Last month ended with emergency surgery! On Thursday evening (9/28) I had a gall bladder attack that wouldn’t go away. I was up all night and the next day had surgery to remove the aforementioned unnecessary pain-causing organ. I spent the night in the hospital because I didn’t have anyone to drive me home – a 2 hour drive. Since it is a long drive there’s plenty of time to enjoy an audiobook while driving. I’m feeling fine and am at home now, relaxing with a book.
Word of the Month
Faithful
Bible Verse of the Month
Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful…” – (Psalm 31:23)
This month’s reading diary is at the bottom of this page, after the book list.
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.
∅ – Stalled – I started but didn’t finish.
Here’s what I want to read during October
★ Classic Play: Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare
This, to complete my “Around the World in ??? Days” challenge – something I undertook earlier in the year with the proviso that I had no intention of doing it in only 80 days.
☆ Classic: Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Okay. I’ll try again.
From Last Month
✓ Classic Fiction: Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray
Still reading this. I’m over half-way through this excessively long novel now. Finished: October 20 – Finally finished this – all 67 chapters! Now I know who Becky Sharp is. Here’s my review. Four stars.
★ Christian Historical Romance: The Heart of the Mountains, by Pepper Basham
I love audio-reading Christian fiction, but this is a Kindle copy. That slows me. I’ve noticed most of my reading this year is with audiobooks. I must be getting old.
★ Christian Nonfiction: The Healing Light, by Agnes Sanford
I’m making good progress on reading this and expect to finish soon.
★ Christian Nonfiction: The Art of Storytelling: Easy Steps to Presenting an Unforgettable Story, by John Walsh
This is a nice book that teaches Christians to be better storytellers. I expect to finish reading it this month.
Historathon 2023
★ Memoir: The Journal of George Fox, by George Fox
This is for Historathon 2023 Q3, but is special because one of my ancestors is briefly mentioned in it. George Fox was the founder of Quakerism, and my ancestor, Captain William Smith, was one of the original Quakers in England.
★ History: 1776, by David McCullough
I’m still reading this.
Hornblower Readalong Continues
☆ Cult-Classic Fiction: Lord Hornblower, by C.S. Forester
My next book for the Hornblower Readathon. This is the 10th of 11 books in the series. Almost done!
Mary Stewart Readalong Continues
☆ Fantasy: The Wicked Day, by Mary Stewart
Another book in the Arthurian Saga. My heart is protesting madly.
★ Juvenile Fantasy: The Little Broomstick, by Mary Stewart
Another Mary Stewart book I could have lived my whole life without. This is one of her children’s books with witchy-fantasy themes. Not my thing. I’m reading it in an attempt to trace the entire literary career development of a talented novelist. There are three of these juvie-novels and this is the first.
Impulse Reads
★ Christian Nonfiction: When to Walk Away, by Gary Thomaso
Some people are just too toxic to maintain a relationship with and Christians need to be aware so as not to allow them to waste their time and emotional energies. Sometimes it is best to walk away. That’s what Jesus did.
✓ Historical Fiction: In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez
Very interesting – this is a somewhat fictionalized account of actual events in the Dominican Republic. Three sisters were murdered due to politics in that country. The fourth sister is left to tell their stories.
✓ Christian Fiction: The Words Between Us, by Erin Bartels
Unique dual timeline novel that involves books. Finished October 28 – I liked it. Here’s my review. Five stars.
My October 2023 Reading Diary
October 1 – I feel like my life has gone crazy and is pulling me along with it. I just had unexpected surgery (gall bladder removal) and I’m having a house built. I suddenly have three or four cats depending on how many show up to eat, and I’m shopping for fire insurance. Long day, and I need to sleep already. Books? Well, I’ve spent a few hours listening to Vanity Fair today.. one of those extremely long classic novels that was probably originally published as a magazine serial.
October 20 – This has been a strange and terrible month. On a personal scale, I’ve had health issues to deal with and have made multiple trips to civilization because of this. On a world scale – there’s the start of a terrible war in Israel/Gaza. I’m extremely distressed and unhappy about that, and am praying a lot for those involved. I finally finished Vanity Fair a few days ago. Glad to get that off my plate as it was very, very long. Here’s my review. Four stars.
I got two new Bibles and am crocheting a bag for one of them as I’ll be taking it with me to church. Here’s a picture of the NLT Bible published by Dayspring/Tyndale along with my current crochet project.
October 29 – I spend the weekend driving a lot between here and Yreka, to get cats spayed. I had to have them there at 8:30 am on Saturday. It took me three hours to drive there. Then I had to go back on Sunday afternoon to pick them up. The cats were abandoned here. I was able to trap three of them which surprised me as two of them have never been friendly toward me. Anyhow, three female cats were spayed and will no longer contribute to the cat overpopulation problem in this town. I will continue to feed them but they will always be outdoor cats. At least, that is my plan. I need to build them some kind of good shelter for winter and stopped at the Tractor Supply store for a bale of straw, for outdoor house insulation. I finished listening to an audiobook while on the road: The Words Between Us. Here’s my review. Five stars.
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