Boy oh boy, the winds of October are blowing even though today felt like it could have been June. It is disorienting when the trees and sunlight say October but the temperature says summer. We are promised more seasonal weather by the weekend which is good because I want hot chocolate while I snuggle in and read!
And what might I be reading? I had another book deluge just as I was feeling like I was getting somewhere. It’s like there is a book ocean and the tide goes out and then is comes back in. I should just start thinking of the times I feel like things are under control as low tide and expect that very soon the tide will be rushing back in.
The library is the moon that controls the tides, at least in my world. Because, you know, holds I placed in July and August are now all arriving at the same freaking time! I am rushing through Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. It’s good but at the same time I am not being wowed and I expected wow. That means I am struggling to adjust my expectations and not be disappointed. I have only had moderate success so far. I am about halfway through the book so there is still time for things to turn around.
I also have Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. It is a science fiction thriller. How’s that for a genre combination? An average physics professor gets knocked unconscious by a masked person and when he wakes up the world is completely different than the one he had been living in. His wife is the same woman but not the same. He is now a famous, well respected physics professor. And all sorts of other alternate reality things. What’s a person to do? I have not started this one yet. It will get shoved in after Underground Railroad.
I am not quite halfway through The Sundial by Shirley Jackson and is it ever a hoot! Sarcasm flies off nearly every page and I laugh and laugh.
I am also trying to read The Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward for the Social Justice Book Club but have not yet been able to start it.
On top of all this are several books I have had on the go for a while and in the mail Friday came a book from Library Journal to review by October 10th. This one is a biography of Betty MacDonald author of The Egg and I and the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books.
I am sure I have other books piled around that have completely escaped my memory because I am denying their existence at the moment in order to hold on to a small shred of sanity.
I am very much looking forward to low tide again.
I’m on Litsy now (yay!) and people over there have been raving about Dark Matter.
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Carolyn, I’m hoping it lives it up to the buzz!
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There is something to be said about the climate…its October and I feel like I am in a heated boiler!!! Where o where are the crisp breeze with a hint of chill and when is this beastly humidity end? If this is how the climate deteriorates, I will have no option but to migrate to the Poles! Oh! And happy October reading Stefanie…I really hope you get to cosy up with books and hot chocolate soon!
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cirtnecce, we are usually having out first hard freeze by now and even the coldest night in the forecast is still a good 8-10 degrees above freezing. It’s kind of crazy. This is climate change. Bookman and I keep asking ourselves if we should consider moving further north! I hope you cool off soon too!
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I would expect a wow on underground railway judging by the number of times this has been mentioned as a must read on blogs etc. I’ve been toying with the idea of getting it but not sure. The more visibility a book has the less I se to want to read it
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BookerTalk, I hear you! I tend to be the same way but I figured with so much talk about this one it absolutely had to be great. So far not impressed but still hoping for a turn!
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Will keep an eye out for your thoughts when you are done. I hear your president took it on his holidays but haven’t heard whether he enjoyed. Maybe he is on Goodreads so we can see his star rating?
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heh, wouldn’t that be awesome if he were on Goodreads? The book also made it on to the short list for the National Book Award. I’m not not feeling it though and I’m 3/4 of the way through. This might be one of those “can’t like them all” books for me.
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Even though our temperatures are still in the mid to high 80’s, it is still a relief from the heat and humidity of this summer. I’ve wondered about the Colson Whitehead book–sometimes it is difficult to live up to the expectations set by a particularly fond reader. I enjoyed the wacky weirdness of Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines books. I hope Dark Matter meets expectations. You do have a full plate right now. 🙂
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jenclair, mid 80s? Ack! And here I am complaining because temperatures are in the mid 70s! Unfortunately sometimes high expectations “ruin” a perfectly fine book. I am hoping I don;t have the same trouble with Dark Matter!
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I’ll be interested to read your review of the book about Betty McDonald. I liked The Egg and I and the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books, which I remember fondly from childhood.
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Joan, I have not read any of MacDonald’s books but just from the little bit of biography she is definitely a character!
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I caught myself using some very naughty language yesterday. I stepped outside and grumbled, “I’m f***king tired of this f***king hot, humid weather. It’s f***king October for f***king sake. F***K this place!” I hope my neighbor’s children weren’t playing behind their fence. I didn’t hear them…I didn’t get an angry call from the parents…so I think I’m safe. I’m too old to lose it like that. I’ll try to control myself in the future. P.S. Dark Matter is also on my radar.
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Grad, Oh thanks for the laugh! If you get to Dark Matter we will have to compare notes!
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Dark Matter is something I think I would really like.
Also, copy of recipe in mail today and on its way north. Maybe it will be some fall with it, we’re having a nice season change in NC and Matthew will soon be here to bring lots of rain…
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Care,oh boy! Thanks! I am so excited!
Very much looking forward to Dark matter. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be disappointing like Underground Railroad is.
I hope Matthew doesn’t arrive at disaster strength and you make it through all the rain safe and sound!
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We should be fine as inland as we are.
Also… in my reading today of DOUBLE HELIX by Watson, this sentence! “So over our gooseberry pie we looked at the pros and cons of one, two, three, and four chains, quickly dismissing one-chain helices as incompatible with the evidence in our hands.”
Had to share…
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Care, a confluence of gooseberry pies! Most excellent! I am also glad to hear you are far inland and shouldn’t have any trouble from Matthew. Still, be safe!
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Love your tide analogy. I was “starting” to feel on top of things about a month ago and then another deluge too, meaning I’m now reading a book a publisher sent me in May. I like to be no more than three months behind . Five months make me panic a bit. Meanwhile, the books I’ve bought are piling up. Forget library reservations! That would just tip me over the edge if I went down that path. I wouldn’t be treading water then, but drowning!
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Sounds like you are having one of those super high tides! Hang in there, it will get better. And really, how bad can drowning in books actually be? 🙂
That’s a lot of rain in one month! I do hope it isn’t setting the stage for a bad fire season!
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Very true Stefanie. There are far worse things to drown in! If I had a choice I’d take books every time.
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PS And we are tired of rain. Sept long term average for my city is about 50mm. This year? Over 150mm! That said it’s never looked so green. We just have to hope summer doesn’t burn all that growth off to create a fire hazard.
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Yes, I am feeling that deluge, too. It is hurricane season in more ways that one it seems! 😉 I heard a podcast where Blake Crouch was interviewed–the book sounded most appealing and the interviewer totally raved on it, so I will be curious to hear what you make of it.
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Danielle, oh, now that’s a hopeful sign about Dark Matter! I am hoping to be able to start it this weekend. Fingers crossed!
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