October:
122. Aggie and the Ghost by Matthew Forsythe - A children's book that I bought specifically for fall, Aggie and the Ghost tells the story of a girl who moves into a house by herself and discovers that it's haunted. The shape-shifting ghost follows her everywhere so she tells him (it?) that he's going to have to follow some rules if they're going to live together in harmony. The ghost, unfortunately, is not good at following rules. But, eventually, he disappears and Aggie misses him. So, she comes up with one final rule: "Don't visit me from time to time." She knows he'll break the rule and she won't stay lonely. Only about a sentence per page or spread makes for a quick story but the illustrations . . . ooooh. They're wonderful. This is one of those books I'll likely pull out annually.
123. Images of America: Mississippi - Clinton by Chad Chisholm - A book I snatched from my neighbor when she brought it to the library sale to donate, this is one of those books you find at touristy stores and it's not all that well-written, but it's packed with historical photographs from our adopted town and I did learn a bit about the history of Clinton, Mississippi. For one thing, it's not a bedroom community as I originally thought. It's the home of the oldest college in Mississippi, which is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2026. Goodness. It's where Grant gathered his troops to head to Vicksburg for the Siege of Vicksburg (which I know a bit about because that's where we used to live) and Clinton was so heavily damaged during the Civil War that it took a long time to make a comeback. There also used to be a train that went the 34 miles between Clinton and Vicksburg but on its first day a tornado yanked up part of the tracks and Vicksburg residents who had come to Clinton to celebrate had to be driven home by horse and carriage. Very interesting, fun to see photos of the original purposes of some buildings that still are standing, and I'm glad I got a chance to read this book.
124. Black Bag by Luke Kennard - I didn't know till I read the acknowledgments at the end of Black Bag that it was based on a real study about what might happen if someone dressed up in a black bag and didn't interact with anyone, which makes sense of the direction the author took as he was curious what it would have been like to be the person inside that black bag. The main character is an actor who mostly does murder-mystery events. He's currently out of work and the rent's due. Dr. Blend is the psychologist who hires him and instructs him to lie or sit quietly in his classroom, walk around the campus as Black Bag, and not interact with anyone at all. I did occasionally get frustrated with the MC, who would walk around in his black bag when he wasn't required to. I think perhaps the point was that Black Bag gave him anonymity and being invisible, in a sense, is liberating. No need to worry about what one looks like, his fragile masculinity, or even what to wear. An extraordinarily creative story that frequently veered off in directions I could never have foreseen, which I loved. I feel like I need to reread Black Bag but it's time to move on so I'll hang onto it for a future reread.
125. A Kingdom Far and Clear by Mark Helprin and Chris Van Allsburg - Three interconnected stories in one volume tell the story of a royal family and the usurper who takes over their kingdom, causing a princess to flee into the mountains. There's a lot of murder of royalty, so be prepared for that if you read this book. It focuses mainly on the story of the princess, swept away from danger and raised by a man who tutors her till the age of 10 and then tells her the true story of her family line and that it's time for her to return to the kingdom. There, she becomes a yam curler and waits to find a way to take power back from the usurper. This book utterly swept me away. A fabulous, old-fashioned tale of good versus evil, bravery against sloth (not cowardice so much), abuse of power and authoritarianism versus kind but weak leadership. Stellar artwork throughout adds to the sense of immersion in the story. The ending is uplifting and kind of a relief. There's also a good bit of humor and creativity in the names of characters and their jobs. A Kingdom Far and Clear is the last of the books I bought because people mentioned them as "moving". I would have to agree, in this case. The ending is especially moving.
126. There's a Ghost in This House by Oliver Jeffers - My second reading of this cleverly designed book that I've added to my annual seasonal rotation. A little girl thinks there's a ghost in the house in which she lives but she's never seen one. She takes you on a tour of the house. On the left is a photograph of a room and the girl. On the right page is text with a transparency over it. When you turn the transparent page, ghosts are overlaid onto the room image. The ghosts are happy, smiling, funny ghosts. They jump on the bed, hide behind the banisters, swing on the chandelier. You can't help but smile. A wonderful, non-scary ghost book for young children (and weird grown-ups who can't stop reading children's books).
127. Out of Body: Stories by Chris Vanjonack - Hey, I got an ARC! This one came from Goodreads, the only remaining place I try to get advance readers, ever (and usually fail). In this set of short stories, which eventually become interconnected, there's a bit of a sci-fi, paranormal, multiverse, or similarly weird aspect to each story and most have a touch of horror to them but nothing that gave me nightmares. The horror phobic should be safe. A student goes through a portal and then new portals keep opening up. Three girls go for a hike in the woods and find a machine that tells them when the best day of their lives will be. A young man dies and goes to group therapy in the afterlife while occasionally checking in on his girlfriend to see if she's grieving him, yet. Someone posits that one might be able to view parallel lives by getting on an elevator and punching buttons in a certain order and his girlfriend decides to give it a try. I read this over about a 2-month timespan, so it has already been released. If you like to read weird, otherworldly stories (I do), this is a great collection. The endings of the stories weren't always satisfying, but I liked the worlds Vanjonack built and took my time enjoying being carried away. The only story I really didn't care for at all was the story about three men who go in search of clowns who've been kidnapping children. It didn't feel like the story had a resolution but maybe I missed something. At any rate, I enjoyed Out of Body and would read more by Chris Vanjonack.
128. Ghosts Who Went to School by Judith Spearing - I read The Museum House Ghosts (<---link to monthly wrap-up with the review) in 2023 and as I was reading, realized that there was a previous title about the same ghosts. But, since the books were published in the 1960s, I figured I wouldn't likely find the other book. Wrong! I found the first book at a recent library sale. In Ghosts Who Went to School, Wilbur and Mortimer are bored. After helping out with the decorating of a Christmas tree and painting a shop window (and getting back at a brat) downtown, they need something new to do. So, both ghost boys go to school where they cause chaos until they admit that they're ghosts and the teachers and students accept them. Meanwhile, the bank has decided to sell their house but a friend of Wilbur's has a better idea that will allow the ghosts to remain in their home as it is. A delightful children's book. It was nice reading about how the two ghosts ended up in school because they've already been totally accepted when the second book begins.
129. Tilt by Ellen Hopkins - Tilt is the story of three teenagers with interconnected lives and their own separate problems, written in verse. Mikayla is wildly in love with her boyfriend Dylan and he says he loves her, too. But, what will happen when she becomes pregnant? Shane is gay and his sister is disabled. When he falls for Alex, he also falls madly in love. But, there are two problems: Alex is HIV positive and then a death in the family causes Shane to spiral. Harley has fallen for her father's new girlfriend's son, Chad. When Chad's drug-dealing friend runs into her at a festival, he thinks of Harley as prey and slowly grooms her. I missed Banned Books Week but decided to go ahead and read a banned book for fun. There's a lot of teen s*x and drug use. But, there are consequences. Tilt is a cautionary tale. I was impressed with the use of verse in this particular story; as a literary device, I thought it was cleverly handled. Did I love the book? Honestly, no, I thought it was just okay. I read it quickly but it wasn't the right kind of book for me . But, I was reading it specifically to see why it was banned and think about the why. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it. I'm just not into teen angst.
130. The Names by Florence Knapp - Cora is married to a doctor. She lives in a beautiful house and has just given birth to her second child. But, when it comes time to register his name, she hesitates. Will the name she chooses have any effect on his life and what will her dangerously abusive husband think? The Names imagines three separate scenarios. In the first, she asks the baby's big sister, Maia, what she would name him. In the second, she registers her personal name choice. And, in the third, she gives him the family name. Bear, Julian, and Gordon have remarkably different lives, each set on a different path because of the different given names and the level of violence of how his father reacts. I was already feeling sensitive when I read The Names because the anniversary of Isabel's transition to stardust hit in the middle of the reading, so that may have had some impact. I cried many times reading this book — both happy and sad tears. Beautifully handled, surprisingly without too much repetition or overlap between the different lives. My thanks to Carrie of Care's Books & Pie for sending her copy. This one's going on my favorites stack.
131. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 6 by Beth Brower - In the 6th volume of this masterful series, Emma is given a gift for her birthday by her 3 male friends and reaches her majority. She is now in charge of her own finances and trying her hand at working. Meanwhile, Aunt Eugenia has found out about Emma's circle of friends (but is still under the illusion that Emma has a real chaperone rather than one who is wholly fictional) and she is incensed. For one thing, it is simply not acceptable that Emma has befriended a Duke when cousin Arabella has yet to be married. Emma runs the risk of upstaging her cousin. There's more, of course. So much happens in these slim volumes that it never fails to surprise me how utterly entertained I am. I only have one remaining volume of Emma Lion's journals and, of course, I'll have no choice after that but to buy more as they're going to soon have a place of honor on my shelves.
Well. This was not my best month for quantity but I liked or loved almost everything I read, as usual and it's hard to choose favorites but I would definitely put The Names and The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 6 at the top and Tilt at the bottom. But, Tilt is only at the bottom because of personal taste; it falls into the contemporary teen category that I became tired of, years ago. I'm glad I read it because I've been curious to read an Ellen Hopkins to find out for myself exactly why her books are so frequently banned. But if I read any more YA, it'll likely be because it happens to fall into a favorite category like sci-fi or historical fiction.
I made no progress whatsoever on the #ICTReadingChallenge, this month, and admittedly didn't try. I only have two prompts remaining before I finish that challenge. I have one of the books selected and I'm iffy about the other.
The Massachusetts Center for the Book 2026 Reading Challenge prompt was, "A mystery, thriller, or ghost story," and you can see that I read not one but several books with ghosts in them: Aggie and the Ghost, There's a Ghost in This House, Ghosts Who Went to School, and some of the stories in Out of Body. The Emma M. Lion books also have a ghost in them. Oddly, I am not completely satisfied with the quantity of fall/ghostly reading I've done so I hope to get to a couple more ghost books (and maybe a spooky time travel) in November. We shall see.
Otherwise, one thing I have utterly failed to do is hit the stack of Books I Meant to Get To Years Ago. Sigh. Maybe I'll limit my Christmas reading and focus on those books in December. Again, we shall see. I'm such a moody reader that one can never predict such things with any semblance of accuracy.
Quick note: I'm sharing the photo of Pippin, above, because this is exactly how he was looking up at me when I first saw him — with a sweetly curious expression (although he was sitting rather than sprawled). There was just something about that look that charmed me and I made a snap decision that he was the one I'd take home. He is every bit as sweet and curious as he appeared when I first saw him. We are still loving having kittens in the house. I can't say how Fiona feels. Her thyroid got worse in October and she stopped eating but a quick trip to the vet and a change of dosage have fixed her right up. Meanwhile, Percy is still a daddy's boy and after we returned from a quick trip to visit eldest and family, the way he snuggled into husband was heartwarming, although the man of the house prefers to stay off the blog so I won't share a picture of them.
Happy November!
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