Last Saturday (because this Saturday was rainy) we went to Harpers Ferry to try and catch some of the last leaf change in the state.

We’d considering walking on that part of the Appalachian Trail, but instead ended up taking the Maryland Heights Trail which had a gorgeous overview of the Shenandoah River, Potomac River, and Harpers Ferry.

There were a TON of people all over the place, including at least two families attempting to take strollers up the Maryland Heights Trail. (This was a terrible idea.)

See that rockline? That’s where we hiked to, and where the above pictures were taken.

Gorgeous day.

Our whole walk was about 6.5 miles, and our elevation gain was 1579 feet. And the Maryland Heights Trail was quite steep in places.

This would have been a slow reading month, except that we went on vacation, and the train ride (which was lovely) provided lots of relaxing reading time. So I ended up reading quite a bit, including several new releases I’d been saving up for such an occasion. But I also was re-reading some Patricia Briggs, who I always like. (I just realized I forgot to review the latest volume of Fables. That’ll have to go onto next month.)

The best books of the month were Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater and Downfall by Rob Thurman, both of which were new releases. (I’m not counting the Miss Marple collection, because I am always going to love Miss Marple.) If you haven’t picked up Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys, you really need to rectify that right now.

Fantasy, YA

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (2014) Maggie Stiefvater (8.5/10)

Fantasy, Supernatural
Cal & Niko
Downfall  (2014) Rob Thurman  (8.5/10)
Toby Daye
The Winter Long  (2014) Seanan McGuire  (7/10)
Jane Yellorock
Black Water  (2014) Faith Hunter  (7/10)
Mercy Thompson
Frost Burned (2013) Patricia Briggs  (8/10)
River Marked (2011) Patricia Briggs
Silver Borne (2010) Patricia Briggs
Alpha & Omega
Hunting Ground  (2009) Patricia Briggs

Mystery
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories  (2013) Agatha Christie  (10/10)
Hypothermia  (2007/2009) Arnaldur Indridson translated by Victoria Cribb  (7/10)

Mystery, Historical
The Paris Plot  (2014) Teresa Grant (7/10)

Now for the numbers!

I read eleven books this month, bringing my total for the year to 142, slightly down from this point last year, but still, quite a few books.

Because I was doing a lot of re-reading, and haven’t yet found all my favorite books on sale as ebook, I actually read 3 paperbacks.
Paperback 3
eBook 8
Multiple Formats 1
Re-read 5

I read mostly supernatural fantasy this month, but I did read two straight up mysteries.
Fantasy 8
Mystery 2
Romance 2
YA 1
I never seem to rate any of Arnaldur Indridson’s Inspector Erlendur books much higher than a seven, yet I keep coming back to the series, wanting to learn more about Erlendur. So even though I haven’t raved about that series, you might want to look into it, because it really is fascinating. (Just keep in mind that it is often hard to like Erlendur.)

For this month’s gender break-down, female authors are continuing to trounce male authors, with Arnaldur Indridson the only male author I read in October.
Male 1
Female 9
Male Pseudonym 1
Right now female authors have a strong lead, 49%:32%. But if add in female authors writing under initials or male pseudonyms, it’s 58%:32%.

So that’s October in books. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got the latest Faith Hunter I really need to finish…