And just like that, another month slipped away, and here we find ourselves in October.

How are you, friends? I’m…still here. Still not doing great, so the blogging break goes on and I’m sticking to monthly roundup posts until my brain stops being a full-time jerk, but I’m managing, mostly. Doing a lot of reading to cope (no surprise there), and being busier than I would like. I’m looking forward to cooler faller temperatures. We’ve got a few trees starting to turn here, but nothing dramatic yet. Soon, though.

But anyway, I’ll get to all that in a bit. For now, let’s get this recap started, shall we?

Books I Read in September 2023

1. We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson

2. The Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz (read out loud to my daughter)

3. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

4. Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society by Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate

5. Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass

6. The Prophetess by Evonne Marzouk

7. The Story of the Jews by Stan Mack

8. Shmutz by Felicia Berliner

9. Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! by Jean Fritz (read out loud to my daughter)

10. The Royal We by Heather Cocks

11. The Secret Life of the City by Hanna Hagen Bjørgaas

12. If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan

13. The Incredible Incas by Terry Deary (read out loud to my daughter)

14. How to Be Alive by Colin Beavan

15. Enlightenment by Trial and Error by Jay Michaelson

16. The Ruthless Romans by Terry Deary (read out loud to my daughter)

17. White Feminism by Koa Beck

18. The Forgotten Girls by Monica Potts

19. Disobedient Women by Sarah Stankorb

20. Lost and Found by Andrew Clements (read out loud to my daughter)

21. A Country Between by Stephanie Saldaña

22. Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar

Told you I was doing a lot of reading to cope! Another heavy month both in numbers and in terms of content, but when do I ever have a lighthearted, free-spirited month of reading? (Maybe soon, when I get through my TBR!) 

Best reads of the month: I really enjoyed the books by Lisa Wingate (and Judy Christie) about the Tennessee Children’s Home. Georgia Tann was an absolute monster; I’ve read a lot about her, but the stories, fiction and nonfiction, infuriate me every single time. The Secret Life of the City was a gentle book about the nature we see in cities, why it’s there, why it’s not elsewhere, and how to appreciate it and understand it better. It was just something I stumbled upon at the library while picking up other stuff, and I enjoyed it. How to Be Alive showed me I’m on the right track in terms of creating a life I enjoy living; The Forgotten Girls is insight into growing up in a small, opportunity-less town (depressing, but so well-written). Disobedient Women is an incredible look at the women working to call out things like sexual abuse and abuse of power in Evangelical circles, and it’s AMAZING. And, of course, Jill Duggar’s book. I devoured that in one afternoon. Good for her for growing up, moving beyond the small, sheltered, suffocating world her parents created for her, and learning to recognize what’s healthy in relationships (and what’s not), and learning to set boundaries. May her growth continue.

Seven fiction; fifteen nonfiction (one graphic nonfiction; three memoirs in there). Fifteen of these were from my TBR; none were from reading challenges, because…

Reading Challenge Updates

I’m not currently participating in any reading challenges! 

Feels good to be done, honestly!

State of the Goodreads TBR

I’m getting it done, folks! Last month, we left off at 83 books; I’m still working so hard to get this down to almost nothing so I can read from my (small) TBR, my own shelves, and whatever I find when I wander the library (I’m SO looking forward to that). I think I took a few books off that I no longer needed to read (since we’re no longer homeschooling), and this month, the number stands at…

66!!!

I’m currently slowly reading one of these books in short bursts (I own it, so I can do that), and I’ve got three more on their way to me via interlibrary loan. I’m thinking I’ll be able to reach the end of this list in January, so 2024’s reading as a whole will look a lot different for me. : )

Books I Acquired in September 2023

Eek! I did hit up a library book sale, and would you believe I forgot to take a picture of what I got before I put it away? Some highlights: a few art/fashion books for my little artist daughter; two piano books (one of which I’ve been practicing out of, and which has been a lot of fun!); some classic novels; a few books my younger daughter has loved, like The Penderwicks, and a few holiday gifts for her. I’m happy with my finds!

Bookish Things I Did in September 2023

Hmm. Other than the book sale, it’s mostly just been a lot of reading in my chair on the porch!

Current Podcast Love

I’m finally caught up on Digging Up the Duggars! I’ll continue listening to new episodes as they come; otherwise I’m listening to Leaving Eden as I walk, inside and out, and do my volunteer work. 

Stephanie’s Read Harder Challenge

Currently on hold for a bit, though I am making my way through a French grammar book, so maybe that counts? 

Real Life Stuff

Phew.

Still doing my best to hang in there and also ignore all of reality by reading every book ever in existence.

That’s healthy, right?

Physical therapy is…not great. I didn’t expect it to; I haven’t had great experiences with the place I’m going to in the past. They don’t do what my back needs in order to be at its most functional, and it’s been kind of a giant pain in the ass to work into my schedule (nothing wrong with the physical therapist I’ve been working with, he’s okay, it’s just the place). I’ve got one last appointment, and then I’m supposed to go back to my physiatrist, and we’ll go on from there. Likely it’ll be more caudal injections, which do help, but they’re weird and uncomfortable, and expensive, because American healthcare, so that’s unfun.

My daughter is still doing okay in school, for the most part. She definitely needs a lot of help with math; that’s the subject she fought me most over when we were homeschooling, so I’m 0% surprised her testing scores were as low as they were. Her ADHD plays into her struggles a lot there as well; she’s never met a one she couldn’t forget to carry! Her reading scores are GREAT, though, so I’m thrilled with that! So far, so good, mostly. 

As for me, I’m just…sad a lot. Struggling with being middle-aged and never having had a career (there’s never been a crack I couldn’t slip through in my teenage and adult lives), or even a real adult job, and struggling with how limited I am with physical stuff and how much that limits me in life. You wouldn’t know it much if you saw me walking around at the store, but I have definite limits on how much I can do physically before I need to sit, and I’m in pain most of the time, even when I’m doing stuff. I so badly want to be more productive in my day-to-day life, and my body limits me so very much. It’s so frustrating, and not many people in my real life understand that. There are a few more things in there, but I won’t get into all of that, but it’s been rough. So I’m struggling.

But I’m doing my best, and my ongoing blog break will continue until my brain figures out ways to deal with all this, because I just really need one less thing, you know? 

I hope you’re all doing well. Enjoy the start of this new season, wherever you are and whatever season you’re heading into. May it be filled with beautiful weather, excellent books, and love.