October 2023 was not a great reading month for me. I guess it might be better to say that it was an okay reading month, but not nearly as good as the last few months.
And this book is one of the reasons.
This 600+ page book slowed my reading down this month. That doesn’t mean it was a bad book. I actually really liked this book, but it took me a while to get through because I wasn’t always in the mood to read it.
I also started and stopped a couple of books this month. I didn’t set them down forever, but they were just the wrong book at the wrong time. So my page count was probably good this month, but the number of actual books I finished was not.
However, I still think it will be a record-reading year for me.
October 2023 Reads
Click on the title of each book for my full review.
Fiction
The Kew Garden Girls by Posy Lovell. Set in the Kew Garden in England during WWI, this book took me to a place I knew very little about.
The Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini. Another WWI book that I really enjoyed. I knew nothing about the women who worked for the Signal Corps during WWI.
The Welcome Committee of Butternut Creek by Jane Myers Perrine. This is a great book for fans of the Mitford books.
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny. This is the fourth book in the Inspector Gamache series and I think it is my favorite so far.
Nonfiction
The Stories We Tell by Joanna Gaines. I liked this one but didn’t love it.
Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson. I wrote a full review on this one, but the brief version is that books about complicated controversial people make the best biographies because their lives are fascinating to read about, especially in the hands of a great author.
I would love to hear what you have been reading.
Last month wasn’t great for me but I don’t have a 600 page book to have slowed me down (although I wish that I had)! I was busy taxing my children around so much so that I literally didn’t have enough time to open a book and when I did, I fell asleep pretty quickly, which makes me wicked sad!
Anyways, right now I’m reading THe Lemon Tree by Sandy Toland, which I began in large part due to the war going on in the Middle East and a desire for a better understanding of the dynamics. So far, really good.
I just finished “The Lemon Tree” by Sandy Toland, which I also started reading to better understand the dynamics in the Middle East. At times, it was a struggle, not a fast easy read as I was trying to understand and retain so much of the history. But I loved the book and would highly recommend it. I finished it two days ago and haven’t stopped talking about it. It gives you a much better understanding of both sides.
I have not heard of The Lemon Tree, so I will check it out. Thanks for sharing about what you have been reading.
When my kids were younger and all at home and I was homeschooling, my reading was not great. Some months and years are just like that! You are the second reader that has mentioned The Lemon Tree by Sandy Toland to me recently. I have never heard of it, but need to look it up to find out more about it.
Switchboard Soldiers was amazing. Then read Resistance women also by a Jennifer Chiaverini. She has become one of my fav historical fiction writers. She has a lovely quilting series also. Christmas Bells was lovely.
I wonder if they mean
As long as the lemon tree grows? Heartrending story of Syrian war.
I need to read Resistance Women. I have not read that one yet. I read several books in the quilting series by Jennifer Chiaverini years ago and enjoyed them, but I never finished the series. I need to go back and do that. I enjoyed her Christmas Bells book. I think the Lemon Tree Grows and The Lemon Tree are two different books. I just looked them both up and they both sound very interesting. So many books and so little time to read them all!
How nice to have a personal reply. Thanks so much😇