A selection of quotes and pictures to represent October’s reading:
commonplace book
noun
a book into which notable extracts from other works are copied for personal use.
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‘Yet beautiful words are the surest way past science to the real truth of life, just as beautiful paintings are,’ Blake said, watching as I began to pick up the hothouse lilies one by one, trim their stems and put them in the silver vase.
The Bells of Westminster by Leonora Nattrass (2024)
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I shook off my moment of melancholy and determined not to think of loss. Life held sadness for us all, but there was joy too, and being of an optimistic nature, I would always choose enjoyment over sorrow.
The Lost Queen by Carol McGrath (2024)
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Minotaur in the Labyrinth (engraving from the Medici Collection, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence)
“The evaluation of any work of fiction is to a large extent based on one’s personal preferences. I suggest we all frankly share our opinions, and from there we can discuss fully each other’s views and arrive at a joint conclusion.”
The Labyrinth House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji (1988)
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She wore successive states of mind like layers of petticoats picked up and put on at random, so that it was a matter of chance which one was innermost and which would show when she hitched her skirt.
God is an Englishman by RF Delderfield (1970)
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That evening, in a whirlwind of spite, I turned out our office drawers for more paper to light the fire. Leadership Training Event, Delegation Welcome Pack, Change Management and Synergy Workshops. Was this all we’d done with our lives? It was like mining through layers of igneous rock. If I dug deep enough, perhaps I would get to the core, to the heart of the matter?
The Significance of Swans by Rhiannon Lewis (2024)
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The Rio dei Vetrai, Murano (photo by Wittylama)
It was like that for some: coming out of quarantine was almost harder than being in it, When locked in, there were few decisions to make: all you could do was to wait and keep yourself alive in the meantime. Once out, suddenly there was freedom, and with it, choices.
The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier (2024)
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Hadn’t she been trying to find him? Trying to find the love and closeness that had been missing between them? True, the way she had chosen to look for it was a twisted, dishonest way; childish, and childishly cruel. She would never look that way again. But there were other ways…honest, adult ways…shining, sunlit ways, strewn with bright canvases, with sawdust and splashes of paint…with laughter and gay discussion far into the night…
Don’t Go to Sleep in the Dark by Celia Fremlin (1970)
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Politicians don’t have time to look at the world they’re living in. They see the country they’re living in and they see it as one vast electoral platform. That’s quite enough to put on their plates for the time being. They do things which they honestly believe will make things better and then they’re surprised when they don’t make things better because they’re not the things that people want to have.
Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie (1970)
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Favourite books read in October:
God is an Englishman and Don’t Go to Sleep in the Dark
Authors read for the first time in October:
None this month
Places visited in my October reading:
England, Wales, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Holy Land
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Reading notes: Apart from the Christie, which was a big disappointment, I enjoyed everything else I read this month. I was pleased to be able to take part in 1970 Club and to read a few more books for this year’s RIP challenge (I managed six in total during September and October). Also this month I celebrated my 15th blog birthday!
November is the busiest month in the book blogging calendar. Nonfiction November is already underway, as is Witch Week, which focuses on Joan Aiken’s work this year. There’s also Novellas in November, SciFi Month, German Literature Month, Margaret Atwood Reading Month and Norway in November – I hope I haven’t missed anything! Will I be able to take part in all of these? I doubt it, but I do have books lined up for at least some of them.
How was your October reading? What do you have planned for November?
She Reads Novels 
Congratulations on 15 years of blogging. That’s a real achievement. Passenger to Frankfurt might have been disappointing but I love that quote about politicians. Enjoy all of the November challenges. I think I’m only doing Sci Fi month this year.
Thank you. Yes, I thought that quote about politicians was still very relevant!
Congrats on the blog birthday! Have you always been on wordpress? I migrated from myspace (…yes, really…) to blogger to wordpress. I’m doing Nonfiction November & SciFI month.
Thanks! I was on Blogger for about a year before moving to WordPress, which I think was a good decision. I’d forgotten about myspace! I did use it many years ago but it was personal rather than book-related.
It was, but it had the ability to post notes or something, so I started posting about what I was reading: then I realized it deletes everything but the first five, so I copy-pasted everything over to blogger!
My two favourite quotes turned out to be the ones from your favourite books! I particularly liked the Delderfield quote.
I love Delderfield’s writing! There were a lot of quotes I could have used from that book.
I love the quotes you chose to include here, and I can quite see why you went for them! Congrats on your decade-and-a-half milestone and thanks for noting Witch Week in there – it’s definitely a chock-a-block month for reading events, and much as Id like to contribute to most just three others will have to do for this year: #NovNov24, #NonficNov and #SciFiMonth!
I officially managed only four titles in October (Robertson Davies, Roald Dahl, Joan Aiken, and Seishi Yokomizo) but I started on my novellas to get reviews scheduled.
Thanks. I thought some of these quotes were very relevant, particularly the ones on quarantine and politicians!
I really must get on to Delderfield and Fremlin in particular; you had a good reading month to celebrate your 15 year anniversary, congratulations!
Thank you! Yes, it was a good month. I can highly recommend both Delderfield and Fremlin – very different authors, but both excellent!
Hi Helen, I am sorry to hear that your Agatha Christie read was a big disappointment, but thankfully sounds like all your other reading made up for it. I read four books in October – My favourite of which was my re-read of Witch Child by Celia Rees. Happy reading and good luck with all your November reading challenges.
Blessings, Jessica 💌
Passenger to Frankfurt is the first Agatha Christie novel I haven’t liked at all. I’m sure the next one I read will be better! I haven’t read Witch Child, but I’m glad you enjoyed your re-read.