First up, Halloween! In true Minnesota fashion, we went from 75 degrees on Tuesday to this yesterday.
At least the ground was warm so most of it melted. It was just depressing. But I nearly always trick or treated with a winter jacket, mittens and hat so they are just getting a true Midwestern trick or treating experience!
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| Pikachu and Chase, under warm winter jackets in our neighbor’s yard. |
It wasn’t so bad once we were walking around, especially with heavy bags of candy. They went with me for an hour and then we emptied their bags and they went back out for 30 more minutes with dad. We do not need this much candy but it’s a good opportunity to see our neighbors.
Now- onto the main topic! Here we are in the penultimate month of the year! I'm not going to say "where did the time go?" because while time has flown, I have been so busy with travel and such so it feels like 10 months have passed. But I digress. My book count for October is 10 which is very high, but I read 97% of one of the books (Wellness) in September and I slowly read another book over the course of 9 months with a Patreon group (Lonesome Dove) so I didn't actually read every word of these books in October. If I had to pick a word for my October reading, it would be "meh." There were a lot of solid 3 star reads which for me means "just ok to meh."
Favorite Books:
Ina Garten's memoir "Be Ready When the Luck Comes" was a DELIGHT. I gave it an enthusiastic 5 stars.
The Return of Ellie Black is a mystery about a missing girl that is found on a hiking trail in the Pacific NW. Something is not quite right with her (which, duh, she was missing for years) - where has she been and why isn't she talking much about her captors?
Forgotten on Sunday has a truly horrible cover but it's a very sweet tale about a young woman that works in a retirement home in France and forges a relationship with one of her patients.
Lonesome Dove was a re-read for me but I had read it so many years ago that I did not remember much. I read this with a Patreon group which really added to the experience. Now I want to track down the miniseries!
What the boys read:
Paul continues to mostly be interested in Dog Man books, but I am trying to expand his interest outside of that genre (Chelsea - I am going to check out Stick Dog!! Thank you for the rec!). We were told at his teacher's conferences that he is reading at a 4th grade level which kind of blew our minds! His teacher emphasized that we should still read to him so I'm trying to get him interested in a read-aloud. Currently he mostly reads to himself at bedtime. We started The Mouse and the Motorcycle but that didn't seem to interest him, so my search continues...
Taco has been VERY into Halloween books. His favorite is Pumpkin Soup which is an adorable book that I heard about from The Mom Hour years ago. Besides that we've been reading a lot of Julia Donaldson, including Room on the Broom. I think it's time to get rid of our board book collection as he rarely picks out board books anymore! I like that board books are short but much prefer picture books!
Did you read anything great in October?
16 comments:
What a bummer it was so cold. We've had years with rain and years with frigid temperatures, but everything worked out for near-perfect conditions this year. Though, as you know, I wasn't home for it!!!
I have literally heard nothing but amazing things about Ina's memoir. I am at the end of a verrrryyy long holds list, but can't wait to read this book <3
I will browse our bookshelves and see if I can jog my memory on other series Paul would like! I'll text you! Not a fiction series, but one you might enjoy reading to or with him is the Kid Authors series. They are short stories about famous authors when they were kids, written in a fun and engaging way with fun illustrations. It's a series, so there's also Kid Scientists, Kid Innovators, Kid Artists, I think maybe Kid Athletes? I can't remember, but the boys used to LOVE those and would re-read them often I know in the elementary years. I loved them too because they were educational, but the kids didn't even realize it bc they enjoyed them so much! haha.
I put that Ina Gartner book on hold and I will probably do the same for The Return of Ellie Black, as that sounds like it would be right up my alley! I remember reading Lonesome Dove while I was in Argentina, and I only did because it was the only available book at the hostel in English and I needed something to read. One of my parents (I cannot remember which) loved it, and so I think before that I had avoided it, but I really enjoyed it! Whores and cows, sign me up! I specifically remember them eating crickets/grasshoppers and being impressed with that. I almost feel like I need to re-read that. I did not know that they had a miniseries though. My favorite October reads were God Of The Woods and Looking For Jane.
L really enjoyed Dogman too and there is another one that she loved, which I am drawing a blank on. A liked Kate DiCamillo, which I know you have read. I personally enjoyed Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series; I don't know if that is a little too old for Paul?
Hmm, Expiration Dates sounds like a fun premise. And, everyone seems to be loving Ina Gartner's book!
Yes, I remember trick or treating in Illinois, and how disappointing it was to have to put winter coats over our costumes. I think we got over that pretty quickly- the candy was the important thing back then! We hardly got any trick or treaters this year, which was a bummer. I especially love seeing the little kids in their costumes!
Lonesome Dove! I loved it so much when I read it. Maybe I should reread it.
I'm going to be honest with you, Lisa, I had forgotten about Expiration Dates until you talked about it, but as soon as I read the name, I immediately threw my hands up in the air about Chapter 24 and started to get IRATE about it all over again. Why?! At least there was a dog.
I can cosign the recommendations for Ina Garten and Ellie Black! And also join in on the "meh" for Wellness.
My next book is going to be I Hope This Finds You Well. I forget where I heard about it now, but I previewed a few pages before I checked it out on Libby and I thought that I might like it. The reason that I hesitated is exactly what you said - there is a good chance that it could fall on the unbelievable side. We'll see.
SNOW? Say it isn't so! We actually had a relatively warm Halloween last night -- not WARM, but not bad at all. What a change. Usually the weather is terrible. I desperately want to read Ina's book. I love her, her show, and I'll bet it's a fun book.
I recommend Hilo series of graphic novels for Paul. My Dogman loving child is very into those. Halloween sounds fun if cold. Here in Michigan the cold front held out until today.
My boys love dogman and I spend lots of energy trying to add other things in as well! I refuse to read-aloud most graphic novels (I find them too tricky with some boxes having no words and others with just sound effects) so they are on their own there, ha! The read-alouds we’ve enjoyed: boxcar children, gone-away lake, several Roald Dahl books (Charlie and the chocolate factory, Matilda and James and the giant peach), According to Humphrey (about a class hamster!), and Dr. Doolittle (warning: might need some editing while reading). I still read most evenings both picture books and a part of a chapter book to my boys, 8 and 10. I let them play legos or with small toys quietly when I read chapter books. They are listening and having something to fiddle with their hands seems to help!
My Oct Bookclub read “I cheerfully Refuse” by Lief Enger which was a bit slow in the beginning but the story picked up and improved and had lots of material for discussion! I also read Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand (loved it! Fun beachy read in October!) and also Forgotten on Sunday which took a while to understand what was going on. I was hoping the two story lines would combine at the end more than they did. My bookclub usually takes nov and dec off, but for November I am hosting a discussion of the NYT 100 best books of this century. They’ve been meeting since 2000ish (it’s thru our local library) so we’ve read many of them!
I love your reviews because it's so interesting to me to see where our tastes diverge. How about The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes? Also the Henry Huggins books are always great. Cooper really liked the Stink series. I LOVED Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
Cute picture of the boys in their Halloween stuff - I've always lived in the Midwest, so I'm accustomed to pairing winter coats with costumes. The Ina Garten memoir sounds right up my alley. I love a good memoir. I might suggest it for our book club. Can you believe I didn't know who Ina Garten was until about a week ago? Heard of her on Kari's blog. Sometimes I wonder if I live under a rock. I read Misty of Chincoteague to our kids when they were young and they loved it.
I want to read that Ina Garten book too. Everyone I know who has read it has loved it. I considered listening to it. My husband and daughter know I love Barefoot Contessa, so I'm going to hang out and see if I get it for Christmas before doing anything.
I agree on Wellness, too. I liked it OK, but didn't love it.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I am reading Les Miserables!
Ooh, I'm glad The Return of Ellie Black made your favorites list. I want to read that book and a strong Lisa recommendation zooms it up my list!
I have been SO on the fence about Shark Heart and I'm still not sure I want to read it. It may be over hyped for me, too.
October reading was so-so for me, too. My favorite book was When in Rome by Sarah Adams.
I would not have enjoyed Wellness as much as I did if I had to read it because it's so long. I listened to it and it was fun. I agree that there are too many parts that could be shortened.
I read state of wonder and absolutely love it.
Ugh, snow in October. That's a bummer to have to bundle up for Halloween.
I started a book at the beginning of October but then didn't read for almost three weeks because of work travel, moving and so much running LOL I truly hope things settle down a little bit although we're actually entering the holiday season, so I am not sure that will happen.
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