Tuesday, 23 January 2024

October, October ...

The wind is whistling outside rattling the letterbox and the wheelie bin lids, the sun is shining through the glass living room doors and highlighting the dust on the tiled floor, but all I can think about is putting on the kettle and settling down to finish my current book.

It's good.

I'm reading October, October by Katya Balen, it's not my usual sort of read at all and it took me a few pages to get into the mind-space of a child with so much imagination, but it brought back wonderful memories of my own imaginative childhood.  When the grown-ups don't really understand you, you learn to rely on your own thoughts so much more.  Visiting worlds where grown-ups have no say and the world is there for you to grasp for yourself.

The chores will wait, and as the sun sets later the dust will be invisible again and there's no need to fret.  Tomorrow will be another day ... and who know maybe it will bring another book.  📚

What are YOU reading at the moment?


Sue xx



25 comments:

  1. I absolutely love the artwork on the cover of that book. I like crime thrillers and am currently reading a Jeffery Deaver one called The Blue Nowhere - it's very confusing though and taking me a while to get into as it's about computers! Well, hacking actually, a master hacker who murders people. Unless you're particularly techie minded, I wouldn't really recommend it, I have to say. I shall persevere for a bit longer - I'm intrigued by the idea Deaver has dreamt up, just struggling with all the techie language.

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    1. I love Angela Harding's work, she a wonderful illustrator, it's what drew me to the book first. Your book sounds like the sort of book my son would enjoy, he's really into murders ( he's got a degree and a Masters in Forensic Science) and is pretty techie himself. His bookcases are full of murder ... fact and fiction.

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  2. I am plodding through Scabby Queen by Kirstin Innes for my Readers’ Group but IT’s a bit of a chore. I can read anywhere and shut out the world around me much to other people’s annoyance. Catriona

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    1. Oh I hate it when a book turns into a bit of a chore, but I always persevere for a while to see if it redeems itself. One of my Christmas reads was like that ... it did not redeem itself at all, just went on and on and on.

      I've found myself struggling to read with background noise just recently, I get too distracted, although I can cope with the doggie snores and groans. :-)

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  3. Dust can wait!!
    Currently, I am reading something undemanding - The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer. Most enjoyable, albeit very light, frothy and easy. xx

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    1. Sometimes, especially at this time of year, a light, frothy and easy to read book is exactly what's needed. :-)

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  4. I am reading my 3rd mystery since the new year started. I think I'll switch genres after this one and go into the next month with less "scary" and more hope :)

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    1. That sounds like a very good plan. It's easy though to stick to the same genre for a while though isn't it, and quite relaxing ... although I do start to mix the books up in my head if it's a mystery or a murder, wondering where a certain character has vanished to for instance!

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  5. I'm reading Excellent Women by Barbara Pym ( for the third time 😀 ) xx
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. I don't think I have ever read any of Barbara Pym's work. The reviews for this book on Amazon are brilliant and describe it very well, I can understand why you are re-reading it. :-)

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  6. I'm reading The Farmer's Wife , My life in days. Its written by Helen Rebanks. Really enjoying it and includes some lovely recipes.

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    1. I have that book on my read it next pile, along with quite a few others ... the pile keeps growing. I'm glad to hear that it's good. :-)

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  7. I am reading A Most Intriguing Lady by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. It is a historical saga (fiction) of a victorian lady, enjoying the read.

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    1. I looked this book up and was astonished to find out what a prolific writer Sarah Ferguson has been over the years, I had no idea she has written 55 books alongside all her charity work. Nice to learn something new ... thank you.

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  8. I am reading a cozy mystery just to clear my head of the true crime book I finished.

    God bless.

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    1. That sounds like a very sensible switch of genres. True crimes can get a bit heavy and thought provoking in a bad way can't they.

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  9. Troubled Blood - the Cormoran Strike series - love these books, always a page turner!

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    1. I have never read the Cormoran Strike books, but I LOVE the television series. If I remember correctly this story was a very gripping and complicated one, that I watched a few months back.

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  10. I'm not really comfortable with true crime, although I've always wanted to study forensic science but never felt 'clever' enough to tackle it. Well done to your son! Is he the police officer? At the moment I'm reading Spring Rain by Marc Hamer. It's quite a short book but is written in a very unusual way. Marc writes one chapter from his perspective of life as a boy and the next as the old man he is now. The chapters alternate and I'm torn between loving the life he has now and his relationship with nature, and feeling sad for the life he had growing up. I got it from the library and have discovered it's the third book in a trilogy so I might need to seek out the first two!
    I also like the look of the one you're reading now Sue.....
    Angie x

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    1. He's no longer a Police officer, he transferred into the Police Control Room for a good few years and has now left the stress of that far behind and retrained as a Blackpool bus driver. He's nothing if not surprising ... I wonder who he takes after!!

      Your book sounds good, it always takes me a while to get into twin (or more) time lines but it does make for good reading once you're there doesn't it. Mine was a really nice book and a total change from the books I usually read, which is sometimes exactly what you need isn't it. :-)

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    2. Golly, your son is just like you; a master of re-invention! lol... My brother is a retired police sergeant ( he joined at 18 and served until retirement at 50 something) and says he is shocked at how the force has changed. It's not a job I could ever have done.

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  11. My head very rarely says chores, I'm a slattern and proud! I've currently got two books on the go, A Scandalous Life :The Biography of Jane Digby by Mary S Lovell and The Final Confession of Mabel Stark - Robert Hough - one true, the other a work of fiction. xxx

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    1. Oh yes, you sound just like me ... although I caved in and hoovered and mopped the floors this morning, the dust bunnies were starting to breed. Now THAT must surely mean I can read all afternoon doesn't it?

      I always find if you have two books on the go one fiction and one non-fiction is a good balance ... and exactly what I have just started. :-)

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  12. Icelandic slow mystery by ragar jonasson

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    1. Is this the author that wrote Snowblind? Sort of Scandi, cold, mystery murders? Yes ... I just checked on Amazon it is. :-) I hope you're enjoying it, it's the perfect time of year to read that type of book.

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