M. Suzanne Terry

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

This is the first October in a while that I’m not even attempting a 31 Days project. A few days ago, I mused on what I could do, but I dismissed the thought pretty quickly. I feel like I have enough projects underway. I’m satisfied with the number of goals I’m already working toward at this point in time. I did entertain the idea of talking through the process of taking a project from idea to completion, but…I don’t wanna. At least not right now.

I have a ridiculous number of library books checked out and on hold. I console myself with the knowledge that I’m returning about the same number as I check out each time I go. I’ve been reading up a storm lately – the streak continues! I don’t know if it’s due to an actual increase in focus or if it’s comfort-seeking due to the state of the world. Either way, both are typical anxiety responses for me, so that’s where I’m at.

Here’s what’s up next. I’ve started a lot of these already, so I should be able to complete quite a chunk of this list this month. 

Book Clubs

Two of my book clubs are reading books that I read with other clubs previously, so it will be fun to hear what a different group of folks has to say about each one. Ah, the joy of multiple book clubs!

• The Women by Kristin Hannah – probably won’t re-read but excited to talk about it with this book club!
• James by Percival Everett – ditto on the probably not re-reading it (although the audio was pretty great – maybe I will give it another listen at some point), but I’m also excited to talk about it again
• Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado – fulfills both the choose-your-own-adventure spooky selection for book club and a Libro.fm prompt (see below)
• Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell – this month’s theme is colorful covers!
• On Our Best Behavior by Elise Loehnen – reading with my financial literacy community – fantastic so far, although some of the chapters are more heavily focused on women with children than I expected. I may not be the primary audience, but I’m still learning valuable things from it.

The end of the year is nigh, and I’ve got some reading challenges to finish up! There are so, so many prompts left to finish, but hope springs eternal. This month, my goal is to at least make an impressive dent in what I have left of Nowhere’s Book Bingo (including bonuses) and the Libro.fm Listening Challenge. 

Nowhere

• Book that takes place entirely outside of the US – When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
• 2025 debut – Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive
• Book first published in the year 2000 – The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
• Banned book – The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• Book with a one-word title – Crush by Ada Calhoun
• Book set on vacation or during a holiday – The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
• SWANA author – Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
• Book by a local author – The Lodge by Kayla Olson
• Book with LGBTQIA+ rep – Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
• Book rec from a friend – All Fours by Miranda July
• Book in translation – Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
• A bookish memoir/biography – Books: A Memoir by Larry McMurtry
• A childhood favorite – Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary
• Your favorite author’s favorite book – Both Roxane Gay and Ann Patchett have listed Pachinko by Min Jin Lee as one of their favorites, so I feel like that’s the one!
• Novella – The Employees by Olga Ravn
• A YA book – The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
• A middle-grade book – A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
• A book involving sports – Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
• A book about a niche topic – Fuzz by Mary Roach

Libro.fm

• Listen to an audiobook by an indigenous author – Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
• Read an audiobook about a historical figure and/or event – Kingmaker by Sonia Purnell
• Listen to an anthology or a short story collection – Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
• Listen to an audiobook from an independent press – The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter
• Listen to an audiobook by a transgender author – Nevada by Imogen Binnie
• Listen to a banned book – A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

I recognize that I’m probably not going to make it through all of these this month (unless some generous benefactor wants to pay me to read so I can quit my job and devote my whole life to it – I’m open to that), but I enjoy having a plan mapped out, even if it blatantly ignores all semblance of reality and the sticky construct of time.