Deanna's World: What Deanna Read #122: October 2026

I'm starting this on the 6th of October at team writing sprints (of course!) and I'm fairly certain that this month is going to whoosh by at the speed of light too. Hang tight!

Here's what I read in the last month.

The Chosen
Dramatized Adaptation
🎧Graphic Audio Full Cast audiobook

I've noticed that I've gotten very chatty recently, hope you don't mind too much. I like to think that I have a few little gems hidden in all that rambling, but maybe, maybe not...

At the end of one week...

There's never much to report this early in the month, and I think this month is even more dismal because work has kept me busy though admittedly, I'm making progress on the work-life balance thing.

The only thing I read which I have anything of worth to talk about is that I read/skimmed a graphic novel. I'm not usually a graphic novel or even a comic book person at this point in my reading life—I used to be! One of these days, ask me about that copy of the comic book I had which was the one where Spiderman marries MJ.

So, the graphic novel—as a teen, I read and loved the Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin. I say trilogy because when I read it, that's all it was. The other books came later and I haven't read them yet. But I remember ADORING Sparrowhawk and there was some secret yearning in it that wrecked my teenage heart. I think that was later in the trilogy.

But as always, I digress...

I saw that the graphic novel for A Wizard of Earthsea was on sale and I decided to pick it up. You guys!!! If nothing else, just get it to flip through the pages and enjoy the art. It's done in a glorious watercolor style and the artist Fred Fordham has done an incredible job of staying true to the source material and worked very closely with Ursula K LeGuin's son on the project. I also think though I don't know for sure, but she might have dropped the "K" in her author name at some point as I've seen some later books with just Ursula LeGuin at the author name.

So yes, the graphic novel was stunning. I'm not sure how the writing (and reading experience) of the book would hold up for me many decades later, but I enjoyed the art.

I'm still slowly making my way through the audiobook for Cold Rage by Toni Anderson, but work is pretty busy this month. Plus we are going away for another mini break at the end of October for 4 days, so maybe I'll get more reading in then. Cross your fingers for me.

At the three week mark...

Today is the 20th of October and one day shy of the three week mark, so I think we can all it three weeks. At the moment I have three books on-the-go, and two of them are audiobooks. Actually, four things and three of them are audiobooks to be exact.

I'm still listening to Stanley Tucci's Taste in the evening to help me unwind because listening to Stanley Tucci's soft, crooning voice, obsessing about food is very low friction and soothing. It helps me calm down enough to sleep after my nervous system has been settled by the Old Nordic Viking battle chants I've been listening to as step one of my nightly decompression routine. No tinkling waterfall music or white noise for this girl.

I'm also listening to the new Audible full cast, immersive production of an (abridged) Bram Stoker's Dracula starring Jonathan Bailey as Dracula. It's a fabulous production and very atmospheric. It's also a little too scary for this wuss, so I can only listen to it during the day and while I'm making lunch. Yes, yes, I'm a lightweight with the scary stuff and people will tell me that Dracula is not that scary, but I'm a wuss, remember?

And for funsies, I'm listening to The Spider Stone by Alex Archer in the GraphicAudio production. Dang, that's just a fun good time, but it's so much action and so immersive that I get all keyed up listening to it. Not the stuff for the nighttime when I'm trying to unwind either. Very good though. And while this might seem daunting for some, the audiobooks are relatively short—only about 6-ish hours, so they are an easy time commitment, even if there are over sixty audiobooks in the Rogue Angel series. I put this in the listening category alongside the Kurtherian Gambit series by Michael Anderle. If you're looking for low effort (for you), high action, plain ol' fun—the Rogue Angel series by Alex Archer in Graphic Audio might be something to consider.

On the finished front (this has been a very audiobook heavy month so far), I dove right into Cold Rage by Toni Anderson almost the second it dropped and loved every minute of it. Man, I've said it before and I'll say it again. That combo of Toni Anderson's writing and Eric G Dove's voice is magic to my ears. And of course, this book featured a K-9 rescue dog called Chance, and Chance is da bomb. I loved Chance. I want to give him all the puppy cuddles. He's such a good boy.

How to Hack a Hacker by AJ Sherwood is the third and final book of her Unholy Trifecta series and dang, I am sad to see it end. But I did fly through that audiobook and I can't decide if this or the first book, How to Shield an Assassin is my favorite. I might go back for a relisten to compare, or just go back for a relisten for funsies.

Finally, also of note so far this month is Dream Man by Linda Howard. I'm going to start by acknowledging that Linda Howard's writing craft is the bees knees, but Dane Hollister, her hero, is not the bees knees. I started writing down my thoughts about him and the book, which somehow turned into an entire piece on 90s heroes with the emotional range of a dill pickle. So, to avoid repeating myself, if you want to read about why Dane Hollister is dill pickle material, you can read it here.

One week-ish left for the month, but I doubt much personal and fun reading will get done as I'm deep in the deadline cave, plus we're going away for another short mini break. We've got a free night at one of our favorite hotels to use and it expires at the end of the year, and my brother in law is in town. It's as good an excuse as any to go stay in a fancy hotel for a few days and chill. I'm looking forward to ferry rides, lunch with the brother in law, catching up with my brother—also lunch. We're going to this fabulous little French bistro by the quay that we love. Pretty sure Hubby is going to order the steak since I don't feed him steak at home cos I don't like eating giant chunks of cow.

I'll catch you at the end of the month.

The rest of the month...

Well, it's November. Things happened and I didn't get a chance to do my final reading wrap up at the end of October during team writing sprints. But hey, here we go...

Looking back, I have to admit not much happened from the three week mark for October. I finished The Spider Stone audiobook and a second one, The Chosen, book 4 in the Rogue Angel series by Alex Archer. Mind you, Alex Archer is a pen name for a collective of various authors who write the Rogue Angel books so the writing is varied. That said, I've started book 5, Forsaken City and am enjoying it a great deal. The Rogue Angel books are short and they are just light, action-packed, and fun. Sometimes that's all my brain can handle after a full day of reading, writing, and editing for work. And GraphicAudio does a lot f the heavy lifting with the sound effects and music. They really are a movie in your mind.

That's all from me for now. Let's see what November brings.

Oh, and tell me what you read for the last month.

xoxo, D.