I hate to see October go
Each year as October draws to a close this line from an old Barry Manilow song runs through my mind. Oh how I hate to see October go… Though the calendar says it’s still fall until the 21 of December, I always feel like November first marks the beginning of the winter months. November can be cold, wet and gloomy (even snowy, depending on where you live.) In November, October’s vibrant color is lost as the trees shed the last of their leaves.
All in all October has been a good month. A mostly quiet month of finding quiet joys at home. As you know, I did a bunch of jigsaw puzzles! My latest was this pretty, fall scene of a cabin in the woods. I loved the little scarecrow with his buckets of apples 
I read just two novels, because I have been busy reading ARC’s for Christmas novellas! I will post about those after they release.
The Orphan Sister by Gwendolen Gross. Based on the synopsis (and yes, the cover 
) I thought I would love this book. I wanted to love it:
Clementine Lord is not an orphan. She just feels like one sometimes. One of triplets, a quirk of nature left her the odd one out. Odette and Olivia are identical; Clementine is a singleton. Biologically speaking, she came from her own egg. Practically speaking, she never quite left it. Then Clementine’s father—a pediatric neurologist who is an expert on children’s brains, but clueless when it comes to his own daughters—disappears, and his choices, both past and present, force the family dynamics to change at last.
Sadly, I didn’t love it. But I didn’t hate it, either. The writing was lyrical and in places, quite beautiful. But there were parts I found to be just too silly. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.
Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler:
In Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler, eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle McAllister has a favor to ask her hairdresser Dorrie Curtis. It’s a big one. Isabelle wants Dorrie, a black single mom in her thirties, to drop everything to drive Isabelle from her home in Arlington, Texas, to a funeral in Cincinnati. With no clear explanation why. Tomorrow. Curious whether she can unlock the secrets of Isabelle’s guarded past, she agrees, not knowing it will be a journey that changes both their lives.
This one I did love. The writing was lovely, and the story was by turns humorous and heartbreaking. I gave it a solid 5 stars.
On the social scene things were fairly quiet. I had some friends in for a craft day. Our church hosted a ladies prayer tea, and I attended our monthly Bible study. Since October is almost over and I had not yet indulged in my once-a-month splurge (I’m still hanging in there with my sugar-free lifestyle) my friend Sharon and I took a lovely fall drive to the small town of Beaver today, to a little hometown café called Sully’s in the Valley.
I’ve been craving pizza and this little 8″ pepperoni pie sure fit the bill
But for the real splurge, I got a dish of Cider Mill ice cream. Sharon went with Butter Pecan.
In the writing world, I appeared as a guest on my first ever podcast this month. I also got my ARC’s for my Christmas novella, Chester’s Miracle and am eagerly awaiting it’s release I am making slow but steady progress on Blackberry Summer, so I hope to keep my streak going and have a release in 2026.
I hate to see October go. But November has its own stark beauty and plenty to celebrate. I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving and holiday decorating, a tree trimming party at my church, and of course, plenty more Christmas stories to devour! What was your October like?
