September was such a busy month in all parts of my life — work, gardening, biking and of course reading. I kept waiting for the cold weather to arrive but it never did. Part of me was disappointed about that and another part of me was really excited. But the go go go is starting to wear me out and even if I would love to keep go go going I am looking forward to cold weather whenever it finally gets here. Better late than never!

September reading plans were crazy and of course I didn’t read all I had I hoped to. But that’s ok. I dream big and if I read half of what I hope to I am happy. One book I did not get to read in September and had to return to the library was Helen Vendler’s The Ocean, the Bird and the Scholar: Essays on Poets and Poetry. I read the first two essays and liked them very much but just ran out of time. Vendler also does not exactly have a breezy style, one must read slowly and pay attention. So I have decided this is a book I would like to own. That way I can take my time with it, mark it up and always have it around for reference. I have been waiting for a Barnes and Noble coupon and one arrived in my email today so this will be the weekend of the purchase. Yay!

October catches me almost done with Still Time by Jean Hegland. I am very much enjoying the book. It’s a lovely and sad father-daughter story. I should be able to tell you more about it soon.

I am in the middle of Azar Nafisi’s The Republic of the Imagination and liking it very much. I somehow expected her literary analysis to have more of a critical textual focus but like Reading Lolita in Tehran, she mixes analysis with personal stories and focuses more on the broader story and its themes and context rather than picking away at scenes and nuances. It is good stuff and I plan to finish it this month.

I am picking away at The Rider by Tim Krabbé. It is lots of fun as he gives a rider’s view of a big race and the strategizing and physical effort. I had no idea the riders in the peloton chatted with each other while racing. It all seems like a friendly group ride until it isn’t. They never forget they are riding in a race.

My Elizabeth Bishop project continues. I am really enjoying her poetry. I didn’t get to spend much time with her letters and no time at all with Rare and Commonplace Flowers in September, so I am hoping to be able to carve out more time with those this month.

I just started reading Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. I spent years thinking he was a she and I still have to catch myself. I have never read him before but have wanted to and now I am. This book is about a generation ship that after nearly 200 years of traveling from Earth to its destination is almost at journey’s end. The focus of the book is about all the unexpected changes that have happened to the humans on board and what that means for their survival.

New books on the horizon for the month include Foragers, Farmers and Fossil Fuels: How Human Values Evolve by Ian Morris. My turn for this just came up at the library yesterday. I read the introduction last night and almost decided no thanks until I learned that after Morris’s arguments he has three people from various specialties comment and argue with him. One of these people is Margaret Atwood! So while I get the feeling I won’t be agreeing much with Morris’s thesis, it isn’t every day an author includes three people who directly criticize in his own book. Plus, Margaret Atwood.

You may also be wondering what I chose for my first nature book after I asked for recommendations. Since it has been on my shelf for years and because several of you mentioned it, I decided to go with Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard. I will be starting it sometime this month.

And probably later in the month it looks like my turn at the library will be coming up for The House of Twenty Thousand Books by Sasha Abramsky. The book is about Abramsky’s grandparents and library and is published by the New York Review of Books. I have yet to meet a NYRB I didn’t like and I expect this one will be no exception.

Scaling back a little on the plans for October. So far. Tomorrow and Saturday Bookman and I will be attending NerdCon and who knows what kind of bookish craziness might ensue because of it! I will of course let you know.