Thursday, November 3, 2011

October in Review

What a way to end the month!

October has always been one of my favorite months of the year. 2011's October will be one that I will never forget.  As I mentioned previously, we lost all power on Saturday evening until late Sunday evening (26 hours). I do feel guilty complaining about my cable and internet not being back more quickly than yesterday, when some of my coworkers are still without electricity after (6) days.  Right now, we have power companies from all over the US helping to restore services. I saw trucks from DE, TN, NJ, IA around this week......we so appreciate the help.  

The problem was the snow (about 9") was wet and heavy, and the leaves were still on the trees, and then we had high winds as well.  The weight of all that just toppled trees and limbs everywhere, taking power lines down in the process.  Live wires were everywhere, and streets closed off until they could be dealt with.  The tree belts looks like a war zone all around.  We lost my favorite tree, and although that made me sad, things could have been even worse.  The weather that followed has been in the 50-60 degree range so most melted quickly. Thank goodness as had the temps been freezing, all those without heat would have had to deal with pipes bursting as well.

Reading by candlelight was actually fun, as was getting more rest by going to bed at 8PM.  What wasn't fun was no warm beverages when the inside temps were in the high 50's.  How was your October for reading?

I was pleased with my month for a few reasons:  I reached (100) books read in 2011 in October, and I finished Carl's RIP  VI Challenge, which I always love participating in.  Here's an overview of my month:
  1. The House of Tomorrow; Peter Bognanni - 4/5 (eBook)
  2. Darkness, My Old Friend; Lisa Unger - 4/5 (audio) 
  3. A Trick of the Light; Louise Penny - 4/5 (audio)
  4. Cold Spring Harbor; Richard Yates -  4.5/5
  5. The Days of Abandonment; Eleana Ferrante -4.5/5
  6. The Grief of Others; Leah Hager Cohen - 4/5 (review)
  7. The Leftovers; Tom Perrotta - 4/5 (audio book) (library)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • Favorite  Fiction Books - Cold Spring Harbor and The Days of Abandonment (4.5/5 for both) 
  • Favorite Audio Book -  The Leftovers; Tom Perrotta (4/5) 
  • New authors -   2/7- YTD - 62/100
  • Review Books - 3/7 -YTD - 46/100
  • 5 star books - 0/7 -   YTD -  23/100
  • 4 star books - 7/7-    YTD - 65/100
  • 3 star books - 0/7 -   YTD - 8/100
  • 2 star books - 0/7-    YTD - 3/100
~~~~~ Challenge Progress ~~~~~
  • 100+ Reading Challenge - 100/100 - COMPLETED
  • Reading From My Shelves Project - 49/50
  • Audio Book Challenge - 29/20 - COMPLETED
  • eBook Challenge - 13/20
  • Europa Challenge - 3/ ? Perpetual Challenge
  • RIP VI Challenge - 5/4 - COMPLETED
Hope November is a great month for everyone.

29 comments:

  1. I'm so glad that your power has been restored! We had a brutal windstorm earlier in the year that took out our power for two days. And, yes, I missed the hot beverages the most!!! Oh, and the running water (we live just outside of a town, so no city water for us!). I hope that everyone has full power restored now!

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  2. I'm glad you survived the snow and that you got some good reading done. A good month all around!

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  3. Diane, I'm glad that your power's back on! I must say you sound so calm about it; I'd be a mess. At least you were able to read by candlelight :)

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  4. That looks like a decorated Christmas tree covered in snow! A preview of the month of December, and in October. Glad you got power back on!

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  5. "Darkness, My Old Friend" really seems appropriate! I hope you have a normal weekend...normal is good!

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  6. Another great reading month Diane!

    It was a memorable October wasn't it? We got a little snow, but it sounds like you were wallopped! Cool picture though!!

    Thank goodness all of your utilies are back. You certainly kept a cheery attitude about it! And how well I remember when the out of state crews came rolling into my neighborhood (Alabama I will always love you!).

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  7. It was a crazy storm! I'm glad to hear life is returning to normal. As I write this I'm looking out my window and can see 4-6 feet of tree branches lining the curb. It's like a fance of sorts.

    Books: looks like you had a great October and meeting your YE goal is amazing. I haven't counted books all year, should do that...

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  8. Oh my, it does seem that that weather came out of nowhere, and knocked the bejeebers out of you guys! I am so glad to hear that your power is back and that you are comfortable once again. I always say that I want to live in a snowy region, but the fact of the matter is that I probably couldn't handle it!

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  9. 6 days is a long time to go without power! I am glad you didn't have to go that long!

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  10. I completed my goal of a 100 books in October too.
    I'm glad your power is back. Hope it doesn't go out again!

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  11. Good to see you are back to normal. Sorry to hear your favorite tree didn't fare as well. :( Hopefully that will be your only big storm for the season.

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  12. I'm glad things are finally starting to get back to normal for you. I can't imagine having snow that early! You did have a good month of reading!

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  13. Oh, I hate power outages, and I shouldn't even complain, since they have happened very seldom in my neighborhood (knock wood!). But we had storms last night (nothing like yours!) and parts of the city lost power.

    As long as the Kindle is charged, I can read on it. Or regular books by flashlight or candlelight.

    I hope you don't have to have more outages in the upcoming weeks.

    I love that you included some of my favorites on your list...I enjoyed Leftovers and The Grief of Others.

    Must get Cold Spring Harbor! I love Yates's work, and I'm sad that he's no longer with us to write more.

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  14. Whew! What an end to October for you. Congrats on reaching your goal of reading 100 books.

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  15. Sounds like a pretty good reading month. Snow, not so good.

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  16. You guys were hit hard! I think there are still some folks without power. I could do without power for a little while but the heat thing would be difficult.

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  17. Sounds like a crazy few days - no hot drinks isn't fun, though.
    Reading by candlelight sounds fun, though.

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  18. Coming back from Scranton on I-81 Wed. afternoon we saw a long convey of North Houston, TX power trucks heading north. Must have been on their way to Mass.

    We have complained about the tree guys cutting back so many trees from power lines on our road, but we don't lose power like other areas do so I guess it's worth it.

    I'm in awe that you've already read 100 books this year. I'm hovering around 70 at the moment.

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  19. I'm getting chills just reading your post. Ugh! Snow, no electricity! Not at all nice. I just hope there isn't more of that to come.

    Reading-wise, you had a brilliant month. Let's hope for another one like that.

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  20. Glad you got your power back; my brother is still waiting for his cable...
    On the reading front, you had a great month! Your stats are very impressive. I have not been so successful with challenges, so this year I signed up for only one measly one and I am still not done, lol.

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  21. I'm glad you got your power back pretty quickly. I like the idea of reading by candlelight but being without tea & coffee I would find hard! Its unbelievable that people are still without power a week later. I appreciate your explaining it because I was wondering why the power has been out for so long even with crews from so many states pitching in.

    I love your reading stats! I'm determined to keep track & be organized next year! I am glad you enjoyed The House of Tomorrow and A Trick of the Light so much. I really want to read both!

    The phptp you posted makes me think of Christmas ~ it's so pretty!

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  22. It was kind of a crazy end to the month. And the poor trees were not prepared for this. I'm glad you got your power back!

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  23. To think I used to be a fantastic speller, but I typed "convey" instead of "convoy" in my post. Maybe it's my fingers that are gone instead of my memory?

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  24. It sounds like you had quite October with both the weather and reading! I'm not quite ready for snow myself but I can tell that it will be here soon with all of the gloomy weather that we have been having. I hope that you have a great month of reading in November as well!

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  25. I keep forgetting to read The House of Tomorrow.
    I love snow but not losing power. but snow days are awesome!

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  26. I understand how the lack of power can make life slow down and you enjoy those simple things in life. I always have to stop myself from complaining when something like the weather interferes with all that I take for granted. Especially right now with the flooding in Bangkok and over 500 people dead. But it's hard when it happens to you...

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  27. I'm silly! I never did mention congrats on hitting the 100 mark and a great month of reads in October!!!

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  28. I'm sorry you lost your favorite tree! I don't know how people deal with no power for so long. About 10 years ago we lost our power for 4 days but it was in the summer!
    October has always been my favorite month too :)

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  29. I actually like power cuts (as long as it isn't cold) as it encourages everyone to stop playing with the computer/watching TV and actually do something else. I love reading by candle light too. I'm glad to hear you've got your power back and hope everyone else in your area gets it back soon.

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