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Kimberussell.com

a blog by Kim Russell

October 12, 2021

Show Us Your Books, October 2021

Happy 7th anniversary to the Show Us Your Books linkup! Yeah, you’re all a bit heavy on the murder books but I couldn’t hope to find a better group of book lovers and a better group of blogs to read on a regular basis.

Light month for me, because I’m reading heavily for my December CAE exam and that has sucked up almost all of my pleasure reading time. I’m tired of “required” reading and can’t wait until I can get back into reading for pleasure.

show us your books

Onto the books! I use the Goodreads rating system, which is:

  • One star: did not like it
  • Two stars: it was ok
  • Three stars: liked it
  • Four stars: really liked it
  • Five stars: it was amazing

Membership Essentials – Sheri Jacobs, Executive Editor
Yup, this is CAE reading, and I’m counting all of it. If I’m going to read a business book, I’d rather it be written by one person than have each chapter written by an individual author. Although this book is the latter format, it’s very well edited and is a solid read. If you’re in the field, you’ve likely read these ideas and concepts before, because you’ve heard of most of the chapter authors before as you’ve attended their webinars and read their work in other publications. But it is nice to have all of those bits of wisdom in one place. Three stars.

picture of sticky tabs in the membership book
It’s a useful book!

Practical Magic (#1) – Alice Hoffman
I’m pretty sure it was Steph who mentioned the newest book in the series coming out (she reviews it this month!), which prompted me to force myself to pleasure read one book this weekend. And it’s Halloween season and so many people love this series. More importantly, I have never seen the movie, so I wasn’t going into the book with any knowledge of canon or attachment to how characters looked in the movie. What a sweet and beautiful meandering tale of women, family, love, and magic. There is a plot, but it’s more about the characters. I cried (no shock) because the aunts reminded me of my older relatives who are no longer with us, especially my grandmother. She was born on Halloween and was witchy in her own Italian Catholic way. That is to say, she was a devout Catholic with a boatload of weird non-Catholic superstitions and rituals.

Four stars, beautiful read, ignore the haters. Content warning for a touch of animal abuse and implied murder of animals for spell components. You can’t buy jars of Mourning Dove hearts at Trader Joe’s.

Still reading: Feeling Good by David Burns – I read a little, sigh because I bought the Kindle version and the worksheets are tiny and I don’t have paper nearby, put the book down to find paper, get distracted.

All of my book lists and reviews are on Goodreads.

This a part of the Show us Your Books linkup from Jana Says and Life According to Steph. If you want to read more bloggers gush about the books they’ve read this month, click the button below and have fun!

Life According to Steph

Other SUYB posts:

2022:
April | May

2021:
January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October
2020:
February | March | Spring/Summer | September | October | November | Year-end review
2019
January | February | March |April | June | July | August | December
2018
January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December


Good news! If you’re a regular reader but forget to check in, you can subscribe to a once-a-week email with links to that week’s posts! Click here to sign up!

Posted In: Reading

Comments

  1. Carolann says

    October 12, 2021 at 1:26 pm

    Hi there! I found you through the linkup! I am reading Practical Magic now also for the first time! I haven’t seen the movie either. I’m only about 50 pages in but I am absolutely loving it.

    • Kimberly says

      October 13, 2021 at 8:15 pm

      Hi! It was so good. I was mesmerized and I’m glad you’re liking it as well!

  2. SMD says

    October 12, 2021 at 3:49 pm

    Ugh the Owens aunts, I love them. You will love the preceding books if you loved them.

    • Kimberly says

      October 13, 2021 at 8:14 pm

      I think this series might help me get back on the reading track.

  3. Rebecca Jo Vincent says

    October 14, 2021 at 6:39 am

    I read Practical Magic recently too… I wasn’t too much a fan. Maybe because I do love the movie so much. I just thought the chapters were sooooooOOOOoooOOOO drawn out. I am interested in checking out the other books though because I do love the Owens!

  4. Becki says

    October 14, 2021 at 12:36 pm

    I love all of the Practical Magic books 😀 Just finished the newest (final?!?) one. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your month!

  5. Jana @ Jana Says says

    October 18, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    LOL on the comment about the murder books. They are good, though!

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About Me

I've been blogging for over twenty (2 decades! 2-0!) years and I'm apparently one of the few over-50 female bloggers who haven't sold out to THE MAN yet; hence this blog remains quirky, homespun, and unprofitable. No big. However, if you're from Disney, Doritos, or Dave Matthews Band, I'm open to talk about selling out.

I live in Southern New Jersey with my husband WM, and our dog Murphy. I'm an adult who likes Disney but not a Disney Adult. I used to work a fun (really!) office job in Philadelphia, but since March of 2020 I'm a work from home hermit. So if you're looking for a childless, slightly round, marginally boring GenX woman's blog to follow, you've come to the right place! :)

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The Duke and I
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The Duke and I
by Julia Quinn
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
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Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Spare
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Spare
by Prince Harry
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Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves
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Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves
by Glory Edim
The Guest List
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The Guest List
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