The Curated Bookshelf: October 2022’s Theme

Welcome to this month’s Curated Bookshelf! It’s October, so it must be almost time for Halloween. But, as much as I love dressing up my daughter in Disney princess dresses (her idea) and listening to my son whine about not knowing what he wants to dress up (right up until it’s almost too late to get him a costume), spooky season is just not my thing. I’ve never been a big fan of Halloween, which might be due to the fact I attended a Lutheran school throughout my young childhood so always went to a Fall Festival instead of trick or treating. Or it might just be because I’ve always scared easily. So, if you’re here looking for spooky, creepy, Halloweeny books, I’m sorry. I’m going with another October festival with this month’s theme: Books with Alcohol.

October isn’t just for Halloween. It’s also for Oktoberfest. When I started high school, I made the wacky decision to take German, of all things, for the foreign language requirement, and went on to spend four years in the same classroom, with the same teacher, and with nearly the same classmates. It was actually a lot of fun to spend some time growing up there. And I suppose it was fun learning about all the German car manufacturers in Germany. I’d say my favorite part was making Black Forest Cakes for Open House every year, but Germany is also known for Oktoberfest.

While Oktoberfest isn’t always confined to October, I thought this would be a more fun theme for me to play with than try to find every book that’s ever scared me. Oktoberfest is really a fun folk festival, though I’ve never gotten the chance to get to Germany during it. But most people know it for the beer. So, in the spirit of Oktoberfest, I’ll be spotlighting books that involve alcohol. If I hadn’t been reading so many books lately that involve so many characters just casually drinking all the time, I wouldn’t have thought of this, but it seems like every book has some characters drinking liberally at some point or being otherwise affected by it. So enjoy Oktoberfest by reading about some drunk characters.

This month, I’ve chosen 12 books that feature alcohol. Some take some nasty turns, some just involve a whole lot of social drinking, and some are actually kind of fun.

Throughout this month, I’ll be giving each book its own Highlight post. I’ll discuss why I chose that particular book as well as put a spotlight on it, other reviews, and multiple purchase links. As I mentioned when I first introduced The Curated Bookshelf, I won’t earn a cent if you choose to use one of the links to purchase a book (I am not affiliated with any purchase sites), but the author/publisher will. Choose wisely?

I’m excited to share the 12 books I’ve chosen, and they’ll remain on the shelf until October 31st. On November 1st, there will be a new set of books and a new theme.

Feel free to check out all the books I’ll be highlighting on The Curated Bookshelf from the menu or via this link.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy October’s books!