So the trick or treaters have been locked back into the dungeon for another twelve months, the nights are definitely getting longer as the clocks fall back an hour and the weather isn’t conducive to being outside traipsing around demanding goods with menaces from the neighbours. It may be windy, wet and miserable outside but that just means it’s perfect weather to get cosied up inside with a book.

Now, there are apparently paper shortages so books may be in short supply in the run up to Christmas. Of course, those rumours could prove to be false but I welcomed a few more books into the house, just to be on the safe side.

October also saw me bid on, and win, my very first auction lot. What did I buy? Books of course. The main reason I bid on the lot was because an old Collins Crime Club edition of The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side was included. I’ve still not counted how many books I did win, so I’ll estimate 30. What else arrived? Well these:

1. The Writer’s Cats by Muriel Barbery, sent for review by Gallic Press.
2. The Stray Cats of Nom by Eva Nour, part of my NB Magazine subscription.
3. That Green Eyed Girl by Julie Owen Moylan, sent for review by Michael Joseph.
4. In Every Mirror She’s Black by Lola Akinmade Akerstrom, sent for review by Head of Zeus.
5. Rabbit Hole by Mark Billingham, sent for review by Midas PR.
6. Even the Darkest Night by Javier Cercas, sent for review by MacLehose.
7. Slough House by Mick Herron, a signed copy purchase from Fox Lane Books.
8. The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews, sent for review by Bloomsbury.
9. A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon, sent for review by Borough Press.
10. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.
11. The Bookseller’s Tale by Martin Latham, these last two were purchased from Read, Holmfirth on Independent Bookshop Day.
12. A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ni Ghriofa, sent for review by Tramp Press.
13. Which Way? by Theodora Benson, sent for review by The British Library.
14. Murder After Christmas by Rupert Latimer, sent for review by The British Library.
15. Should I Tell You? by Jill Mansell.
16. What Might Have Been by Holly Miller.
17. Anything Could Happen by Lucy Diamond. These last three were sent for review by Team Bookends.
18. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day by Milly Johnson, sent for review by Ed PR.
19. A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie.
20. Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie.
21. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie.
22. At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie.
23. N or M? by Agatha Christie.
24. Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie. All of those Christies were 1970s Fontana covers, bought from Ironbridge Bookshop to add to my collection.
25. The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett, sent for review by Viper Books.
26. The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Bennett, sent for review by Zaffre
27. The Star-nosed Mole by Isobel Bannerman, sent for review by Pimpernel Books.
28. Twelve Secrets by Robert Gold, sent for review by Sphere.
29. MacMoley Moves Home by Lorraine Johnston, sent for review by Lorraine.
30. All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny, another purchase.
31. Learwife by J R Thorpe, sent for review by Canongate.

I also ordered a book advent calendar from Coffee and Crime. A further blog post will be dedicated to it but the 12 books that arrived aren’t going to count until December when I open them.

Here’s what I read:

1. The Writer’s Cat by Muriel Barbery.
2. The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa.
3. Black Drop by Leonora Natrass.
4. Sally on the Rocks by Winifred Boggs.
5. A Three Dog Problem by S J Bennett.

So there we have it, about 60 in and 5 out. Definitely a big lean in one direction. I think November will be quieter for the incoming but then I also think it will be quiet for the outgoing. We shall see!