💬 Friday Thread🧵: What Did You Read In October?
And What Books Are You Looking Forward To Reading In November? & Links
Housekeeping
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Hello!
How was your October, reading and life wise? Mine has been pretty good on both counts. I’ve been fortunate that we’ve had warm weather here in Ohio, so I was able to take lots of bike rides and walks outside in the sun. The tide will turn and cold weather is coming, but that’s ok, I’m getting my cold weather gear ready because winter is my dog Vinny’s favorite walking weather. Speaking of winter, I’m on the hunt for a really great insulated knit hat if you have any recommendations❄️.
Before we get to questions and conversation, I thought it would be fun to start November off with a few links that caught my eye recently. And in other news, this weekend paid subscribers will be receiving my audio of the surprise books I read this month, including two 5 star reads, and others that I loved (and one that I didn’t).
Links
Nick Hornby: The Older You Get, the Less Time You Have for Bad Books (LitHub)
How to Keep a Commonplace Book: 4 Benefits of Commonplacing (Masterclass)
12 Books Coming in November (NYT Gift Link)
November 2024 Nonfiction Releases (Bookshop.org)
23 Riveting Nonfiction Books - Yes There is Such a Thing! (Me- Updated)
The Best Fall Soup Recipes (Delish)
7 Tips for Seasonal Decorating Without Clutter (Lemon Thistle)
Question Time…..The questions I ask in weekly threads are meant to be fun and help us connect, so please know you don’t have to answer each question, if you only have the time/desire to answer one, great! Please put book titles IN ALL CAPS for easy reading:)
What did you read in October? What were your favorite reads - or not so favorite reads?
What books are you looking forward to reading in November?
Have a great weekend! 📚
One of the notable books I read in October was BABEL by R.F.Kuang. I have to thank Beatrice from this community for her enticing review of it in one of our chats. It turned out to be perfectly atmospheric for fall and the audio narration was one of the best I've heard all year. When it came out I thought I didn't want to red a book about language and translation- turns out I was wrong!
November is looking stacked for me in terms of the nonfiction I want to read - I typically do a bit of nonfiction November so a few on my list I'd like to read are: H IS FOR HAWK by Helen MacDonald, THE SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS by Sy Montgomery, INTO THE WILD by Jon Krakauer, THE PLEASURES OF READING IN AN AGE OF DISTRACTION by Alan Jacobs ....and more😅 My plan to get in more reading this month- staying off social media- wish me luck!
Finished my re-read of SALEM’S LOT and still loved it. Then I read 2 of your recommendations Renee. Both I think were from your guest appearance on Behind the Stacks podcast (which was great! I added a ton to my TBR and now another podcast -sigh).
DEAD WOMAN WALKING by Sharon Bolton was just what I needed! Flew through it. I had never read anything by her- great plot and twists- some content warnings though to be consulted if people usually do that.
THE DARKNESS by Ragnar Jonasson didn’t work for me quite as well. I liked Hulda but it just didn’t hold my attention and the ending - well… you know if you know. Not ruling out the next one in the series though.
DIAVOLA by Jennifer Marie Thorne was a wild one. Not the classic horror I expected - more darkly comedic than that. Set in Italy- it was great on Audio. Good if you want something a bit off kilter. November read - idk just something maybe “nicer”.