October reads

When September ended, I was in the middle of  Rita Mae Brown's first in a new series,  A Nose For Justice.  I enjoyed it just as much as her other two series.  Different setting, same type of situations, maybe more of an emphasis on environmental concerns.

As for the rest of the month:

Misspelled - Julie E. Czerneda, Ed.  - This had me absolutely in hysterics.  Funniest thing I've read in a LONG time.  It's a collection of short stories, about what can happen when a spell gets mis-cast.  5 stars, highly recommended.   Not necessarily cozy though.  If you don't like magic in your reading, skip it.

Loose Ends - Terri Reid.  One of my friends on Goodreads was looking for this.  It caught my eye because it's set in Freeport, IL...which is about 30 miles from where I live.  I contacted the author, and she not only wrote about Freeport, she lives there.  We're planning on a meetup one day.   Anyway, aside from the familiar setting, it's a REALLY good book.  5 stars, highly recommended

Tree of Life - Elita Daniels:  Not cozy.  This reminded me of Lord of the Rings.  It's what I call "high fantasy" where there's another world, and elves, and magic.  Found this one through Mobile Read.  Excellent read for fantasy lovers.

Mama Does Time - Deborah Sharp.   Midnight Ink (publishers) made my month when most of their titles finally showed up at Books on Board.  I had been wanting to read this series FOREVER, but refuse to buy Amazon's Topaz format, and also didn't want to buy the paper book.   So when it showed up, I grabbed and devoured.  Just as funny as I thought it would be... another highly recommended. 

Fundraising the Dead - Sheila Connolly:   This one has an intriguing backstory that I found out about after I read the book.  The author actually worked in a historical institution in Philadelphia, while a janitor was making off with some of the artifacts.  The FBI agent on the case has written his autobiography titled "Priceless"  that mentions that case.   Anyway - loved this,  loved the history involved... my husband said the way I described it reminded him of "National Treasure".   Highly recommended. 

Plaster and Poison - Jennie Bentley:   I've enjoyed all of this series, this is the third book.  Looking forward to the next one.  Highly recommended.

Pinned for Murder - Elizabeth Lynn Casey:   Again, third in a series.  Tori and her sewing circle have gotten to be old friends, and I was anxious to see what they'd been up to.  I wasn't disappointed. Highly recommended.

Elvis and the Memphis Mambo Murders - Peggy Webb:   A hoot, as always.  LOVE this series!  Highly recommended.

Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen:  Not cozy.  More magic - so if you don't like it in your books, skip it.  This reminded me of Practical Magic. 

And this brought me to the 26th, when three anxiously awaited titles were released. I dropped everything, and read:

Side Jobs - Jim Butcher:   Collection of short stories about Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard.  Contains a followup to the cliffhanger in the last book, Changes.   I needed a Dresden fix, so I was pleased with the book, but if you're hoping for answers about Harry's fate.... you won't find them here.

Cat Coming Home - Shirley Rousseau Murphy.   I adore this series.  Matter of fact, the first book I bought for my first ereader was one of this series,  Cat Deck the Halls.   Anyway, another excellent entry; but if you don't like "woo-woo" in your mysteries, you won't like this.  The whole series is based on cats that can both understand and speak English, due to being descended from an ancient Welsh tribe of cats with this ability.  Suspending disbelief is essential.  But again, I LOVE them, and highly recommended.

Currently reading Soulless by Gail Carriger.  Not cozy -  would you believe steampunk/paranormal?   It reads like Amelia Peabody with werewolves and vampires... good stuff!!