LIII -November 2011

October was a busy month. I've been going down the road doing readings for Under the Skin and getting to meet a lot of folks I know from the Internet.. And at each stop I've apologized for leaving folks waiting three years to find out the meaning of that puzzling phone call from  Aunt Dodie that ended In a Dark Season.  I made the same apology and told the same story about my backup plan HERE at Kaye Barley's blog Meandering and Muses.

In other news, we have an addition to the pack. Willa was a stray and she's come to live with us -- if we can survive this getting-to-know-you period.. She's about fifteen pounds of willful puppiness and she thinks that NO means run faster or chew harder.  Her story is HERE.

In less cheerful news, we were visited by a neighbor's roaming heifer, recently acquired from the stock yard, and  evidently she was a carrier of a kind of bovine plague aka shipping fever. It was an extremely quick-acting, pneumonia-like disease and we lost four cows before it was over. The rest have recovered and were all treated and vaccinated. Now all seem fine. The milk cows and the bottle-fed calves, Xena and Clover, were not affected but they've been vaccinated too. More on that unpleasantness HERE.

Of course the leaves have been lovely. Every other post on my daily blogs seems to have been devoted to autumn foliage. From beginning to end -- and we're on the downward slide of fall -- it's been beautiful.The yellows came first and after a few recent frosts, the reds finally came into their own.

The garden is all but over. Collards and kale and broccoli are hanging in there but I picked all the peppers and the last of the tomatoes. The sweet potatoes were great -- I hadn't grown any in years -- these did so well I'll plant lots more next year!

Reading

I blogged last month about The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland and The Goat Woman of Largo Bay by Gillian Royes. 

And all in one post. Live Wire by Harlan Coben, The Magician by Lev Grossman, and Among Others by Jo Watson

I also re-read some of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books.  For the umpteenth time. Comfort reads when cows were dropping dead right and left...  

What are your comfort reads? Are you a re-reader?

Sheila says:, I haven't read The Help and don't intend to, too many other goodies to read. My grandma in southern Missouri had help for laundry, as did my aunt in the 30's. Grandma would wait and eat dinner with her so they ate together. I'm rereading Elisabeth Ogilvie's books.

Sue P.in Texas says: Have recently read a couple of excellent books, most notably, THE HOMECOMING OF SAMUEL LAKE by Jenny Wingfield. Her first novel, although she has done a couple of screen plays (The Man In the Moon). It is a marvelous read. Critics compared it to TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, and I can understand why. Loved it.

I also read and liked THE HELP. While I agree that it couldn't address the true depth of the feelings of the people, nor fully realize just how tragic and awful it was, it was still a way for people (like my daughters, ages 36 and 29) to get some idea of what that time was like.

Am looking forward to trying THE STRANGER YOU SEEK. Sounds intriguing.

Liz Gullum says: I think I told you I am reading "The Lacuna", the whole book has been set in Mexico. Today I turned the page to a new chapter. The book is now set in Asheville! As is the custom with Kingsolver's books, I sometimes have to stop reading and go back and re-read a passage just to admire the prose. The main character hires a secretary in Asheville and she speaks the mountain language of so many of your books! What a wonderful world a book can be...

 

 If you're in the Asheville area, there's an interesting new book club idea called Eat Your Words at Avenue M on Merrimon. Basically, you get a book discussion with the author and a meal inspired by the book. On November 17th I'll be the author and Under the Skin will be the book we discuss. It's limited to 21 participants so if you're interested. check it out HERE.

And a slideshow of October...