Happy Halloween! (Or if you're Lutheran like me, Happy Reformation Day!) I've never been a big one for celebrating Halloween, but I am looking forward to trick or treating with my little guy tonight. He makes the most adorable lion. And because he's much too young to be eating candy, we get to enjoy his spoils! ​:)

Circumreading the World - Introduction (My reading project for November & December)

The Sisters Grimm: Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley (The November read for the Reading Together Book Club - which I happen to be co-hosting for the next couple of months. It's a great book! You should join us!)

Walking the Amazon by Ed Stafford (I got a bit of a head start on my Circumreading the World project. . .)
The Iliad by Homer (17% read, according to Serial Reader)

Irresistible North: From Venice to Greenland on the Trail of the Zen Brothers by Andrea di Robilant (The next stop on my Circumreading the World journey)

I have given myself a bit of a reading project for November and December. Here is the thought process I took to get there:​

1. Travel narrative is one of my favorite genres.
2. I own a lot of them.
3. I really need to read more of the books I own.
4. I didn't get to take a vacation this year, so I should do some armchair traveling by reading.
5. I should read my way around the world!

So that's what I'm doing. I've sorted through my collection of travel narratives and narrowed down the choices to 12 books that roughly follow a path around the world. I'm starting in South America at the beginning of November, and I plan to be done by the end of December (or earlier, but I'm trying to make this a no-pressure sort of thing). I'll be sharing short reviews of each book that will mostly consist of fun facts that I learned about the location where the book takes place.

This Google Map shows all of the books I'm planning on reading. Just click on the colorful markers to see the title and cover.

Let the traveling begin!

It was a busy weekend for me! Farmers' market, choir concert, church, and a visit to an orchard filled up my weekend. Lots of fun activities, but I'm exhausted now! It also means that I only got 2 hours of reading in during Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon on Saturday. Sad. Maybe I'll just have to make my own readathon some weekend when I'm less busy!

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain (My first book through the Serial Reader app is complete! It's a really fun way to get some classics read.)
Living with a Dead Language: My Romance with Latin by Ann Patty (I typically enjoy books about languages, but the author was a bit pretentious for my taste.)

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald (Pretty good so far)
The Iliad by Homer (This is the next book I'm reading with Serial Reader. This one is going to be a bit more challenging!)

The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley (The November read for the Reading Together Book Club, which I'm co-hosting! I'm already about a third of the way through this one. It's so good!)

You may have noticed in my It's Monday! posts that I've been reading books all year for an online book club called Reading Together: A Family Exploration Book Club. All of the discussion takes place in a Facebook group, and there is a bimonthly theme.

Well, it's my turn to co-host in November and December, along with Jessica from Quirky Bookworm and Sheila from The Deliberate Reader. And the theme is magic!! I'm very excited about this. Fantasy was just about all I read during high school, and I still love me a good middle grade magic-ish novel.

It would be awesome if you would join in our discussion for the last couple months of the year. It doesn't matter in the least if you haven't participated previously. It's never too late to join in! Here are the pertinent details and links:​

The original concept of the book club was to read the books with your kids, but my kid isn't old enough to do that yet and I've been participating all year. :) I hope you jump in and join the discussion for magical November and December!

We had our first trick or treating adventure with our little guy this past weekend. My mom's church had a Trunk or Treat event. We dressed him up as a lion (and he was adorable!). The best part is that he's way too young to be eating any candy, so guess who gets to enjoy the spoils of the evening? :)​

Third Quarter Wrap-Up (A little late, but at least it's here.)

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson (Mostly historical fiction, with a hint of magic - the main character can scry gold. If you're interested in what the journey west was like in 1849, this book gives you a good picture of it.)
​When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (Have the Kleenex box nearby.)

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (I read this Newbery winner for the first time in sixth grade. I"m enjoying the revisit!)
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain (I'm reading this one through the Serial Reader app. Three more days and I'll be done!)

Living with a Dead Language: My Romance with Latin by Ann Patty (Random find at the library, and it's right up my alley. I'm excited for this one!)

So this post should have been up at the beginning of October, when the third quarter of the year actually got over. But since I didn't realize that until earlier this week, it wasn't. Ah, well. At least it's here now! Here's my progress on all my reading so far this year.

Favorite books this quarter: Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein (because it's bookish and crazy fun) and The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows (because I've been long anticipating this one, and it completely lived up to my expectations!).

Once again, I can see pretty clearly that I need to read more books that I own. Thankfully, I have a plan to help with that for November (to be announced soon)!

How is your reading going in 2016 so far?

The leaves are starting to turn. The weather is getting cooler. I love this time of year!

Astor Place Vintage by Stephanie Lehmann (An interesting look at department stores in New York City at the turn of the century.)
What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund (This book was not at all what I expected. It's written by a graphic artist who designs book covers, and it's a work of art in itself!)
On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder (I really enjoyed Rose Wilder's memories included in this book.)

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson (I'm only a chapter in, but it's very intriguing. The main character can scry gold. How cool is that?)

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (My book club book for October. We're a third of the way through the month, so I'd better get reading!)

I don't know about you, but I always wish that I would read more classics. Instead, my time is spent with the new, shiny books - all of which are very good. But there's just something different about escaping into the world of Anthony Trollope or Charles Dickens. That's why I signed up for the Classics Club back in 2013. I created a list of 51 books that I needed to read within 5 years. This seemed like the perfect way to include the classics in my regular reading.

Well, I've certainly gone in spurts, sometimes reading lots of classics and sometimes going for months without picking one up. I have currently read 28 out of my 51 books, and I have just under 2 years left to finish the list. That seems like a pretty tall order.

And then, I discovered Serial Reader through a post on The Broke and the Bookish. Serial Reader will send you a chunk of a classic book to read every day. (Let me say right now that I am in no way being compensated for raving about this app. I just really love it!) Each chunk takes between 10 and 20 minutes to read. They have a wide range of literature divided into genres. It's easy to find something to read, and you can always request the book you're looking for if they don't already have it. There is everything from Sherlock Holmes stories (which are 2-4 issues long) to Moby Dick (79 issues) and War and Peace (235 issues). You also earn badges for various accomplishments, which I have to admit is always strangely motivating to me.

Right now, I'm halfway through The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. It's so easy to spend 10 minutes a day reading, and just like that, I'm halfway through checking another book off my Classics Club list!

Since I'm sure that I'm not the only one looking for a way to fit more classics into my reading life, I thought I would share the wonders of the Serial Reader app. Try it out for yourself! It's fun!

I'm a little late to the party this week. It is now Tuesday at 9:27 p.m., and I'm finally getting this post up. Turns out life is pretty busy with a little one around!

The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove (Awesome start to a series. Can't wait to read more!)
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (I got hooked on this audiobook. Very impressive narrator and an intriguing story.)
​The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows (I've been dying to get my hands on this one since it came out, and it very much lived up to my expectations!)

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman (The October selection for the Reading Together book club.)

Astor Place Vintage by Stephanie Lehmann (This has been on my Goodreads TBR list for a long time, and I don't remember why. Hope it's good!)