I’m playing catch-up with reading due to the terrible forest fire that destroyed my home last month. For a while I could not even read, and then I wasn’t able to read much. Consequently I’m reading a lot of books this month that I wanted to read last month.
My October Word of the Month
Strength
My October Haiku of the Month
Deflated heart-strings
Not defeated / soul-stirrings
Living through it now
Bible Verse of the Month
Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.” – Matthew 6:19
My October reading diary is at the bottom of this page, after the book list.
My Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/lindajm
☆ – I own the book and am ready to read.
★★ – I’m reading it.
✓ – I finished reading it. Yay!
DNF – I did not like it or finish it.
Books I want to read in October
★★ Ghost Fiction: Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders
I’m reading this for 2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt #30: A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader. I want to read this also because of the innovative formatting, which is why I got a paperback copy. All that would be lost in an audiobook version. I started this in September and will continue reading it in October.
☆ Historical Fiction: Ireland, by Frank Delaney
I’ve tried to find time to read this novel for the last two years and am going to try again to get it read. I actually have a much better setup for reading right now, so there’s hope.
★★ Juvenile Fiction: Other Words for Home, by Jasmine Warga
A novel in free verse tells the story of a Syrian refugee child. I started this in September and will continue in October. This is a 2020 Newbery Honor Book.
★★ YA Fiction: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
I’ve wanted to read this ever since it was published in 2007. Life got in the way – but no longer! I recently bought a hardcover copy ***** yay! And my plan is to read it during Banned Book Week, September 27 – October 3, 2020 … For a PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt: 39. Read a banned book during Banned Books Week. I did some research on this title and discovered it has been challenged in multiple school districts and removed from the shelves, but always replaced there as school boards reviewed and approved it.
✓ Recent Fiction: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman
I started audio-reading this in September. Have to admit, so far I don’t like Eleanor so that makes this a very difficult novel to audio-read. Update: I’m starting to like Eleanor a bit better. Really hard to adjust to!
This is still a maybe for this month
★★ YA SciFi: Cress, by Marissa Meyer
This is the only YA series I’m involved in and I’m reading one of the books (for the third year in a row) for a PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt: 28. A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character. I enjoyed the first two novels in the series.
My classic book reading project
All three of these are on my list: 101 Books Recommended by the College Board
★★ Classic Fiction: Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman
I chose this book using a random number generator. It is #97 on my list. I’ve read some of it during September… it is a hard-to-fathom poetic book that I’ve found it hard to get through – especially that long essay about how great and important poets are! I will have to do some research to learn more about how others feel about it.
My Bible study books for 2020
A one-year Bible: Pray For America
Two devotionals: Jesus Always, by Sarah Young
Praying Through the Bible for Your Kids, by Nancy Guthrie
My October 2020 Reading Diary
October 1 – Another great month for reading… I hope! Today I drove out to Happy Camp for the first time since the fire. The town looked the same but we’re not allowed to drive up Indian Creek Road or to the Meadows neighborhood… so I couldn’t see my home. It is burned anyway – I just wanted to call for my missing cat. The deputy told me he’d make sure to tell the animal control officer who has been out looking for animals ever since the fire. I saw a photo of my mother’s car that I brought back from Texas in 2017 – then gave to my daughter in 2019 – it is burned… she wasn’t able to drive it out of the fire zone because it kept stalling. Anyhow, on my way out to Happy Camp and back I finished listening to the audiobook version of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Great novel.
October 2 – I’m focusing on reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian as it is my book for reading during Banned Books Week, which ends tomorrow. I think I found out why it was challenged in multiple school districts. Chapter 4. !!! Since I finished my audiobook of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine yesterday, I decided to get another audiobook going, and downloaded Cress today. I always like to have one audiobook in progress.
October 3 – Today I downloaded an audiobook copy of Cress … the third book in the Lunar Chronicles. Seems like every year there’s a PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt that calls for one of these books. One a year is okay, but more than that, I’m really not too avid to continue the series. It is a fine series – imaginative and well-written – but I’m not a teenager anymore, and sci-fi / fantasy are not my favorite genres. Once in a while is okay… just not often.
October 11 – Aha! I’ve been neglecting to update this reading diary! I’ve had a few amazing and marvelous days with Christians who are newly grafted into my life. Hallelujah! First I went to Revival on the River which took place on the side of the Klamath River in a town called Klamath River. It was so beautiful… with music, speakers and baptisms! Then I went to a Christian women’s conference in Montague. I met people who I hope will become close friends as the weeks and months go by. I’m enjoying my time in the Yreka area. Still reading, but I’m getting ready to go to church and have no time to write about what I’m reading right now. [Later…] I drove to Weed, California to look at their fire damaged areas six years after the Boles Fire when 150 homes burned. There were some newly constructed large homes and some empty lots. For the most part the town looks very much exactly as it always did. The Great Northern building is now an empty lot. One cannot tell there was ever a building there.
October 12 – Really enjoying my audio-reading of Cress. Either I’m a teenager at heart or it is just a very good book. I bought a new journaling Bible (my other one was in the fire). I like to read it right before sleeping.. and I use my colored pencils to decorate the pages. Colored pencils are a simple, non-messy art opportunity. I’m not very good at being artistic but it is nice to do while I read. Last night I read Psalm 16. Such a nice Psalm!
October 18 – I made this video at the Sims Flat Campground.
October 23 – I finished reading Cress, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and The Nickel Boys. I’m currently audio-reading An Anonymous Girl. Other books sit on the sidelines begging for attention. I’m racing for my life to finish the PopSugar Reading Challenge for the first time ever… after 4 years of trying to get to the end of it.
October 25 – I finished An Anonymous Girl and now am reading Lincoln in the Bardo and Why We Write About Ourselves.
October 27 – I finished reading Why We Write About Ourselves and now am reading only Lincoln in the Bardo as I’d like to finish it before the end of the month. I’m finding it a difficult book to read. I downloaded the audiobook and already had the paperback. There’s some obscene content in this book and I don’t appreciate that at all… would rather not read it, but I think the author’s point in including it is to show the vast difference between different types of souls in the afterlife. Still reading because the format and premise are so unique and as a writer, I want to know what this author did with it. A plot is beginning to take shape and I’m about 1/3 of the way through it.
Hi! Just found your site through Google and read your ABOUT. I’m happy to meet you, especially as you sound a lot like me — except that I’ve never lived outside Canada. 🙂
Yes, to Nancy Drew…mind you, a lot of girls were into reading her adventures. I’ve also had many overseas penpals through the years.
Love to read, and of course write. I like upbeat; no thrillers, horror, paranormal or anti-heroes for me, thanks. I post a lot of my writing on my blog. I landed at your site by being interested in finding an online critique group that doesn’t include having to critique all these genres.
I’m really sorry to hear that you lost your home in those terrible fires — that must have been devastating. And we definitely are praying for America these days. No matter which way your upcoming vote turns out there’ll be some extremely unhappy people.
What a nice comment to find here at my blog. Thank you! I’m like you in book choices – I’ve read some bad suspense novels in the last few years but am getting better at learning how to avoid them. I hope you’re able to find a good critique group. I used to belong to some and really enjoyed the online groups more than the in-person groups, for the most part… though there was one in-person group in North Idaho that was excellent. Thank you for your prayers for America – it definitely needs prayer! I’m still recovering from the shock of the fire, and still trying to take the next step to get out of the Red Cross provided hotel.