Making Time to Read (October Books in Review)

If you read my last post, you know that our area (East TN, Western NC) was directly hit by the flooding from Hurricane Helene. Because of that, and so many other things that took place, I only made it through two books in September. It was the first time all year I've failed to read at least four books in a month. I also got thrown off my walking groove those last few days of the month and the first few of October, which is when I decided to set my goal for the tenth month of the year, and it was this...

It felt like an appropriate goal, not just to nudge me back on the reading and walking train, but because there is so much chaos and destruction around us. It's almost hard to know where to start. But then I think about this goal, and that really sums it up, doesn't it? Don't know where to start? Feeling overwhelmed? Just DO SOMETHING. Offer to help a neighbor. Look for a way to organize donations. Give your free time to muck mud out of a house or take a hot meal to those who have no way of cooking at the moment. It doesn't have to be big to be meaningful. 

To make this goal happen, I just grabbed books off my bookshelf or Kindle list and started reading them. I didn't worry about whether they were great literature or not, I just wanted to read something. I didn't focus on walking a mile in less than 20 minutes this month, I just focused on walking 20 minutes. Whatever you might be putting off because you don't know when or where or how to start (or restart), just do something. Get up off the couch and walk laps around your driveway. Open your Kindle app instead of Instagram. Contact local organizations working to help others - wherever you are - and ask what it would take to volunteer for a day. Go do something. You'll feel better for it.

And as for those books I mentioned? Well, here they are (and yes, there is even a re-read in there, the first one of the year, because I read it out loud to my two youngest - and they still giggled, which I love). Since it was October I allowed myself to focus a bit more on the mysteries, mystery writers, who-done-its, and "cozy murders" I'd been hoarding.

1. The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood - ★★★★ It's no secret by now that I really enjoy Robert Thorogood as a writer (including his writing/creating of Death in Paradise), and I really love this series with the quirky Suzy, the formidable Judith, and the ever surprising Becks. Book #3 in the series was just as delightful as the first two, though it fell slightly flat in a few places, thus the four stars rather than five - but this can be easily forgiven! And I was still guessing as to the identity of the murderer right up to the big reveal. It was the perfect cozy weekend mystery where I could lose myself from the chaos of the real world for a while. I can't wait to see what these lovely ladies get up to in book #4! Four Stars. {Amazon Associates Link} 
2. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater - ★★★★★ The story behind me reading this book for the first time (age 7) is long and boring, but over the years I have reread it a few times, most recently with my two youngest (ages 12 and 13), as they still humor me when I read children's stories out loud to them. For those who haven't read it, Mr. Popper is a bit of an eccentric house painter, with a very patient family, who loves learning about life at the Poles more than anything else. When an Antarctic explorer hears about Mr. Popper, he ships off a penguin, Captain Cook, to become the newest inhabitant of the Popper household. The Poppers eventually end up with twelve energetic penguins who take the Popper family from coast to coast, and beyond! Five stars. {Amazon Associates Link}
3. Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne - ★★ Book #1 (of 35) of the Sister Fidelma Mysteries. I received this as part of a Secret Santa gift last year from someone who knew I liked to read cozy mysteries. It was okay if you like mysteries set in the 7th century involving monks and religious women who may or may not be interested in each other. It didn't have any objectionable scenes or crass language, so that's a bonus, and the murderer wasn't immediately obvious, so that was nice. Three murders later, with an Irish female law expert (Sister Fidelma) leading the case, everything is wrapped up, the religious debate where all of this has been happening has been settled, and we're left with an open door to the next book. Two-and-a-half stars. {Amazon Associates Link} 
4. Blackbeard's Ghost by Ben Stahl - ★★ I grew up watching the 1960s Disney movie by the same name, and purchased this after I noticed (as an adult) that the movie was based off of the book by Ben Stahl. Let me just say that it's not the book's fault that it is NOTHING like the movie, but it tainted my enjoyment of the book for its own merit. The only thing it had in common with the movie was the character of Blackbeard and the fact that he got called back as a ghost. Otherwise, absolutely nothing like the film. Apart from that, the story was just so-so, the character development was lacking, and it was kind of like a poorly written Hardy Boys (which is saying something). In the case of the movie, Disney improved the story (by essentially rewriting the entire thing). Overall, while I'm glad I read it for the experience, I just can't give it more than 2 stars. Watch the movie! {Amazon Associates Links: Book or Movie}
5. Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes - ★★★★ I promise I'm not a homicidal maniac looking for ways to off the people I work with (helps that I do contract work!), but I had Kindle credits and it came up as something I might like based on other books I read, and so here we are. The beginning of the book was a bit slow, but around the half-way mark it picked up speed until I was having a hard time putting it down. Despite it being a book about teaching people to murder their employer, there was a surprising moral code to it. One caveat is that, especially when we actually get into the murders, there is some sexual content (not graphic, but implied), and some vulgarities (including misusing Christ's name). Still, the ending was a total surprise (all the way to the very end in the epilogue), and while I waffled between three and four stars, I ended up going with four, because it's a unique story, and no one seems to be able to come up with those anymore. {Amazon Associates Link} 
6. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving - ★★★★★ If you haven't read the original version of this short story and have only seen the Disney cartoon with Bing Crosby crooning, you are missing out. As I read this aloud to my kids for school literature yesterday, I was struck by two things. 1) How closely the cartoon followed the book - down to the words/phrases used. They primarily cut out the descriptions, and added a couple of things to make it more humorous. 2) The number of vocabulary words now gone from our daily communications. I knew (or at least had a familiarity with) about 98% of the words Mr. Irving used, and even though I consider myself well-read and well-educated, there were still a handful of words I had never heard before or couldn't define. We have truly handicapped ourselves by allowing words to be redefined or lost altogether, but we don't have to give up without a fight, which is why both my kids and I read books like this. Five stars. {Amazon Associates Link}
7. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography by Agatha Christie - ★★★★★ As a long-time fan of her most famous Belgian detective, I was excited when I discovered Agatha had also taken the time to pen an autobiography. A fascinating woman with an intriguing family and a unique life, who never took herself seriously as an author, I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about this woman - from her childhood through her early adult years, her foray into Middle Eastern travel, her second life with Max (13-years her junior!), all the way through her 75th year. This was a fantastic way to end the month's reading goals. If you enjoy her mystery writing and plays, you will probably appreciate this. Her writing is never boring, despite her protestations. Would recommend. Five stars. {Amazon Associates Link}

And with that, October and her books come to and end. Choosing to "Do Something" more than made up for the lack of reading last month and it was a delight to make time for books that engaged me, or at least got my out of my reading rut. Same with the walking - although I stopped aiming for a under-20-minute-mile pace, I hit it almost daily. Good habits build on each other. Today is November 1st. Get out there and Do Something today. 

Happy Doing!