“We are all stardust and stories.”
Erin Morgenstern, The Starless Sea
A large portion of my life – and, I think, in all our lives – is wrapped up in story. I read so much because I typically find something in every book that enriches my perspective or reminds me of someone or something important to me. It keeps my mind active and curious.
You don’t have to read to understand the wealth of a well-told story, though. We all wrap our lives in the narratives we share to show who we are and where we’re coming from.
I’ve got some exciting plans this month, including the Celebrate Life 5K, Empty Bowls, Spiderdead, and Dewey’s Readathon. At work, it’s Fall Preview this Saturday and information sessions for student staff selection for next year all month. I’m sure there will be a Halloween party or two somewhere in there as well.
While the calendar looks busy, I don’t want to get lost in an endless sea of tasks. I have blocked out lots of time for stories, and I’m excited about my list.
Book Clubs
- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
- Consumption by Kevin Patterson
- The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
- Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
- A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley
- Spells for Lost Things by Jenna Evans Welch
- Juniper Bean Resorts to Murder by Gracie Ruth Mitchell
- Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London
- The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister
Reading Challenges
I think this is the month I finish the Libro.fm challenge! I have three more prompts left, and this is what I’m reading for them:
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo – Listen to a banned book
- Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig – Listen to an audiobook by an author with a disability
- Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto – Read an audiobook by an API author
Plus a few more to work on other challenges:
They Never Learn by Layne Fargo
- An academic thriller (52 Book Club)
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
- Women in STEM (52 Book Club)
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
- An LGBTQ+ romance (POPSUGAR)
The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West
- Read a book about media literacy (Book Riot)
Cozy Fall
My September reads felt pretty brutal. For example, one of my book clubs read a book that centered around the events that could lead to nuclear war, and another read a book about a prison fight club that was televised like reality TV. Both of those books were good, but they were also violent and heavy. This month, as I feel like my year has been heavy enough all on its own, thanks, I am going to dive into something cozier, or at least books with a satisfying resolution.
I have a couple of Phryne Fisher ebooks checked out from the library that I want to finish, and I want to start the Poe Baxter series by ACF Bookens. May go for the next book in the Finlay Donovan series. A couple of my book clubs are reading choose-your-own-adventure style with a spooky theme, and many of those selections are cozy in nature (except for The Reformatory – but I’m almost finished with it and it’s good enough to make an exception). And who doesn’t love books about bookshops (rhetorical – the right answer is “nobody”):
- The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
- The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson
- The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss
- The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George
I hope you get to dive into some good stories this month or at least have the space to share a few of your own!
I’m sharing reading reflections this month. Click here to see the list!
M. Suzanne Terry 