.E. Schwab](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/image-1-1.jpeg)
Vengeful (Villains #2)
by V.E. Schwab
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Curious-Tides.webp)
Curious Tides (The Drowned Gods Duology #1)
by Pascale Lacelle
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/The-Undertaking-of-Hart-and-Mercy.webp)
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (Hart and Mercy #1)
by Megan Bannen
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Assistant-to-the-Villain.webp)
Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain #1)
by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/A-Wizards-Guide-to-Defensive-Baking.webp)
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
by T. Kingfisher
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Autumn-of-the-Grimoire.webp)
Autumn of the Grimoire (The Sisters Solstice #1)
by J.L. Vampa
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/In-the-Shadow-Garden.webp?ver=1691621348)
In the Shadow Garden
by Liz Parker
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Just-a-Pinch-of-Magic.webp)
Just a Pinch of Magic
by Alechia Dow
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Books That Got a 3 or 3.5-Star Rating
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/The-Screaming-Staircase.webp)
The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. #1)
by Jonathan Stroud
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Small-Town-Big-Magic.webp)
Small Town, Big Magic (Witchfire #1)
by Hazel Beck
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Back-in-a-Spell.webp)
Back in a Spell (The Witches of Thistle Grove #3)
by Lana Harper
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Something-Close-to-Magic.webp)
Something Close to Magic
by Emma Mills
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Books That Got a 2 or 2.5-Star Rating
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Not-the-Witch-You-Wed.webp?ver=1691526997)
Not the Witch You Wed (Supernatural Singles #1)
by April Asher
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/A-Wilderness-of-Stars.webp?ver=1691621230)
A Wilderness of Stars
by Shea Ernshaw
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
![](http://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Witch-is-Back.webp?ver=1691699317)
The Witch is Back
by Sophie H Morgan
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
November 2023 TBR
A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart #3) by Stephanie Garber
A Crown So Cursed (The Nightmare-Verse #3) by L.L. McKinney
New Adult (Boy Meets Boy #3) by Timothy Janovsky
Murder at the Taffy Shop (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery #2) by Maddie Day
Her Radiant Curse (Six Crimson Cranes #0) by Elizabeth Lim
Spellbreaker (Spellbreaker Duology #1) by Charlie N. Holmberg
Murder Uncorked (A Cece Barton Mystery #1) by Maddie Day
Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater [reread]
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young
Friends Don’t Fall in Love by Erin Hahn
Hot British Boyfriend by Kristy Boyce
Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenberg
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Glad to hear that your reading has been going well in October! I still need to read Babel and Winterwood, I’m glad to see that you enjoyed them so much 😊
I’m so glad you found your reading groove again in October! Life challenges really can put a damper on wanting to read. While my own challenge is different, October was tough for me, too, so I was happy with the progress I did make.
I have Curious Tides sitting in my house from the library. I don’t think I’ve seen too much in the way of reviews, but your score indicates you enjoyed it. Is it an engaging read? Because I see that it’s 500+ pages, haha.
love that you read and enjoyed so many books! also, oops, i still need to read The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, i honestly forgot about it, need to mark it in my TBR so i don’t forget again 😬 hope reading mojo continues and November is filled with great reads as well 🙂