October is the official end to summer, in my neck of the woods. During this month the world turns colder. That doesn’t mean you have to turn colder! This is a great month for evaluating charities to donate to, for example. It is a good month for thinking of ways to bless and please other people. Warm hearts get us through the colder months and bring us to great peace and joy.
Word of the Month
Truth
Bible Verse of the Month
Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me.
Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live.” – (Psalm 43:3 NLT)
Prayer of the Month
Lord, thank You for all the guidance You’ve been giving me and Lord, I pray for those lost in chaos that they will find and follow Your light and Your truth. Lord, may we all meet at Your holy mountain and rejoice in Your presence! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!
My Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/lindajm
★ – I’m reading it.
✓ – I finished reading it. Yay!
⇗ – Still reading at the end of the month.
⇓ – I did not like it or finish it. (DNF = Did Not Finish)
∅ – Stalled – I started but didn’t finish. (Soft-DNF)
Finished Reading in October
I haven’t finished anything yet… but soon I will. What I really need to do is to write about 10 book reviews on Goodreads. I really fell behind this summer.
Reading Intentions
Here are a few books I’m currently reading and making progress on.
★ Ancient History: The History of Herodotus, volume 1, by Herodotus
I just started reading this a few days ago and it is fascinating! Much better than expected. My link goes to the free Kindle version. Just a note to remind everyone, I’m no longer receiving $ from the Amazon affiliate program, by my choice, but am still recommending books on their site.
★ Comparative Religion: The Kingdom of the Cults, by Walter Martin
I used to belong to one of the cults mentioned in this book (see chapter 10) and at the time I was a member, I knew about this book but refused to read it. Back then we laughed about how people would write false things about our group, and usually they couldn’t pronounce the name of the founder correctly. Well, after I recovered from being in that group I finally listened to Walter Martin interview a few of the cult members, and was surprised that he was spot-on with everything he said and did not have a pronunciation problem. So, convinced of his wisdom, I decided to finally get around to reading this book. I’m not very far into it yet. I’m reading the chapter about Jehovah’s Witnesses right now. Chapter 4, page 61. It is an 800 page book so I don’t expect to finish any time soon, but right now I’m appreciating it.
★ Literature: The New Lifetime Reading Plan, by Clifton Fadiman
Like most book people, I love a book about books. This one is awesome and has recommended some good literature to me including the History of Herodotus mentioned earlier on this page. This book is good enough that I’m reading it from one end to the other. Yes, I’ve already read some of the books. I like that his reviews do not give spoilers.
★ Psychology: The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, by Eric Hoffer
This is not difficult reading when I take it slow and easy. I’m trying to learn more about the mass movements we’ve got going on inside my country right now. I want to know why people get caught up in participating in them to the extent that their thinking becomes black and white, and they are completely dismissive of any other opinion! I find this shocking and distressing, so I’m trying to learn more so I can understand the issues my much loved relatives deal with. As for me I’ve become politically moderate as I put my trust in God and feel led more by Jesus than by any political ideology. Simply put, Jesus is King, and elections are won or lost by the Will of God. Read Romans 13 to understand this.
★ Creativity: Syllabus, by Lynda Barry
This book is wild. Every page resembles the cover. The book does actually give her syllabus and class notes for classes she taught. I’m trying to follow along with the assignments as much as I can. Great fun.
October – I’m nearing the end on this one.
★ History: Letters and Papers From Prison, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
On a much more somber note, I’ve decided it is my time to study the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in part, by reading this book. It is a strange feeling to read his letters of expecting to be able to go home to his family when I know what I already know about how this all ended for him.
October – I’ve made a lot of progress with this but … it is sad.
★ History: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, by Eric Metaxas
This is the other half of my study of Bonhoeffer’s life.
October – I’m a few chapters into this. I don’t read it often, but am making progress.
★ Classic Fiction: Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen
This is one of my current audio-reads. I own this annotated paperback copy as well. I very much enjoy listening to a chapter and reading it in the book at the same time, stopping to read all the annotations as I come to them.
October – I’m still enjoying this very much. My current reading habits make it so much better than the last time I tried to read it (and failed).
Did Not Finish – aka: DNF
No DNF’s yet this month.
10/1 – Just a word about my current reading habits. Since quitting Booktube on my 73rd birthday (in 2025) I’ve developed my own reading habits which don’t require rushing to finish things in a month so I could talk about them in a video. That is not what I wanted to do.
Currently I’ve got about 27 books in my Goodreads “currently reading” list. This is great fun for me. I create a randomly selected agenda for reading from the books. I read as much as pleases me and if it starts to feel tedious, I stop and go on to the next book on my agenda.
Using the Wheel of Names I select the day’s books randomly. Since I don’t want to be totally sedentary I schedule in physical activities between books usually… things that require me to get up and move around. For example, housecleaning or yard work, or art making.
All the physical books I have on my “currently reading” list are on the shelf next to my comfy reading chair. When I finish with one I’ll put it on the end of the shelf nearest me. This way I can see, at the other end of the shelf, books that haven’t been read recently. I go through my books and read a little from them at least once a week.
Obviously I haven’t listed all my “currently reading” books on this page, but if you’d like to see the entire list, check it out here on Goodreads.
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