There’s no bad season for reading, but we are fast approaching what I consider to be THE BEST SEASON for reading – when you can do it in front of a fireplace, with a blankie, and your choice of beverage.

To support my claim that this time is nigh upon us, I present two pieces of evidence:

Submission 1: First Snow (in southeast Michigan at least)

Submission 2: Happy Cat Feet from Nap-Drunk Cat During First Snow Fall

And now on to the books!

I didn’t get as much reading done this month as I usually do, but that’s primarily because I started the month with a nonfiction selection (which usually takes me a bit longer).

The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont by Shawn Levy was, if you are interested in old Hollywood, an interesting history of one of the most famous hotels in the US. I’ve listened to all of Karina Longworth’s “You Must Remember This” podcast (which I can highly recommend) so this book was a fun read, apart from where it occasionally bogged down in (albeit necessary) details about real estate and construction.

Knitlandia & A Stash of One’s Own, both by Clara Parkes, were, as the titles may suggest, books about knitting – the first, Ms Parkes’ personal essays about her travels for knitting (as someone who has written six books about it and also founded a popular online knitting magazine). I liked Knitlandia and I loved the descriptions of the conventions and fiber festivals, as well as her love of finding a good bowl of pho wherever she travels. Reading these probably did nothing to speed up my overall reading for the month because I kept wanting to pick up knitting projects while I was reading.

I continue to devour The Ruth Galloway Series by Elly Griffiths and this month rampaged up through #8. The character continues to develop and the cast of friends, family, and colleagues expands and deepens – I keep reading not just for the cool mystery themes (plots and subplots include druids, King Arthur’s remains, threats made against women priests, excavated WWII planes, Victorian child killers and visions of the Virgin Mary, among others – and let’s not forget the most captivating subplot of all – Ruth’s relationship with DCI Nelson and the child they had out of wedlock). I still have not gotten bored or slowed down and every one I read just makes me want to read the next.

Lastly, my favorite read of October was The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman. I read the His Dark Materials trilogy years ago and really enjoyed it (didn’t love the Daniel Craig / Nicole Kidman film so much, but I see they’re making another go of it on HBO). I liked Dust even better. I found Malcolm, the main character, to be endearing and the plot was quick moving and adventurous – as a prequel to the Golden Compass, it answered questions from Dark Materials and seeing many of the characters before the dark clouds of Dark Materials begin to form was fun – like old friends. I picked up the second in the trilogy in hard cover at one of my fave bookshops – Horizon Books – when I was on holiday up there at my folks’ house, but haven’t cracked it yet. I would guess, though, that it will show up in my next installment of Show Us Your Books.

As one last note, on the topic of books and bookstores, my one regret about my Savannah trip was missing out when Brandon and his dad went to a bookshop near our flat – E Shaver Books. It looked so charming from the outside but I was simply too tired to walk there. There are apparently three resident cats!! Which hearkens me to my favorite used bookstore of all time, The Haunted Bookshop of Iowa City, where I got to pet the two resident cat managers (one of whom was NOT thrilled by the attention).

Until next time, I look forward to checking out the recommendations from others in the meetup, and feel free to comment with your favorite recent reads!