Hey November

November, I've got my fingers crossed that you and I will be great friends. There's certain things going on, including, of course, Thanksgiving! This year my mom and my sister and my brother-in-law are coming down to my new fiance's family's turkey-shindig :-) I am very excited for that, and for my plan to make pumpkin pies weekly (starting today).

But first, the past - my reading past! In October I read three books I wanted to highlight:

Favorite novel I read: by far, the hilarious and touching Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally, which I got to devour in ARC form. It comes out in a month, and would make an awesome Christmas present for anyone on your list who likes YA novels - it's got a strong and sassy heroine who struggles with love, sports and her future. Highly recommended.

And for nonfiction, I just discovered The Renaissance Soul by Margaret Lobenstine, and wow has this book been great for me right now! For people with multiple interests who can't seem to settle on just one goal and stick with it, this look into how so-called Renaissance Souls work is great - the author (a life coach) has really helpful, concrete exercises and tips on how to structure one's life to make progress on multiple goals at once.

I'd been struggling with feeling down about myself because I keep switching between stuff: writing, learning InDesign for ebook formatting (that programming book I was working on is out now!), setting up a t-shirt store with my designs to hopefully try and defray the costs of a wedding (and also I started a new blog because I kept running into fun nature-y stuff I wanted to share), and more.

So I'd been feeling scattered, and like I was a failure for not being able to focus on one thing only. But this book helped me see my multiple passions as strengths, and to organize my schedule to make progress instead of flailing (there had been a LOT of flailing). Not everyone will fit the main definition of Renaissance Soul, of course, but I think most people can identify with it at least a little, and for anyone struggling with multiple projects, this is a great resource.

Third and final book I read recently and loved: Waiter Rant, a memoir by (spoiler alert) a waiter. He apparently had (actually I just googled it and it's still being updated!) a very popular blog a couple years ago, which got him the book deal, but the book is more than a collection of stories about good and bad customers (though there are plenty of those!): it's about a middle-aged guy struggling with his fears and trying to figure out what he wants to do when he "grows up." It was funny, entertaining, and moving. Recommended if you like insightful books that take you behind the scenes.

So October brought me some literary gems - can't wait to see what November holds!