Wrapping Up October 2021

Hello, Reader. I’m running a bit low on time to blog these days because of school work, so for a little while I may not be writing as many substantial introductions to my posts as I used to. Instead we’re just going to jump into the meat of the post. Enjoy!

Highlights From Books Completed This Month

You can find a list of everything I read this month on my Goodreads, here.

Strange Planet: The Sneaking, Hiding, Vibrating Creature by Nathan Pyle – Picture Book; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Tables in the Wilderness by Preston Yancey – Nonfiction, Theological Memoir; ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wildlife According to Og the Frog (According to Og #3) by Betty G. Birney – Juvenile Contemporary Fiction; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Luciana (Luciana #1) by Erin Teagan – Juvenile Contemporary Fiction; ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A New Day Dawns (Travels with Terry #2) by Terry Lister – Nonfiction: Travelogue; ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Read my review here

A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home by Henry Cole – Juvenile Historical Fiction; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Biggest Disappointments This Month:

News From Me, Lucy McGee (Lucy McGee #1) by Mary Amato – Beginning Chapter Book / Juvenile Contemporary Fiction; ⭐⭐.5

The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer – Picture Book; ⭐.5 (Read my review here)

October Goals Follow-Up

Originally posted here

• October TBR Goal: Christmas in the Alps by Melody Carlson ❌ (DNF due to lack of time – I’ll return to this book), Wildlife According to Og the Frog (According to Og #3) by Betty G. Birney ✔, The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas by Maria Garcia Esperon ✔, You Are Not Your Own by Alan Noble (currently reading), Competing Spectacles: Treasuring Christ in the Media Age by Tony Reinke ✔
  • For my children’s lit class: 10 juvenile nonfiction books ✔, 5 international or multicultural children’s books ✔, 2 Coretta Scott King medal winners ✔, and 5 children’s books about folklore/myths ✔

• Make substantial progress on my research project by selecting (and reading in their entirety) at least 15 of the necessary articles. ❌
  • This got moved to the back burner due to how other assignments fell. I do have more than 20 articles saved to come back to, but I haven’t read many of them all the way through yet.
• Complete the library program plan website I have to create for class ❌
  • It’s in progress, but not done yet
• Keep up with the weekly readings, quizzes, and other assignments ✔
  • Barely
• Fill out the paperwork that will determine whether I graduate in next May or August ✔
  • I’ll walk in May, but technically won’t graduate until August so that I can spend the summer completing my capstone
• Manage the staff pumpkin decorating contest at work ✔
  • This is still going on, but it’s going well!
• Keep up with the highpoints of my posting outline ✔
• Watch 3 sessions from a virtual library conference (facilitated by the library I work at) ✔
  • My favorite session was about linked data and the future of library cataloging in that environment. I also learned about current library trends and how they have been impacted by the pandemic, a new edition of the guidelines most American catalogers use, and how one library implemented virtual programs about helping their customers use their resources from home
• Celebrate a few birthdays and prepare for those that are in November ✔
  • I may not be entirely ready for everything in November, but I stayed ahead of the October ones.
• If time, put together a cute Halloween costume (I’m not really a fan of Halloween itself, but I appreciate the fact that my work allows us to dress up for fun once a year!) ❌
  • Time ended up working against dressing up this year.

Eclectic Highlights & Favorites from October 2021

• Chillhop x Bake ‘n Switch – background music for writing. I know they’re promoting a video game (which I know nothing about), but it’s still just really nice music!
• Apple Cinnamon rice cakes with only 2 grams of sugar – new favorite snack (even if they are a bit messy)
• Tried a new-to-me peanut butter cookie recipe! They didn’t turn out perfect, but it was very easy and quick and that is honestly all that I need at the moment.
• This YouTube video of Amanda Tero (one of my favorite indie authors who is also a wonderful musician and all-around cool human) playing Be Still My Soul. In a season where I feel like I don’t have any time to just be still, this was a good reminder.
• Movies Watched: Zoo (2018) ⭐⭐⭐⭐; BBC’s Henry VI (2016) part 1 ⭐⭐⭐ part 2 (⭐⭐⭐) and part 3 (⭐⭐); Pumpkin Pie Wars (2018 – rewatch) ⭐⭐⭐⭐; several Aurora Teagarden mysteries
• Music of the Month: Lofi Girl on YouTube, Hunter Hayes new releases for Wild Blue (complete)
• My Top Blog Posts: October Spell the Month in Books Linkup
  • All Around the Blogosphere Tag
  • WWW Wednesday 10/13/2021
  • Children’s Book Review: Luciana by Erin Teagan
  • Book Review: A New Day Dawns by Terry Lister

It truly feels like the semester just started maybe two weeks ago – I can’t hardly believe it’s already November! That seems to be the nature of doing school and work full time. There are always multiple projects going on, deadlines rushing up, and lots of things that need to be done. It’s all enjoyable separately, but together, it’s a lot to keep up with! This week I have a major project due in my children’s lit class that is worth 40% of my grade, and as soon as I finish that, I need to pivot to working on my semester-long research project again as I set that aside for a few weeks in order to focus on the children’s lit project. I feel like I’m behind on that one, but since it has a little more time until it is due, I think it will work out. Of course, those aren’t the only school projects going on, they’re just the biggest at the moment.

October absolutely flew by for me. How was it for you, Reader? Did you read anything worth sharing, or do anything fun that you want to talk about?

Until the next chapter,

Jana