This month’s book roundup is a little light so I added a questionnaire at the end!

As always, linking up with Steph & Jana for Show Us Your Books!! Happy 4th Anniversary, ladies!!!

On a Cold Dark Sea by Elizabeth Blackwell
★★★/5
Three women board the Titanic, survive the tragedy, and live to rebuild their lives, but the weight of their choices do not sink with the boat. Twenty years later fate reunites them & old secrets and stories are brought back to the surface. 
I enjoyed this book, but it didn’t blow my mind. I loved that all three women came from different walks of life and the author opened the book with stories of their lives before the ship sailed. I liked how the story was set up. I thought the jumping around was easy to follow and it definitely added something to the women’s stories. But there were things I didn’t like… First of all, I feel like there wasn’t much of a point. There was a weird focus on romance- the ending was especially odd. It was also kind of slow. I don’t mind a slow pace in a historical fiction, but it reminded me of a British drama- very slow and building, small twists but nothing mind blowing, polite with hints at impropriety. It was a good story about the Titanic and how people felt after they’d survived- I really enjoyed the historical aspect of it.
Should you read it? If you enjoy historical fiction, reading about the first half of the 20th century, and British dramas, yes.

An Act of Villainy by Ashley Weaver
★★★★★/5 
When amateur socialite detective Amory Ames and her husband Milo are asked to look into drama at a friend’s theater they are both suddenly swept up into a world of acting and mystery.
I love this series. Weaver’s most recent book, Villainy, was just released in September and it’s the perfect installment in the Amory story. (I actually rate this book a 4.75 but I round up.) I love that she’s *actually* working with her husband, not against him, and I also love that their marriage is slowly but surely improving. This book had a few repeat characters and many new ones. I didn’t love the theater setting but it didn’t detract from the story in any way. I 100% did NOT see the ending coming, although it’s similar to an Agatha Christie in that I don’t know if there’d been enough signs for me to guess the ending (thus the docked .25 star). I hope/can’t wait for the next Amory story!
Should you read it? Yes, but read from the start of the series.

As far as Erin’s 9.0 challenge goes…

|5 points| Freebie: One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake
|10 points| Starts with the letter N: Nine Women, One Dress by Jane L. Rosen
|10 points| Has a mostly orange color: A Tyranny of Petticoats by various authors
|15 points| A book with an unlikable character: An Act of Villainy by Ashley Weaver
|20 points| From 100 books PBS calls “The Great American Read”– HP & the Prisoner of Azkaban(illustrated version) by J.K. Rowling
|20 points| Related to water in the title: On A Cold Dark Sea by Elizabeth Blackwell
|25 points| Owned/TBR the longest (GoodReads): The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel
|30 points| An emotion word in the title: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
|30 points| Each word in the title begins with the same letter: After Alice by Gregory Maguire
|35 points| A book featuring a character who shares your profession or similar one (i.e. does the same kind of thing as you do day to day): The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

I have 165 out of 200 points!

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I snagged this tag from Sarah Elizabeth!

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
I’ll read any format, but I like hardbacks the best.

Amazon or brick and mortar?
Brick & Mortar for sure. I resort to Amazon when I need a Kindle book or a hard to find book.

Locally owned bookshop or big name chain store?
Any bookstore near me! I only have a locally owned bookshop in town, though.

Bookmark or dog-ear?
Usually a bookmark. I’ll dog-ear my own copies if absolutely necessary.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
Alphabetize by author.

Keep, throw away, or sell?
What monster throws books away?! Usually keep. Occasionally gift or donate.

Keep dust jacket or toss it?
Keep it.

Read with dust jacket or remove it?
I don’t have an issue with the dust jacket. I leave it on.

Short story or novel?
I like both 🙂 It just depends on my mood.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?
I don’t have much experience here, but I like anthologies.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Usually at chapter breaks. If the authors ends every chapter with a cliffhanger then eventually I stop when I’m tired.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
It was a dark and stormy night 😉 Not so much thrillers, but adventure or mystery!

Buy or borrow?
Both.

New or used?
Both.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
I like tidy endings. If I’m planning to pick up a sequel immediately, I’m ok with cliffhangers.

Morning, afternoon or nighttime reading?
I like to read on weekend mornings and weekday nights.

Single volume or series?
Both.

Favorite series?
Harry Potter, The Lunar Chronicles. When I was younger I like American Girl books and The Magic Tree House and books by Eva Ibbotson.

Favorite books read last year?
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Taylor Jenkins Reid), The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood), The Bear and the Nightingale (Katherine Arden), The Art of Racing in the Rain (Garth Stein), And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie), The Sisters Brothers (Patrick deWitt).

Favorite books of all time?
Alice in Wonderland & the Harry Potter series.

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What did you read this month?