To quote the great Anne Shirley, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” Sorry – I’m sure that quote was all over your social media, as it always floods mine every October 1. But it’s so good.

Anyway, it was a slow but good week in reading. On audio, I finished up The Fortnight in September – a re-read, and while I loved it the first time around (in print) I think, if it’s possible, I loved it even more on audio. The narrator was just perfect for this book and a total delight to listen to from the first minute to the last. I really wanted to finish both The Fortnight in September and my print book, The Theft of the Iron Dogs, in September – since that’s the month in which they both take place. And I did finish both. I enjoyed The Theft of the Iron Dogs very much; the writing was as immersive and engaging as I expect from E.C.R. Lorac, and I didn’t guess whodunit (I fell victim to a very cleverly laid red herring). I’m still on a bit of a mystery jag, so I picked up The Thursday Murder Club, which I had checked out from the library, on Sunday. Not far into it yet, so I don’t have fully formed thoughts for you, but so far, so good. (I did read somewhere that the ending doesn’t entirely “play fair,” so I’m on the alert. But even knowing that, I’m intrigued to see what the hype is about Osman’s series.)

No specific plans for the next book – not right now, anyway. I have a couple of books I’d like to get to sometime in October – The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton, a re-read of Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party, and possibly Frankenstein. But the month is young, and I also have a stack of Georgette Heyer novels out from the library. So we’ll see. It’s nice to have so many options.

Sunday morning dawned gloriously warm and without a cloud in the sky, so naturally we welcomed in October with a morning paddle on the Potomac. Steve and I had a good laugh about the shoulder season – I’m usually driving around a trunk full of sports gear, but for the last two weeks the gear in question has been a pile of kayak paddles and life jackets and… skis, poles, and ski boots. (We exchanged Nugget’s seasonal gear rental at Sun & Ski Sports, just under the wire.) It’s definitely fall in Virginia!

What are you reading this week?