October Blog
October Blog
I’m going to love October this year (fingers crossed). We have holidays galore and special food to go with each holiday. One would think that I’m not on a diet, but I am. I’m never going to get down to what I weighed when I got married, but I’m hoping to hit a number that doesn’t make the nurse purse her lips! Anyway, I looked on Ralph's site as well as a couple of other grocery store sites for brisket. Why, oh why, is brisket so expensive? At $20 per pound I decided to make new traditions. We’ll eat roast chicken for one of the holidays. Then, I looked for specific candies that we like for the holiday at the end of the month. The Vermont Country Store catalog has a plethora of candies that were delights when I was a kid. So, I’m toying between “missing part gummies” and “Autumn nonpareils.” Maybe I should get both. Why not? I promise not to eat more than one of each. I’ll put the candies out on the table for our group meeting on October 27th.
Well, I’m at home doing the wash and writing and reading and making chicken soup and chopped liver, followed by my Critique Group meeting and the debate. Barnaby went to work with Diana (my daughter).
Barnaby has made friends with everyone on floor 3 of the law building. He hasn’t gone to court yet, but I assume that he’d be a great litigator -- if nothing else, he’d kiss everyone on the jury.
Barnaby hard at work in Diana’s office!
I’m reading Agatha Christie’s Evil under the Sun and rereading Meri Allen’s Fatal Fudge Swirl (our book for October. I’m looking over Foul Play at Seal Bay and reading Murder at Sea on my phone. Murder at Sea is the first in a mystery series that takes place in Kenya. So far, it’s very well written and Tahlia and I are considering it. Last month I finished reading these:
All of the books from my September reading are cozies except Kate Atkinson’s. Hers is absolutely excellently written, takes place in a castle being used as a hotel, and is a suspense novel. The suspense is rather light and has a couple of comical characters. Murder in an Italian Village has a complete Italian phrase glossary in the back of the book. I could consider learning Italian if I could live in a cute B&B like the protagonist. Michael Falco has already published his second novel in the series. I loved this book. Death comes as the End is a different type of cozy from Agatha Christie. It was published in 1944 but takes place in 2000 BCE. That’s right -- an ancient civilization cozy! Shimini Flint’s Inspector Singh novel is the one I mentioned at our last meeting. I thought the ending of the novel was sad, philosophical, and a moral conflict. Initially the action takes place in Singapore but the novel quickly moves to Kuala Lumpur. These are very distinct cultures albeit the distance between the two is negligible. I was fascinated. We’re considering this one also for next year. Don’t forget to send in your suggestions. Tahlia and I split up the reading and are having a reading contest!!!
Have a happy, healthy holiday season in whatever you celebrate. The best of times is here.