Greetings my good friends. Today, November begins. I had great thoughts in weeks past, of getting a post up with spooky reads for All Hallows Eve, but never got it finished, what with restful days off and hectic work and weekend. The good news is I spent some pleasant hours crocheting and catching up on The Rookie, and also spent many hours recently with my nieces and nephews, which does the heart no end of good. We even had a Spooky Tea yesterday, complete with full-on costumes. Today I'm settling in to the November-y-ness of it all. Embracing the coming Christmas season, and the close of harvest-time.
Minnesota has been fluctuating with a familiar madness, between freezing temperatures and 80 degree heat. I used one of the warmer to days to winterize my gardens against the coming winter, but I'm already poised to embrace the snow and Christmas season as it drifts toward us. After the new year I will enter the dreaded season--the prolonged winter--but this fresh beginning comes with its own hopes and joys.
As witnessed by my plans for book recommendations and code societies, I often don't have the time and energy to live up to all the creative ideas I can come up with for myself. And this fall especially has been as full of exhaustion and the fight for mental health as it has been full of blowing leaves and pumpkin pies. This is often my reality, and so I give a nod to it as I settle in here.
I'm entering November with Postscript Murders on my audiobook app, and Persuasion open to read with my eyes. New and old, stimulating and soothing, all the better to cover the necessary reading bases. Since I've missed out on going full spooky-book-rec on you all (sorry Historian and Perilous Gard) I'll just add on a few grey-November reads in case you need a little inspiration.
The Tiger in the Smoke
Gaudy Night
Jane Eyre
The Night Circus
The last is one that I read just this year, but am already inspired to read again, just for the magical essence of it. Even more than the story-line was how certain parts and descriptions made me feel, a nearly tangible enchantment in the very design and evocative structure of the Circus and its partners.
I'm off to a bit more real life, but will write more soon. In the meantime, I wish you dark and misty novels, and bright enchanting hope.