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Welcome to my weekly update for November 1, 2020!
I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween! How did you or you kids dress up? If you didn’t, did you see any costumes that stood out to you?
Did my readers in the US remember to set your clocks back an hour? I wish we would just pick a time and stick with it. If we must change the time, I prefer to “fall back.” I don’t like the early sunsets but it takes me weeks to recover from “springing forward.” Which do you prefer?
Also, Americans, your last chance to vote is this Tuesday, November 3! Make your voice heard! Visit vote.org, a non-partisan nonprofit resource, for locations, sample ballots, and more vital information.
Posted:
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix–3.5 Stars
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix–4 Stars
Gil’s All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez–4 Stars
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft edited by Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe, read by Amy McFadden–4 Stars
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix–4 Stars
Read:
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
Currently Reading:
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
The Last Astronaut by David Wellington, read by Megan Tusing
Hole in the Sky by William Kittredge
Watching:
I really am a horror movie wimp but I did get brave and watch The Shining after reading the book sometime in my early twenties. My husband and I decided to re-watch it last week since we visited Timberline Lodge, where the exterior shots were filmed, while we were in Oregon. It was a lot of fun to see a place we had hiked around in a movie. Since I knew what was going on, I have to admit I managed to nod off for a few minutes somewhere in the middle. My husband was sitting bolt upright with his eyes glued to the TV the entire time! It was pretty funny because I’m usually the one who’s freaked out.
Up Next:
I think I’m finally burnt out on my yearly Halloween horror spree so I may not even finish The October Country. It’s an anthology so it’s pretty easy to walk away. We’ll see. I’ve largely been stuck in YA fantasy mode since the pandemic started but I think (hope?) I may be past that. I’m ready to move on to something a little meatier. Election results may influence where I’m at mentally next week though. I’m planning to participate in Nonfiction November so I hope to review my backlog of nonfiction reads.
What did your week look like?
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.
34 Comments
Falling back is definitely my favorite too – one extra hour of weekend! Like you, I’d rather just do away with DST though 🙂
Sounds like a good month! I didn’t dress up—we never get trick-or-treaters, and the only times I dress up for Halloween are when I’m going to the office or when we’re going to a party. Since this year I did neither, I didn’t bother with a costume. (I did wear a Halloween-themed t-shirt, though.)
I also wish we’d just do away with Daylight Saving Time. No one likes it. Just stop already.
I don’t think I could watch The Shining, it looks far too scary but I would love to see where it was filmed! I wimped out and watched Ghostbusters then Aliens! Two classics!
Aliens is pretty scary too! We watched Bird Box on Halloween night. It wasn’t too scary, especially since I’ve read the books.
I love to fall back, but I really hate springing forward and losing the hour we eventually get back.I don’t mind the dark evenings that much, especially now with so little going on outside the home anyway. No Halloween costumes or trick or treaters for us this year, but we did watch Zombieland: Double Tap, the sequel to Zombieland, on Halloween. I chickened out on watching a real horror movie!
We thought about watching Double Tap but ultimately didn’t. We’ll get to it some day. We liked Zombieland though!
I like falling back but really don’t like how early it gets dark. My vision won’t let me drive in the dark and I start to feel really housebound when it gets dark so early. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
I can see how that would start to feel a bit too restrictive.
We dressed up and my brother had us over so our two kids could have a socially distanced and masked Halloween party. My son dressed up like a raven. 🙂 And I love Halloween! All the scary stories all month – I get burned out too by the end though. 🙂
A Halloween party with family sounds like fun! I don’t miss my old job but when my friend who still works there started me sending pictures of everyone in their Halloween costumes, I did miss Halloween for just a minute. I love costumes and seeing everyone else’s outfits too.
We didn’t do anything for Halloween this year — our area is a COVID hot spot, so we decided to just turn off the lights and not give out candy. It was sad, but there’s always next year.
We didn’t do anything either and really didn’t notice many kids out and about. Better for everyone to be safe though.
I did dress up for Halloween which is really unusual for me. Hope you enjoy your non fiction reading in November. All the best for the elections.
I love dressing up for Halloween so I hope you had fun! Thanks for the good wishes. I’m afraid we need them.
I hope you had a great Halloween too! I don’t really celebrate, but I went to a Halloween party on Animal Crossing and it was ADORABLE! We scared some of the residents and I felt so bad, but I gave them candy.
I signed a petition to end this stupid Daylight Savings Madness.More than 187,000 people have signed, so maybe soon it will finally get the attention of congress? Very few people want it. if businesses want it, they can just change their hours of operation in the winter and summer and accomplish the same thing.
Some state legislatures seem to be okay with ending it but I think it has to be approved at a federal level? Maybe? It’s all so very confusing and more complicated than it has to be. I don’t really care which time we stay with, I just know I really dislike the changes.
Thanks for joining us for Nonfiction November! I can’t wait to get started 🙂
Thanks! I’m excited to join in!
I prefer setting clocks back in the fall and gaining that precious hour of sleep. I’ll have to watch out for your Nonfiction November posts. 🙂
I am all about getting that hour of sleep back!
I agree that falling back is a whole lot easier than springing forward! I voted early, so I’ve got that done with. I hope everyone takes this chance to make their voices heard.
My husband and I are traveling with his job so we mailed in our absentee ballots in late September. It was kind of a relief to have it over and done with.
We’re camping in our RV, so no trick-or-treaters last night. We did see the gorgeous blue moon, however!
You are very brave to watch The Shining. I saw it when it first came out and it terrified me. When I read the book, I could only read it in broad daylight on the beach. To scary to read in my house!
Two more days, although I think life will be very unsettled until the the new president is sworn in. Yes, I am very hopeful that it’s a new president!
We didn’t have any trick-or-treaters either, but we just happened to be out while the planned campground trick-or-treating was going on.
The Shining scared me to death the first time I watched it too but I actually nodded off for a few minutes during the re-watch! It’s been stressful dealing with old tenants, new tenants, nailing down a new job and campground, and then moving. It all started catching up to me that night.
I’m very worried about what life will be like between the election and the inauguration, no matter who wins. I watched a video of the “Trump Train” harassing the Biden bus in Texas before we walked out the door yesterday. Not ten minutes later, we got caught in a Trump Train here! No one was driving aggressively or anything, but they were driving super slow on the interstate and snarling traffic. We were glad to finally get away from them.
Happy Halloween! I ended up getting The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires o audio. They had a 2 for 1 credit sale! I slept in this morning…the Royals however woke up super early! Have a good week.
The Shining is a great movie choice for Halloween. Though it’s not really a thing here I did see a handful of young kids out trick or treating.
Wishing you a great reading week, I’m looking forward to your NonFicNov reads!
Happy Halloween. Covid19 has dampened the festivities this year, although my kids haven’t dressed up for a few years now.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Hope next week is a good one for you.
Happy Halloween! I always love to see the costumes kids come up with. This year, we simply put a basket of candy out near our Little Free Library and let anyone who wanted to take some. I completely forgot about setting the clock back. I wish we would do away with all of that.
I have never been a fan of anything—books, movies, even costumes—scary, so I’ve never enjoyed any of that. But I know lots of others relish all that.
I last read Bradbury in the 80s. I wonder what I’d think of him now.
Have a good week. See you around the blogosphere.
Happy Halloween! I agree about the time change! I always have it hard readjusting, but when the clock goes forward it’s torture. I have no idea why we still use daylight saving time at all.
I am terrified of horror movies, because every time I watch one something always happens to freak me out even more, so I generally stay away from the genre.
Happy reading!!!
Nodded off during The Shining??? Go you! I’m far too much of a wuss to consider it:). I’ve read The Last Astronaut and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I hope you like the audiobook. Have a good week and all the best for the election…
Our neighborhood participated in Trick or Treat but we didn’t. I did take treats to all the kids I know near my house. I will not watch horror movies. I need some simple relaxation, they get me too tense!
Oh, Ray Bradbury, he’s such a talented writer !
My kids are too old to dress up for Halloween and I’m afraid I spent mine in pajamas – we’re on lockdown, we weren’t supposed to have anyone knocking on our door – but they did, I gave them biscuits. I haven’t watched The shining for a long time, maybe it’s time to do it again.
Stay safe 🙂
Happy Belated Halloween!
Happy Halloween! Ours was a quiet one- not too many kids came by- but we had a few.
I always seem to have a hard time with the time change!
That Arden book looks super creepy!