Home again and it is definitely nippier here in the Hinterland – a shock to my system. Took a few days to get life back in order here – Himself and Oldest keep things running but some of the little details get missed. Yesterday Himself and I traveled to the regional cross-country race and watched the boys team come in first so next week it is off to the state competition. It is great seeing years of work come together. We also had a late lunch/early dinner at a really neat brew pub set in an old A&W building before heading home with beautiful Fall variegated gray skies to look at on the way home.
I finished Rules of Civility for book group Wednesday and had a much more in-depth discussion than I anticipated. I also finished Tell the Wolves I’m Home before it had to be returned. I liked parts of it but some aspects need to percolate in my mind a bit. This may be a good book group book – some discussion may help me figure out just how I feel about it. I hoped to finish The Gift of Rain this week but I have a date to see Cloud Atlas and feel the need to read it before seeing the movie.
Here is what caught my interest this week:
Mary, from Seeing the World Through Books, reviews a novel set in Peru and written by Peruvian-born author Marie Arana. Arana moved to the United States when she was 9 and is also the author of a memoir, American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood. Cellophane is her first novel and is the story about Don Victor Sobrevilla who fulfills a dream by establishing a paper factory deep in the jungles of Peru. In the 1950’s Don Victor discovers the formula for cellophane and unwittingly unleashes a “plague of truth”. This novel is a little hard to describe in a short blurb so I highly recommend reading Mary’s review for a large sense of what sounds like a great read.
Memoirs about grieving seem to be lurking around every corner so it can be hard for one to catch my interest. Than Savidge Reads reviews Justine Picardie’s non-fiction work, If the Spirit Moves You, detailing the year after she lost her younger sister to breast cancer. Picardie desperately seeks something to fill the void first exploring the world of mediums and then committing to looking toward the living while accepting her internal dialogue with her sister.
Finally, JoAnn from Lakeside Musing has a wonderful list of her top ten reads to get in the mood of Halloween.
Happy reading and for those of you in the path of the storm stay warm and stay safe.
Reflections from the Hinterland 
I loved The Rules of Civility and will read everything Amor Towles writes. My book club discussion was disappointing, but that may have had something to do with our ‘cocktails from the era’ – gin blossoms, etc.
Thanks for mentioning my list!