So the September bookshelf thing didn't quite happen! October is kind of perfect for the creepy, crawly, mildly disturbing type of novel. It's the time of year to stay up late once in awhile and read something just a little bit scary. 

The Black Cat & Other Stories. Edgar Allan Poe. Sufficiently creepy & I have such a cute copy.

The Monk. Matthew Lewis. I haven't read this but I have plans.

The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton. I did my senior thesis on Edith Wharton. Ghost stories might not exactly be her thing. It kind of reads like she was hoping to get a rise out of Henry James. I wonder if it worked? 

Vampire Stories from New England.  Lawrence Schimel. I just realized Bram Stoker's Dracula is not on my bookshelf. Such an oversight! It's so readable and still really scary. You should read that before Vampire Stories of New England.

Rebecca. Daphne du Maurier. I started listening to this book on Audible and then got so involved that I had to run down and get myself a copy so I could finish it more quickly. Very suspenseful.

The Little Stranger. Sarah Waters. This was short-listed for last year's Booker Prize. Post-WWII creepy English house. Read it. Sarah Waters is a wonderful writer.

Casting the Runes & Other Ghost Stories. M.R. James. I haven't read this but I want to.

The Haunted Bookshop. Christopher Morley. Surprisingly quite fun. I must confess I bought it for the title alone but it surprised me.

The Secret of the Old Clock. Carolyn Keene. Did you know as a child I read all 100+ Nancy Drew mysteries IN ORDER? I was a little preoccupied with order even then. Cate plays with the Nancy Drew's that I own – she pretends they are telephones. "Hello Nancy? Solved any good mysteries lately?"

The Ladies of Grace Adieu & Other Stories. Susanna Clarke. From the writer of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. British history of magic and fairy stories. You will know immediately if you like this type of thing. She's a fabulous writer.

The Woman in White. Wilkie Collins. Sometimes credited as the first detective novel. You will not be sorry you read this. It's held up remarkably well. Collins & Dickens were friends.

Death in Holy Orders. P.D. James. James is my favorite mystery writer and Death in Holy Orders is my favorite of the Adam Dalgliesh series. The writing is sublime and the characters are intensely real. 

The Thirteenth Tale. Diane Setterfield. To some of you, this is old news but I really, really love this novel. It's all here – somewhat crazy British writer, creepy bookshop, lonely moors, mysterious childhoods. I have read it three times. 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Washington Irving. How have I not read this? Definitely will before the end of the month.

In other book news, it's a sad state of affairs on my 52 in 52. I am sure you are all enjoying my weekly reviews! Hah! I am a bit behind and I am NEVER going to restrict myself like this again. I am too old to feel guilty for procrastinating on an imaginary project.

Week 31/52: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley. Based on King Lear but set on a prosperous Midwestern farm. The women are all complicated and the men are all just short of evil. All feels a little forced, especially by page 450.  

Week 32/52: So Much for That by Lionel Shriver. I love everything by Lionel Shriver except for this. It's a healthcare novel! I obviously have read every New Yorker article she has and boy is it all here. Maybe it's a case of preaching to the choir?

Week 34/52: The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. Oh my word. If you haven't read this I highly, highly recommend it. The full title is The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic — And How it Changed Science, Cities & the Modern World. So the title is a bit grandiose but honestly this is gripping stuff. 

Week 35/52: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. Based on Hamlet but set on a Midwestern dog-breeding farm. Beautiful sentences, gripping story. As a dog-lover myself I was hopelessly enthralled with Edgar and his family.

Week 37/52: The Archivist's Story by Travis Holland. A beautiful debut novel set in Stalin Russia in 1939. Pavel Dubrov is a former literature teacher and is now a book destroyer for Stalin's regime. An encounter with Babel (famous Russian writer) and one of his unpublished manuscripts forces Dubrov to take another path.

Week 38/52: Out of Africa by Isak Dineson. Lovely, meandering memoir of Dineson's coffee farm in Kenya. A pleasure to read.

Week 40/52: The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews. An easy-breezy roadtrip novel with charming, quick dialogue. Enjoyable. A Powell's Indiespensable volume.

It's so beautiful here in October. Today I am going to run across the street and pick up a bunch of leaves that have fallen from the most beautiful tree you have ever seen. It's on State property so I don't think they will mind. We tend to view the State buildings across the street as an extension of our [very small] backyard. And we don't have to mow the lawn.

Our bathroom remodel is almost done. Telfer just needs to install the light fixture and I need to put everything back in the medicine cabinet when the paint finishes drying.  I'll put some pictures up tomorrow. Every time I walk by the bathroom I jump a little. It looks so clean. This is such a first world problem but I don't think we will do a major project with such little children again. Just coordinating nap schedules and beds to sleep in (upstairs, downstairs, Grammy's house) was quite the undertaking. Cate hates loud noises and guess what? Bathroom remodels thrive on loud noises! 

Today is the best kind of lazy day. The girls and I woke up and just played. I should vacuum and get ready to go on a few errands but it is so much nicer to sit by the fire (only on when Jane is napping – can you say 3rd degree burns?), drink coffee and dink around the computer while Cate plays. 

Last Saturday we had Cate's deer party. My parents, Telfer's parents, Nana and Aunt Liz and Kelsey all came over for cupcakes and presents and a walk. Then we put the girls to bed and had an adult dinner. How strange and fun is that? 

Cate loved all the deer-related decorations. We had to keep reminding certain people (mom!) that this wasn't a hunting party, just a deer party. 

Somehow Cate is three today. She was such a beautiful newborn… And such a little person at three. This parenting thing is pretty great.

We love her so much. 

A few other little things: I took the picture above after the girls and I walked back from our very fruitful trip downtown on Thursday. 3 pounds of mussels, cheese, bread and two pounds of espresso. It was a very local moment. Needless to say, Telfer and I had an amazing dinner [AFTER girls went to bed]. I love mussels and was feeling like they would be a fitting end to summer. 

What is this you are wondering? Henry ate the squeaker out of his lone toy. After 24 hours of vomiting and one nearly sleepless night listening to him cry (saddest thing ever) he had to have emergency abdominal surgery to remove the above from his intestines. I was a bit of a mess…Of course we were leaving for my parents the next day but Mendy & Chris took such good care of him while we were gone. He's definitely on the mend – he barked at the postman yesterday so I know he's feeling better.

While home we attended the wedding of the son of dear family friends at their house in Hermiston. There were swimsuits available for the children to enjoy little pools and the sandbox. This was Cate's swimsuit until she discovered a mismatched top several sizes too big to combine with the SpongeBob shorts. Telfer's comment: "My worst nightmare realized." Cate had a fabulous time running around…she is such a funny, spirited kid.

And then my sisters and I made Nate take about 45 pictures until we had one we all really liked. 

Also: both girls are a little under the weather today. Jane is taking a nap and Cate and I are curled up on my bed watching The Swan Princess. Telfer is demolishing the bathroom downstairs in preparation for the remodel starting on Monday. And one year ago today Telfer and I flew from New York to Seattle with a one-week-old Jane. Whew.