Pottermore – Sally Allen

October was a fab reading month! I enjoyed diving into contemporary literary fiction, fantasy fiction for young readers, a memoir, a nonfiction book, a classic, and some YA.

Quite an eclectic month!

Books I read:

The following is one of my longest tallies this year. Actually, it might be my longest. Then again, quite a few of the books I read were rather short. Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon also gave me a boost.

On the downside, my quest to read my own books crashed and burned in a fiery conflagration: Only one of 13 reads was culled from my pre-2016 library. That’s far short of the 50-50 split I’d intended. Oh well. There’s always November and December. (Hmmm, I seem to be running out of months…) Continue reading “The unabridged list of books read in October”

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words. Follow the link to read more about it, and be prepared to expand your to-be-read list! A special shout-out to Coffee and Cats for introducing me to WWW Wednesday.

What are you currently reading?

I’m getting over a terrible cold that knocked me flat on my back for the better part of a week. It also side-tracked me from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. She is a brilliant social observer/critic and prose stylist. But her novels are not exactly comfort reading while guzzling hot soup and DayQuil. As I’m on the mend, I picked it up again yesterday and … wow. It’s suspenseful and tense and thought provoking.

What did you recently finish reading?

Since my last WWW Wednesday, I’ve done more reading than I did the entire month of September! What’s missing here is even one asterisk indicating #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks title. This is because I have yet to read one of my own books in October! Good thing we’re only halfway through, eh?

During a stroll through Barnes and Nobel, this title stopped me in my tracks: Pancakes in Paris: Living the American Dream in France by Craig Carlson. I have a personal connection to pancakes (which is a story for another time). As for the book, it’s a warm-hearted, immensely readable memoir about opening a diner in Paris. It’s also Carlson’s story of overcoming a difficult childhood and finding family and love in the City of Light. Uplifting and engaging, it’s the perfect pick-me-up for a dreary day.

I also listened to Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal, which I borrowed from my library. When I started it, I didn’t know anything about the story. I’m grateful for that. It’s not a traditional narrative. It tells the story of Eva Thorvald as seen through the eyes of seven different people whose lives intersect with hers. Words I think of in relation to this novel: fresh, inventive, kind. I loved it! Continue reading “WWW Wednesday: October 12”