Welcome to the newsletter for the Book By Book blog! E-mail me at [email protected] to let me know what you think of this newsletter and what you would like to see here in the future.

Book Quote of the Month

"And as she talked, the Count had to acknowledge once again the virtues of withholding judgement. ...For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone? Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven or a brushstroke about Botticelli. By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration--and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour."

• from A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, one of my two top books read in 2021. It's beautifully written, thoughtful (as you see here), warm, funny, and uplifting. I marked many quotes from the book, and this one seems especially relevant today! You can read my full review here.

Blog of the Month

My pick for Blog of the Month is a favorite of mine that I don't think many of my subscribers know about it: Chris Wolak: Stay Curious. Chris is a friend of mine and also attends Booktopia, like I do. Her blog covers books, libraries, and history, with content including book reviews, visits to libraries and other literary sites, and fascinating updates on her library schoolwork in archives management. She recently posted a fun seasonal blog post called Pumpkins, Squirrels, and RIP XVIII. Chris and Emily Fine also host a podcast, Book Cougars, that I highly recommend. Stop by her blog and give her some comment love!

My Reading Life

In October, I was immersed in the R.I.P. (Readers Imbibing Peril) Challenge, which I love! It's now in its 17th year, and the idea is simply to read darker stuff in the fall (Sept & Oct). As always, I thoroughly enjoyed this period of reading suspense, thrillers, mysteries, a witchy novel, and ghost stories. I am just finishing one last ghostly mystery, The Neversink Hotel by Adam O'Fallon Price. Then, I will jump into Nonfiction November! I don't normally read a lot of nonfiction, so I always enjoy this seasonal challenge. You can see the stack of nonfiction books I have--my pile of possibilities--in my Nonfiction November video.

A Look Back

No surprise: a year ago on my blog, I was writing about Nonfiction November! Check out my post at the link. I included a stack of nonfiction books to choose from (I read four from that stack, and six of them are back in this year's stack!), plus an overview of the nonfiction I'd read so far in 2021, with my recommendations.

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