halloween

True Crime Time in Virginia and Kansas

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great_pumpkin_charlie_brown_title_card

(These are my Virginia and Kansas picks for my Make America Read Again challenge – to read the full list of books this year, click here.)

Winter is coming, y’all. I am currently wrapped up in my late grandmother’s crochet blanket she made many moons ago, my 90’s style Meg Ryan turtle neck, leggings, and fuzzy Halloween-themed socks keeping me warm in this 29 degree wind chill. The best part about living in Atlanta? These cold spells are SHORT – instead of the six months of dreary winter, we get little hints and peeks of chill and then return to our normal 70-degree afternoons.

The only sad part about this cozy situation is that I didn’t get to spend all weekend curled up with my piles of books. I had two days of Continuing ed classes, tickets to this month’s musical at the Fox Theater (not complaining about this one at all, especially as the husband is finally back from all his work travels so he could join me), and an overflowing list of errands to run. It was a wonderful weekend, if a bit busier than I would’ve liked on this frigid weekend. Still, I managed to squeeze in some precious time in my book nook. Round two of my Halloween-themed reads cuts rather close to home and explains why I love podcasts like My Favorite Murder and shows like 60 Minutes: nonfiction crime.

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Witchy New England Reads

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hocuspocus

(Psst, these are my Connecticut and Rhode Island  picks for my Make America Read Again challenge – to read the full list of books this year, click here.)

The heat wave FINALLY broke here in Atlanta (as the handmaids would say, “Praise be”) and I’m embracing my favorite season of the year with ALL THE THINGS. We’ve got baby pumpkins on our coffee table, butternut squash soup is on repeat for our weekly meal plans, and I’m planning a Nora Ephron movie marathon this weekend and a day of leaf-chasing in the mountains.

…But of course, let’s not forget the best part of this season: FALL BOOKS.

October is especially near and dear to me as it is the season of tricks (and treats, because I totally didn’t make it all the way through Whole30…but can you seriously blame me when all the best candy is out in full force right now?!?).  I absolutely LOVE mystery books and thrillers. Though I have a bit too much of an active imagination to read true “horror” novels — I avoid books with crazy amounts of gore, especially this month as my husband has had to travel for work for most of October and Lord knows I can’t sleep with all my house lights on for the entire month — I DO enjoy a good page turner or who-dun-it novel. I even wrote my senior thesis on gender issues in the novel Dracula.

dracula

I also REALLY love a good book about witches.  A couple of weeks ago, I realized I actually had several “witchy” reads on my Make America Read Again list, as well as some mysteries and thrillers. And they all happened to be set in New England, so it’s a perfect time for me to read books set here as this is the time of year when I truly miss my days as a Boston girl. To get us in the holiday spirit, I’ll be having a couple of posts about these books – first up, lets talk about all that hocus pocus.

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Halloween Reads: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

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Happy Halloween, y’all! Got any fun parties to attend tonight? What’s your costume going to be?

As a kid, I didn’t care that much for Halloween. Don’t get me wrong, I always loved an excuse for free candy and a stylish princess costume, but it just wasn’t something I obsessed over either. However, over the past couple of years I’ve had a lot of fun at Halloween parties, or even evenings spent at home watching Halloween TV episodes while handing out candy to the kids that come by our neighborhood. Tonight we’re gonna have Hocus Pocus in the background while we celebrate :).

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