Tuesday, November 1, 2016

October 2016 Chapter

Welcome to the Read.Write.Repeat. monthly wrap-up.  Every month, I give a quick overview of what books I read, the progress made on the 100 Best Novels goal, a few book-related links, and general blog news.  

October News 


In eight days, the election will be over. Can we talk a moment and celebrate that? I'm super into politics (as you've probably guessed from some of my reading), but my gosh... I have never been so politically exhausted as points in this past month. Regardless of your political position, I think we're all looking forward to the end of the campaigns. Just think, it's at least 2.5 more years until any of us have to endure another presidential debate!

Outside of politics, this month has ended much better than it started (I suppose you could say the same about the political world, too). Kevin was traveling so much in September and early October and it was hard. But, we took a trip together over Fall Break and now we're back home until the holidays. No traveling for either of us. Just normal life. As much as we love our adventures, it's nice to have stretches of time where we're focused on moving forward rather than just moving.

I mentioned last month that I attended a book club for the first time. Well, I went again last week. I'm really liking it. It's nice to have a chance to sit and talk with people who love books like I do. I really enjoyed digging into the depths of a book with others and I don't get much of a chance to do that. I'm glad I joined and I plan to keep going. Plus, I think the organizer likes me, and that's always a plus.

Now if I could just figure out why every social organization I join is populated by people so much older than me. Sometimes I feel like I'm already living the life of a 50 year old. If only we could join a country club, my social circles would feel complete.

Thoughts about November and NaNoWriMo are at the end of this post so make sure you get there if you're interested in my plans!


Books Reviewed

A God in Ruins
  1. Big Girls Don't Cry - Rebecca Traister
  2. Rice Noodle Fish - Matt Goulding
  3. Snobs - Julian Fellowes
  4. The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles
  5. The Light Between Oceans - M. L. Stedman
  6. The Book of Unknown Americans - Cristina Henriquez
  7. All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
  8. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
  9. Emily of New Moon - L. M. Montgomery
  10. Love Does - Bob Goff
  11. Ironweed - William Kennedy
  12. The Silkworm - Robert Galbraith

Books Read

  1. A God in Ruins - Kate Atkinson
  2. Red Rising - Pierce Brown
  3. The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh
  4. To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
  5. First Women - Kate Andersen Brower
  6. The Ragamuffin Gospel - Brennan Manning
  7. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
  8. Henderson the Rain King - Saul Bellow
Pages Read: 2,630

Favorite Book Read: I really enjoyed Kate Atkinson's A God in Ruins. Review coming tomorrow!

2016 Monthly Goals 

One of my goals this year is to read 6 books every month:
  • 100 Best Novels 
    To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
    The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
    Henderson the Rain King - Saul Bellow
    77% complete with total challenge 
  • 1 Faith-Centered or Philosophical Book 
    The Ragamuffin Gospel - Brennan Manning
  • 1 Nonfiction 
    First Women - Kate Andersen Brower
  • 1 from On Reserve
    A God in Ruins - Kate Atkinson
    Red Rising - Pierce Brown
    The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Elsewhere Online...

Once again, I've been too busy this month to do much surfing of the web...at least outside of politics.

~     ~     ~

Looking ahead to November, I am so excited to be doing NaNoWriMo again this year. Last year, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to join the challenge and was wildly unprepared for what it would look like. Still, I enjoyed it and enjoyed stretching those creative writing muscles. This year, I'm going in with a loose outline and some ideas. I'm excited about it and hoping things go well! I've also partnered with Suzanne over at Tattooed Missionary for the challenge. We're going to encourage each other, challenge each other, and read each others' stuff. I've read her work before and it's great, so I'm really thankful she agreed to be my partner!

All that said, I know the writing really takes away from my reading time, so I plan to drastically scale back on that front. Since my monthly reading goals are self-inflicted, I'm suspending those for the month and just not worrying about what gets read. This month, it's all about the writing! Anyone else out there doing NaNoWriMo? If so, are you a planner or do you just open the laptop on November 1 and start from scratch?  

No comments:

Post a Comment