October was largely spent preparing for Witch Week and Nonfiction November, but I did manage to get some other good reading in. I’ve definitely been in a genre/pop culture mode, I notice — I read my first (and probably last) James Bond novel, a set of latter-day Sherlock Holmes stories, a book about the making of the movie The Princess Bride, and a collection of stories by the creator of the Regency romance, Georgette Heyer. Even the serious nonfiction book White Trash spends a good bit of time on pop culture phenomena such as The Beverly Hillbillies and Elvis. I did not make much headway on any of my challenges, but I had a lot of fun.
I’ve been giving the new illustrated Harry Potter editions to my son for Christmas each year as they come out, and enjoying rereading them at this leisurely pace. I’m looking forward to the next one coming up this year, Prisoner of Azkaban — it’s my favorite!
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Reviews
- Funny and sad, Excellent Women by Barbara Pym reminded me of another mid-century comic classic.
- Four reprints from Dover contained some wonderfully imaginative stories and drawings.
- The Buried Giant, our readalong for Witch Week, left me a bit befuddled, but led to some interesting discussion.
Other Books Read
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling – Reread- Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
- The Whole Art of Detection by Lindsay Faye
- White Trash by Nancy Isenberg – Review to come
- As You Wish by Cary Elwes
- Snowdrift and Other Stories by Georgette Heyer
Other Features and Events
- I made peace with my TBR progress at Mount TBR Checkpoint #3.
- In spite of hosting a fantasy-oriented event for the fourth year in a row, I had to ask Have I gone off fantasy?
Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer, the Month in Review linkup at The Book Date, and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction
The Emerald City Book Review Archive 
It is certainly an interesting month’s reading – I’m impressed by the variation in your reading choice. I hope November is a good one for you:)
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I’m always interested to see how I’ve followed my nose through the reading month, and what patterns emerge.
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Seems you had a good month to me. Happy November!
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Thanks Freda, you too.
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I love how eclectic your choices are! And some are right up my alley. I’ve been listening to the Harry Potter books (again), but should take the time to reread my illustrated copies; so far I’ve only looked through the pictures. I love what Jim Kay has been doing with the art; it recognizes the influence of the movies without being a slave to them.
I’m interested in the Sherlock Holmes stories you mentioned. Would that be The Whole Art of Detection? I’m not familiar with it, but I’ll check it out. I’m also going to read your post on whether you’re going off fantasy.
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Yes, The Whole Art of Detection – definitely recommended for Mary Russell fans!
The Jim Kay art for Harry Potter is brilliant, and the lavishly illustrated volumes are great. My son doesn’t watch movies yet so this is how he’s experiencing the visuals of the stories. I’m just wondering what they’re going to do with the later volumes that are so much longer…breaking into multiple volumes seems cumbersome (and expensive).
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Loved “The Whole Art of Detection” so much! I am such a Sherlock nerd (and stickler) but she did such a great job. From time to time I forgot that I wasn’t reading AC Doyle.
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Yes, she did a great job of channelling him while introducing some fun touches of her own.
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Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite, too. I bet the illustrated edition is beautiful. I hope you’re having a great November!
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Just bought it at my local indie bookstore’s pre-Christmas sale. 🙂
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Great wrap up!! 🙂
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Thanks Erica!
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I got the first HP Illustrated for my daughter, but she wasn’t nearly as interested as I was. I’ll probably still buy the rest—for me. 🙂
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I would do the same even if my son didn’t want them!
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I still want to get my hands on the Illustrated Harry Potter book. It look fabulous. I didn’t know Cary Elwes wrote a book and since I’m a huge fan of The Princess Bride and often quote the movie, I want to find this book.
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If you love The Princess Bride, you must read As You Wish! One thing that was surprising to me was that it was so hard to get the movie made (nobody wanted to take a chance on it) and it wasn’t an immediate success. Movies are a risky business.
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oh I have been suffering from severe fantsy allergies this year so I HAVE to read your Have I gone off fantasy? post!
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I am not alone!
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