Hello from Connecticut, where fall colors are fading fast and leaves continue to fall from the trees. October ended on such a high note, and now November is here. Our daughter's wedding last weekend was positively magical! We should have photos to share soon... we're waiting on the official proofs and our phone photos have yet to be approved. This weekend we are recharging at home before the November flurry of activity begins.
Surprisingly, October turned out to be a great month on the reading front, too. I read a total of seven books (unusually high for me) two of which were very short audios.
Books Read in October//
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
⭐⭐⭐⭐ fiction in translation, read/listen combination
When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash
⭐⭐⭐💫 fiction/mystery, MMD book club
Open Throat by Henry Hoke, narrated by Pete Cross
⭐⭐⭐⭐ fiction/fantasy, audio
The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ debut fiction
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, narrated by the author
⭐⭐⭐💫 classic, YA fiction, audio
Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 literary fiction (pandemic novel)
The Ensemble by Aja Gabel
⭐⭐⭐💫 fiction, MMD book club, read/listen combination
Favorite book read in October
November Reading Possibilities//
The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt (novella, completed)
The Idiot by Elif Batuman ( current read/listen)
Somebody's Fool by Richard Russo
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney (reread)
Also in November//
Today we're meeting family in Rhode Island for brunch, midweek we travel to central New York for my nephew's wedding, then it's back home to celebrate my husband's birthday. We're looking forward to a houseful of family to help him blow out the candles, and a slightly larger contingent over the extra-long Thanksgiving weekend. Our upstairs bathroom renovation is set to begin immediately afterwards. Fingers crossed it's finished well before Christmas, otherwise we're in big trouble! At this point it looks like we may not get back to Florida until early 2024...
How was your month? What was your favorite October read?
My reading has been almost nonexistent over the past month, but I have high hopes that I'll see a change when I get back home. Your time in CT sounds fantastic and I am so glad your daughter's wedding went well.
ReplyDeleteHelen - I'm sure things will settle back into a routine for you soon. We have enjoyed our time in CT so much... and have loved spending so much time in NYC this fall!
DeleteWhat a wonderful month you've had! Looking forward to photos.
ReplyDeleteThe Road to Dalton is slowly making it's way to me via the library wait list. Currently finishing The Herd by Emily Edwards and it's definitely a book which would provoke discussion in a book club.
Tina - October has been the best month! We lucked out with the weather last Saturday, too... it was gorgeous and then it rained all day Sunday. The Herd sounds really good!
DeleteWow, your life is really full of weddings! We haven’t been to a wedding in ages. Enjoy!
ReplyDeletebest, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Mae - It has been literally decades since we've had a wedding in the family and now two just this fall! Next year we have three between July and September... the 'kids' are all hitting that age!
DeleteI'm looking forward to seeing photos from your daughter's wedding. My sister and I, having attended two family funerals in the last three weeks, were noting that we have moved from the Weddings-and-Showers time of life to the Funerals-and-Memorial-Services phase.
ReplyDeleteIf you enjoyed Road to Dalton so much, I may look for it.
Deb - The Road to Dalton was exactly the type of book I love - relatively quiet, and about the lives of several people in a small town and how they all intersect. I'm still thinking about those characters!
DeleteI'm so happy (but not surprised) that your daughter's wedding was wonderful! Looking forward to photos. I'm surprised that you found time to read so many books. I'm looking forward to Shetterly and Bowring's novels. I only read two books in October, although one was pretty long (not that I'm complaining!). I was sharing details of our calendar with my husband the other date and started to feel overwhelmed by all the events and activities that will carry us through to 2024. While I enjoy all the festivities, I'm looking forward to the calm of January...
ReplyDeleteLes - I was surprised when I added up the numbers, too! The two short audiobooks helped, and so did the train rides back and forth to NYC. Looking at the calendar for the next couple of months overwhelms me, too... and we'll still have hurricane repair when we get back to FL. Ugh.
DeleteListened to a podcast last week that might interest you. It's a recent Book Club Review podcast episode about Lonesome Dove... the hosts had differing opinions, plus they talked about the book club's reaction. I really enjoyed it!
https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk/portfolio/items/lonesome-dove-episode-152/
Thanks for the link! I'll give it a listen. I'm still thinking about Gus and the others and am so happy I finally read/listened to the book.
DeleteLes - I'm still thinking about them, too! One of the hosts found a couple chapters (you'll know which ones!) overly graphic and disturbing. It was a treat for me to find my thoughts occupied by the story and characters again.
DeleteSounds like your daughter's wedding was amazing, and there's another one soon. The photo of the beach is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI loved Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk and The House on Mango Street.
Vicki - I loved Lillian Boxfish, too, and am planning to listen to it this time. Think it will be up next for me!
DeleteI'm so glad that the wedding went well. The photos should be fun. We had a lot of wind blowing away the leaves, but there are still some bits of color around.
ReplyDeleteJoy - The colors were muted due to all the rain here this fall, but still so pretty.
DeleteSo glad your daughter's wedding went well. Enjoy your downtime this weekend!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Except for yesterday's brunch, it was a pretty quiet weekend... and I loved it!
DeleteAwesome that the wedding went well. All the best!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nasreen!
DeleteYou've got a busy few months ahead! Sounds like fun busy though. Nice pic of the ocean!
ReplyDeleteRachel - The lead-up to the holiday season is always busy, but the weddings certainly added to it this year... all happy things!
DeleteOh, don’t you love the leaves! Even when they fall, as they have now here in Illinois, we remember all their glory. I’m so glad your daughter’s wedding was magical, I can imagine nothing else in your family. I have loved The House on Mango Street, and I’m considering rereading it for Novellas in November. Best to you, JoAnn (Bellezza dolcebellezza2 dot Wordpress dot com, as Blogger hates Wordpress.ðŸ¤)
ReplyDeleteBellezza - It's good to hear from you! The wedding, despite a few rocky moments that are actually funny now in retrospect, was perfect. I'll visit your blog later today to catch up with you.
DeleteI got a few short stories from Poe in October. I really enjoyed the Fall of the House of Usher along with the new Netflix series. The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James was probably my favorite this last month.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see some pictures from your daughter's wedding! How wonderful! So happy for her and your family.
I read The House on Mango Street in college. But I remember enjoying it. I haven't heard of the other ones! Congrats on such a fantastic reading month!
Heather - My daughter really liked The Haunting of Maddy Clare, too! I might give it a try next year. Think I would have appreciated The House on Mango if I'd read it in high school or college, but I really loved the author's not included in this newer audio edition.
DeleteSounds like October was a great month for you. I hope November is too. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Yvonne. So far November is off to a good start. Hope you have a good week.
DeleteAdding What You Are Looking For Is in the Library to my TBR. That sounds great.
ReplyDeleteSarahE - I especially loved the structure of What You Are Looking for Is in the Library and think most book lovers would appreciate it, too! Thanks for visiting.
DeleteI read Horse early this year but I still think it was one of my best reads of the year.
ReplyDeleteCLM - I'm glad to hear that! Just bought a copy with the rest of my birthday gift certificate and am planning to read it next.
DeleteThe wedding sounds like a wonderful success. Looking forward to the photos you plan to share later on. You really did have quite a reading month as your ratings of the books indicates. Not a clunker in the bunch, but I still can't imagine where you found the time to work in that many with everything else you have going on these days.
ReplyDeleteSam - Honestly, I was surprised looking back on last month's book, too. The two short audios were part of my walking time, plus I had train rides to and from NYC to read. We're not really watching anything on tv at the moment either. I don't expect to finish anywhere near that number in November or December.
DeleteI am so glad the wedding went well, JoAnn. Weddings truly are magical. It looks like you had a great reading month. We were in Utah over the weekend for my father-in-law's memorial service and are now back home. I am hoping for a quiet November. Take care and have a great week and month!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Wendy. I'm sorry your weekend had a sadder focus, but hope the memorial service brought some peace to all present. I hope November is a quieter, easier month for you.
DeleteSo glad the wedding went well & was magical. Yay! I didn't realize you won't be going back to FLA till 2024 ... all in due time. Your reading went so well in Oct. - I don't know how you stay on top of it all. Good luck on the renovations. Thanksgiving will be here before we know. So much to do. Happy November!
ReplyDeleteSusan - It was an amazing wedding week all the way around! We are usually back in FL in October, or November at the latest. With the wedding, then my nephew's wedding this weekend, and everyone coming here for Thanksgiving, FL was out until December. Turned out nobody could fly there for the holidays this year, but they can just drive to CT... so we're staying put.
DeleteThe only one I've read was What You're Looking For is in the Library and I absolutely loved it. I'm so glad you enjoyed it as well. So wonderful the wedding went well! Happy November!
ReplyDeleteKatherine - That was such an enjoyable read! My mother loved it too.
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