It feels like a lifetime ago that I read some of the books that landed on my bedside table early in October. For some reason, this month seemed unusually long (mostly in a neutral way), and I read… a lot.
As per usual, the biggest casualty of my reading exploits was sleep. I had a horrible time sleeping around the full moon (I swear it impacts my sleep), but the silver lining was having lots of extra time to read.
I also read quite a few very short books this month, which reminded me that amazing things really can come in little packages.
Read on for more details!
(To see the rest of the books I’ve read in 2026, here are previous monthly summaries: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, and September.)
OCTOBER NON-FICTION
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich *4 stars
I’ve read a few books of this ilk: a middle-class American attempts to make ends meet by working low-wage jobs. This is perhaps the most famous of those books.
The content is admittedly dated, but the discrepancy between the proverbial “haves” and “have-nots” has only grown. (This book was written just prior to 9/11.)
Ehrenreich does a good job of explaining how and why low-wage earners are so marginalized within society, and the endless cycle of difficulty that impacts people trying to get by on minimum wage—the need to work multiple jobs, the high cost of housing, and how the scheduling math simply doesn’t work for people trying to move into higher-paid work.
She also highlights how the relatively easy lives of affluent Americans primarily rest on the shoulders of poorly paid individuals who are taking care of the elderly, providing childcare, or working in retail and service jobs. She calls working poor “the major philanthropists of our society. They neglect their own children so that the children of others will be cared for; they live in substandard housing so that other homes will be shiny and perfect; they endure privation so that inflation will be low and stock prices high. To be a member of the working poor is to be an anonymous donor, a nameless benefactor, to everyone else.”
I didn’t always love the writing style, and the fact this was written nearly 30 years ago does leave some gaps in the current political and economic climate, but this is still a valuable and insightful book. I found her occasional racial stereotyping offensive (for example, she wrote: “[I] worry that the Latinos might be hogging all the crap jobs and substandard housing for themselves, as they so often do.”); even if this was designed to be tongue-in-cheek, it was extremely off-putting.
Content warnings. Occasional strong language. References to some unhygienic food/cleaning situations that could bother a germaphobe. References to racial and gender stereotypes.
This Is Me: A Reckoning by Hayden Panettiere *not rated
My primary context for Hayden Panettiere is as “Coach’s” feisty daughter in Remember the Titans. I had no idea she was thrust into acting/modelling as a LITERAL INFANT. She was in a staggering number of commercials as a young girl, multiple soap operas, and was forced to fit into a very specific (overly feminine) role from a young age.
This book came out a few months before her death of a suspected overdose. The layers of dysfunction in her family, life trauma, and complications that come with child fame were all horrifying and, given how many other people have experienced similar things, not at all surprising. It seems nearly impossible for child actors (or “famous” people in general) to emerge from the experience unscathed. Many end up taking their own lives. It’s heartbreaking.
Content warnings. Some strong language. References to substance abuse and domestic abuse.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby (translated by Jeremy Leggatt) *5 stars
What a tremendously moving, gorgeously-written memoir. It was dictated by the fully paralyzed former editor of a French fashion magazine after he suffered an incredibly unusual stroke that resulted in locked-in syndrome. The only thing he could move to communicate was his left eye, and he painstakingly communicated this memoir to someone using a rearranged alphabet system.
I will be thinking about this memoir often, and am certain I will read it again. It’s short (though likely took more mental energy than most memoirs three times the length), but very impactful.
Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children by Mac Barnett *5 stars
What a delightful GEM of a book. Short, sweet, funny, and to the point. Mac Barnett writes an impassioned manifesto on what kids deserve from the books they read and why there’s a huge imbalance of power since adults decide what books get published, purchased, and put into their hands. Fascinating and I already want to re-read this book.
I think it would make a fascinating book club selection for anyone who loves children’s literature and broader discussions on reading (particularly fiction). Loved it!
Trash! A Garbageman’s Story by Simon Paré-Poupart, Pablo Strauss *3.5 stars
I liked this book but didn’t love it.
I think it had a lot of potential, but it ended up feeling repetitive and boring, even though the underlying premise was fascinating: a well-educated journalist works part-time collecting garbage for years because he enjoys the challenge and camaraderie.
I think there could have been some really interesting anecdotes about the sort of things they’ve seen people throw out (aside from his discussion of how many TVs people discard, this wasn’t really a topic he covered). Overall the organization of the stories felt a bit haphazard and didn’t offer as much behind-the-scenes content as I would have liked.
Content warnings. Some strong language.
The Name Therapist: How Growing Up with My Odd Name Taught Me Everything You Need to Know about Yours by Duana Taha *4 stars
I find names fascinating (and yes, I loved “that” chapter in Freakonomics!), and this is a whole book about names.
Origins, why people choose the names they do, how names often end up defining people, why certain names are synonymous with less desirable jobs, how race and ethnicity impact name choice (and hiring choices)… among lots of other interesting questions.
This was an easy read. It was too repetitive for my liking; it could have been condensed by 25% to make for a stronger narrative, but overall this is a book about a niche topic that entertains me.
I do NOT like the first part of the book’s title. Calling herself a name therapist doesn’t seem accurate, for starters, and the whole thing rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t have any great ideas for the title, but this wasn’t the right one, in my opinion.
Content warnings. Very occasional strong language.
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff *4 stars
I really enjoyed this non-fiction book consisting exclusively of letters sent back and forth between a New York City writer and bookshop employees at a store in London. Some of the literary references were obscure and I liked the first half (of this admittedly short book) better than the second. There are also much longer gaps between the letters as the book moves along.
I got attached to the characters, and it was a quick, pleasant read.
Every Conceivable Way by Despina Meris *not rated
This is an exhaustive look at one couple’s journey through infertility. It started with a series of unexplained miscarriages, many rounds of IVF, finally culminating in using a surrogate mother.
The physical, financial, and emotional struggle of infertility is very clearly laid out in this book. She also clearly had a tremendous amount of support from her parents, husband, friends, and work colleagues, along with a strong financial foundation (really the only way it’s feasible to pursue IVF or out-of-country surrogacy).
Content warnings. Occasional strong language. Extensive conversations about infertility and infant loss.
*not pictured in graphic above
For the Love of a Son: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Hope by Scott Oake *not rated
I grew up watching Scott Oake on Hockey Night in Canada and had no idea of the tragedy concurrently unfolding in his own life as his oldest son, Bruce, was battling addiction. His son eventually passed away from an overdose, but he chronicles the whole trajectory of their struggle as parents to get him the help needed in rehab facilities, before ultimately building and supporting a world-class rehab facility of their own in Bruce’s honour.
Content warnings. Some strong language. References to substance abuse/overdose.
OCTOBER FICTION
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman *5 stars
I first heard about this book via Engie, who reviewed it recently (she rated it 3.5 stars, in case you were curious). Not going to lie: I only picked it up because one of the main plot points is the fact the main characters live on a remote island off the coast of Australia tending to a lighthouse. Also, this may be my favourite book cover EVER.
I stayed up WAY too late finishing this book.
It’s sad and maddening (you know things are not going to end well) and gorgeously written. It reminded me a bit of Wild Dark Shore. I’m not sure if I can stomach the movie (though it has a great cast: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Rachel Weisz).
The ending was not necessarily what I wanted—you’re rooting for characters even though you know they’re deeply flawed and have made poor choices—but it was mostly satisfying. The middle section dragged a bit for me, but the fact I couldn’t go to bed without knowing what happens covers a multitude of sins, so it’s a 5-star read for me.
Content warnings. Miscarriage and stillbirth. Very occasional language.
The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon *4 stars
This is a hard book to rate!
It’s told in three distinct timelines: maiden, mother, and matriarch. The book constantly jumps between each different stage of her life which is confusing. At the end of the book, Lawhon mentions the possibility of reading the book a second time and reading it chronologically. I think this would have been a more enjoyable way to move through the story. It certainly would have been less confusing. (I can 100% see this being made into a movie.)
I did find the character of Grace incredibly fascinating. A lot of the details of her life are hazy and so there is a lot of artistic liberty with many of the storylines. That said, she was clearly a headstrong, courageous woman.
The book was long and some things (especially the constant use of “feck”) got tiresome. This book could have been slimmed down by at least a hundred pages.
I’m glad I read it, but it was confusing (tip: take notes to keep track of the different characters, at least at first… it starts to make more sense as you get further into the book BUT by then you’ve not been able to absorb as many of the details as you’d like because of the constant back and forth with different timelines).
Content warnings. War violence. References to sexual assault. Some strong language.
P.S. The best review I’ve seen on Goodreads lately was for this book: “If Ariel Lawhon announced tomorrow that she had written an 800-page novel about a woman watching paint dry in the sixteenth century, I would probably clear my schedule and start reading immediately.” Hahaha.
Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor *5 stars
Truly incredible.
Cunningly simple, this story is devastating and the writing is brilliant. It’s a scathing indictment of the rise of Hitler in Nazi Germany and the book (incredibly short) is written in the form of letters. The less you know going into it, in a way, the better.
I want everyone I know to read it! I had to re-read the last few pages a few times for the weight of it all to sink in.
Content warnings. References to anti-Semitism and war violence.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori *3.75 stars
I really enjoyed the first three-quarters of this book, but the last quarter was so depressing and not at all the arc I expected the book to take. There is some sense of redemption and resolution in the last handful of pages. So, overall, I guess I liked this book but didn’t love it.
I thought Keiko was a delightful character and would assume she is somewhere on the autism spectrum (?), a point which is never directly addressed within the book.
I suppose the bluntness with which certain topics were tackled felt a bit raw (like women’s worth being linked to the bearing of children, essential workers being looked down on for their lack of career aspirations), but maybe that does make the take-home message more obvious?
Content warnings. Occasional strong language. Some misogynistic themes.
TOP PICKS FOR OCTOBER
- Non-fiction. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I had no idea this was non-fiction! (Make Believe is the runner-up.)
- Fiction. Address Unknown. My mind was blown by this little book. (A distant second, but still excellent was The Light Between Oceans.)
Your turn:
- What was your favourite book in October?
- Have you read any of the books I mention above?
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