Hello bookish friends and welcome to the sleeker, shinier and much more pared-back update of #CaseClosed. Later in the month than usual (a whole two weeks late!) but still as badass as ever! 😂

#CaseClosed is my monthly wrap up post where I share the books I’ve read, the content I’ve posted on the blog, the state of my NetGalley shelf and how my Goodreads challenge is going (spoiler alert, I completed my challenge a while ago now 🤭).

I read eight books in October:

➡️ The Lake by Catherine Cooper
➡️ The Othello Club by J.D. Pennington
➡️ The Whistler by S.W. Kane
➡️ No Safe Place by Hannah Brennan
➡️ The Drop by S.R. Masters
➡️ Serial Killer Support Group by Saratoga Schaefer
➡️ Mimik by Sebastian Fitzek
➡️ Last One Left Alive by Michael Wood

Not bad going!

During October I fell a little behind with writing reviews (more than usual!). I posted reviews of…

💛 Ring the Bells by C.K. McDonnell (Guest Review)
💛 The Othello Club by J.D. Pennington
💛 The Captive by Kit Burgoyne
💛 Darker Days by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
💛 No Safe Place by Hannah Brennan
💛 The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

I posted four Top Ten Tuesday posts during October…

⚪ Books I’d Wrestle a Lion to Get Early
⚪ Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time
⚪ Atmospheric Reads
⚪ Haunted House Novels with a Twist

I also posted five WWW Wednesday posts where I share my previous read, my current read and what I plan to read next.

🟧 Wednesday 1st October
🟧 Wednesday 8th October
🟧 Wednesday 15th October
🟧 Wednesday 22nd October
🟧 Wednesday 29th October

And of course, there was #CaseClosed for September.

My review with the most views in October was once again The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman. It’s rapidly turning into my most viewed post of the year. Check it out if you haven’t already 😉

My most popular non-review post in October was strangely this post from 2022: #R3COMM3ND3D2022 The After Show Party. I read it now and it makes me chuckle.

I have completed my Goodreads Challenge for this year! As things currently stand, I have read 83 books (60 was my goal) 🥂🎉🙌

On to my NetGalley update for this month. This is what I currently have to read on my NetGalley shelf.

💟 Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston (January 2026)
💟 We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone by Ronald Malfi (January 2026)
💟 Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce (February 2026
💟 The Exes by Leodora Darlington (February 2026)
💟 Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward (February 2026)
💟 The Shark by Emma Styles (March 2026)
💟 How to Get Away with Murder by Rebecca Philipson (March 2026)
💟 It’s Not What You Think by Clare Mackintosh (March 2026)
💟 Last One Out by Jane Harper (April 2026)

Soooooo many books 🙈 I am ashamed of myself. I’ve clearly forgotten my NetGalley five book limit! I was doing so well as well.

So in summary…..
January: 11 eARCs to be read | 14 to be reviewed
February: 14 eARCS to be read | 11 to be reviewed
March: 12 eARCS to be read | 12 to be reviewed
April: 9 eARCS to be read | 11 to be reviewed
May: 5 eARCs to be read 🥳 | 14 to be reviewed 🙈
June: 1 eARC to be read 🍾 | 11 to be reviewed 🙈🙈
July: 3 eARCs to be read 🥂 | 7 to be reviewed 😥
August: 6 eARCs to be read (but one of those isn’t mine) 😅 | 5 to be reviewed 😮‍💨
September: 6 eARCs to be read (7 if you count my guest reviewer’s book) | 7 to be reviewed 😥
October: 9 eARCs to be read 😱 | 0 to be reviewed 😌

But there are still nine non-NetGalley books I need to write a review for so I haven’t cleared the backlog just yet. Better than last month and that’s what I’m taking from that!

Out of the eight books I read in October, my book of the month is…

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The Othello Club by J.D. Pennington

This is the third time I’ve mentioned The Othello Club in this post and that’s not an accident, bookish people! It’s so good. Here’s my review to prove it!

Goodbye October, you were a bit of a mixed month for me. I read quite a few books but fell even further behind with writing about them. I took the first two weeks of November off so I could knuckle down and get some content written. My plan was to write either a review or a Top Ten Tuesday post a day and by Dickens (🤷‍♀️), I’ve only gone and done it! So, as things stand, I have content for daaaaaaaaaays…. Well, for about a month actually. Please keep everything crossed that I can turn that buffer into a habit and FINALLY catch up after taking six months off last year.

I hope your October was a good one and chock full to the gills of great books. November seems to be flying by so I’ll back in a couple of weeks with my next #CaseClosed. Until then, thank you for sticking with me. Your support means the world to me 🥰

P.S. If you’re looking for your next read then check out the hashtag #fivestarflashback on Bluesky. I’ve been re-sharing all of my old reviews from the dawn of time itself (or 2016 if you prefer). It’s been so much fun digging in the DP archives! There are around roughly five reviews posted a day so lots of lovely book suggestions if you’re in need of inspiration.

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