Here are the titles I gave five stars this month. A list of all the titles I read this month is at the end of this post.

In October 2026 I read 22 books, 9 of those were picture books and 8 were audiobooks. The top genre I read was Mystery. The longest book I read was Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made by Kristin Kobes Du Mez at 432 pages, and the shortest book was Little Ghost Makes a Friend by Maggie Edkins Willis at 32 pages. Tell me – what have you read that you enjoyed?

Troubling Tonsils! (Jasper Rabbit’s Creepy Tales!) by Aaron Reynolds, Peter Brown (Illustrator)

“From the team behind the New York Times bestselling and Caldecott Medal–winning Creepy Carrots! and its sequels comes the first entry in a spin-off chapter book series in which Jasper Rabbit tells the story of a young marmot whose tonsils get the better of him.” Creepy gross and totally hilarious! I loved it!

Miss Wolcott’s Ghost (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #21) by Louise Penny

Full review here. A cryptic middle of the night phone call opens “Miss Wolcott’s Ghost,” the 21st entry into the “Chief Inspector Armand Gamache” mystery series by Louise Penny, and the story takes off from there. Penny continues to deliver classic mysteries that I know will stand the test of time. This was especially good on audio!

The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies (The Oxford Guide #1) by Kate Westbury

This is a page-turning historical mystery with a layer of romance that had me unwilling to do anything but read. Fans of Ashley Weaver’s “Electra McDonnell” series and Susan Elia MacNeal’s “Maggie Hope” series should run, not walk to the nearest bookstore and grab a copy. The ending is a bit of a cliff-hanger so I will be anxiously awaiting book two and hope for many entries, as I am always on the look out for outstanding historical mysteries. For audiobook fans, I dipped in and out of the audiobook so I could keep reading all day, and Ell Potter does an excellent job bringing each distinct character to life.

All Titles Read October 2026:

Nice to Eat You Karen Yin
Scary Shark: A Jaw-some Halloween Mike Lowery
The Leaf Thief Alice Hemming
Little Ghost Makes a Friend Maggie Edkins Willis
Millie Fleur Saves the Night Christy Mandin
Millie Fleur’s Worst Day Ever Christy Mandin
Rick the Rock of Room 214 Julie Falatko
Hardly Haunted Jessie Sima
Sir Simon: Super Scarer Cale Atkinson
Troubling Tonsils! Aaron Reynolds
Tears of the Giraffe Alexander McCall Smith
Drake Hall Christina Baehr
The Egg & I Betty MacDonald
The Irish Goodbye Heather Aimee O’Neill
The Bellwoods Game Celia Krampien
Murder on Charity Lane Jo Nichols
The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies Kate Westbury
Tangled Up in Nonsense Merrill Wyatt
The Ghost and the Dead Librarian Cleo Coyle
Miss Wolcott’s Ghost Louise Penny
Live Laugh Love Kristin Kobes Du Mez