Books I Read in October 2025

For starters, relax, no mention of politics in America in today’s post.

Second, where did October go? Or September, for that matter?

I only read two books in October, but they were both wonderful reads that gave me much to think about. It was great to get back in the groove and read some excellent historical fiction!

The Weight of Snow and Regret, by Elizabeth Gauffreau

Two weeks ago, on October 20^th, I blogged about The Weight of Snow and Regret, an historical novel by Elizabeth Gauffreau. If you missed reading that post, please go back and read it now: The Weight of Snow and Regret.

I don’t want you to miss it! Ms. Gauffreau’s novel will take you back to a time in our country when poor houses were available for people who did not have anywhere else to go. The book is populated by distinct characters who will tug at your heart.

After not finding any novels that held my attention for months, October was a much-needed dive back into reading for pleasure for me.

15,000 Kilometers, by Laleh Chini

In addition to reading Elizabeth Gauffreau’s new novel, I read Laleh Chini’s new book, 15,000 Kilometers. In case you are an American and kilometers don’t mean anything to you, 15,000 kilometers is more than 9,300 miles. The book is Laleh Chini’s husband’s memoir.

Hassan was a teenager when he risked his life to escape Iran after the Shah of Iran was overthrown in 1979. Life under the Shah’s rule was not perfect, but things deteriorated rapidly during and after the revolution.

This book will take you along with Hassan every excruciating step of the way as he was determined to get to Canada and have a free life.

Hassan’s decision was gut-wrenching for himself and his parents, but he faced a bleak future if he stayed in his home country. He already had his eye on the lovely Laleh, who was from his hometown. He never gave up on his dream of reaching Canada and reuniting with Laleh.

He joined others who sought to escape Iran, and they bonded as they walked and ran to the border with Afghanistan, then braved the desert with very little food and water, always at the mercy of smugglers they had placed their lives in the hands of.

Then came two more countries! Hassan continued to do everything he needed to do to blend in and not draw attention to himself in one strange land after another.

Did Hassan make it to Canada? How did he and Laleh find one another again after so much terror and sacrifice? I don’t want to give that away. You must read the book to appreciate Hassan’s bravery and sacrifice and to see if he realized his dream.

The exquisite hand-drawn illustrations are a bonus in 15,000 Kilometers. There are wonderful detailed images of Hasson, the guards and other men he encountered, and some of the sights he saw along the way.

The words and the images in 15,000 Kilometers, by Laleh Chini, are a real treasure that reminded me how fortunate I was to be born in the United States. Even with all of America’s flaws and current challenges, I was blessed to be born and grow up in a free country.

Hurricane Helene Update

As of Friday, October 31, 31 roads in North Carolina were still closed due to Hurricane Helene’s wind, flooding, and landslides on September 26, 2024. That’s two fewer roads than were closed when I gave my last update two weeks ago. Friday’s count included five US highways, two state highways, and 24 state roads.

Future progress will probably be slow, as winter weather is already setting in in the mountains. I will give updates periodically as there is something new to report.

Sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina will remain closed for at least another year, and I-40 at the Tennessee line will continue to be just two lanes at 35 miles-per-hour for a couple more years while five miles of the highway are being rebuilt in the Pigeon River Gorge.

But western North Carolina is open for business and tourists this fall, although the elevations above 3,000 feet are well past their peak of fall color. Be aware that you might run into a detour, and you can’t drive the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

If you visit western North Carolina, please drop by Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville and Highland Books in Brevard. Tell them I sent you. They sell my books!

Janet

The Weight of Snow and Regret, by Elizabeth Gauffreau

I planned to write one of my #OnThisDay history blog posts today about the Treaty of 1818, which established the 49^th parallel as the Canada-United States border from the Great Lakes, west. However, I couldn’t get very excited about that topic.

I’m sure it was a big deal in 1818, during President James Monroe’s first term in office, and I’m sure it meant a lot to the people in the border states and provinces in the two countries. I just couldn’t come up with much to say about it.

I’ll just say, “I think I can speak for all Americans when I say, ‘We love you, Canada.’”

With that said, I will jump into what I am excited to write about today: a book I finished reading Friday night.

The Weight of Snow and Regret, by Elizabeth Gauffreau

If you regularly read my blog, you know I used to blog the first Monday of each month about the books I read the previous month. Some months I read so many books, it took two posts to write about all of them.

Then, January 2025 came along. I read The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon, in January, but then I hit a dry spell. I became so distracted by politics that I found it impossible to find a novel that I could concentrate on long enough to get interested, much less finish reading.

Then came October, and the release of The Weight of Snow and Regret, by Elizabeth Gauffreau. Historical fiction is my “go to” genre for reading and writing, and I had yearned all year for another book that would grab me like Ariel Lawhon’s book.

The Weight of Snow and Regret is written in a way that would not let me go. Ms. Gauffreau was inspired to write the book after learning about the Sheldon Poor Farm in Vermont, which closed in 1968.

The book is expertly researched, which made it possible for the talented writer that Ms. Gauffreau is to infuse every scene with a level of authenticity that puts the reader in the story.

Each resident at Sheldon has a distinct personality and way of speaking that makes them easy to remember and tell apart.

The main character, Hazel, is matron at the Sheldon Poor Farm. Her husband runs the farm. The reader can’t help but be drawn to Hazel as she has the overwhelming job of cooking, cleaning, and in all ways caring for the residents of this very real poor farm. She has a heart for the job, and as her backstory is revealed the reader learns why she is the way she is.

Every time I thought I could close the book, I found myself plunging into the next chapter to see what was going to happen next. Every time I thought life couldn’t get more difficult for Hazel… it got more difficult. Somehow, Hazel kept her sense of humor, and that comes through in the book.

This novel is set in the 1920s, 1940s, and 1960s. I usually don’t enjoy novels that move back and forth between decades, but Ms. Gauffreau pulled this off masterfully. I think it was the perfect way for this story to be told.

The characters in The Weight of Snow and Regret will stay with me for a long time. It’s that kind of story.

There were “poor houses” when I was a child for people who were too poor to live anywhere else and had no relatives willing to take them into their homes. This novel made me stop and wonder where those people go now. I guess they are the people who live under bridges on the streets and highways in the cities.

If you like to read historical fiction, I highly recommend The Weight of Snow and Regret, by Elizabeth Gauffreau.

Hurricane Helene Update

As of Friday, 33 roads in North Carolina were still closed due to the September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene. That count included five US highways, two state highways, and 26 state roads, meaning two state roads opened since my last blog update two weeks ago.

Of course, sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina will remain closed for another year or more, and I-40 at the Tennessee line will continue to be just two lanes at 35 miles-per-hour for a couple more years while five miles of the highway are being rebuilt in the Pigeon River Gorge.

But western North Carolina is open for business and tourists this fall. Just be aware that you might run into a detour, and you can’t drive the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Janet

Books I Read in August 2024

After not finding anything that grabbed my attention enough to finish reading it in July, it was refreshing to get back into reading in August. My interests are varied, as you will see by the four books I read last month.

Simple Pleasures: Haiku from The Place Just Right, by Elizabeth Gauffreau

This is a wonderful collection of 53 haiku! If you aren’t familiar with the haiku form of poetry, this book by Elizabeth Gauffreau would be the perfect introduction for you.

Elizabeth writes in the haiku form of five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line. Haiku is defined by syllables and a precise choosing of words, but that is not the essence of the art form.

As I understand it, — and I’m no authority — the essence of haiku is the creation of a compact choice of words that convey a feast for the senses. As a writer, I am always taken aback when I read haiku. I marvel at how eloquently and concisely a complete idea or image is written by the poet.

In Simple Pleasures: Haiku from The Place Just Right, Elizabaeth Gauffreau pairs each poem with a photograph from New England, so the book gives the bonus of specific places and images important to the poet. The reader can see what types of places in nature inspire Elizabeth in her writing.

This is a book I will read over and over. It is the perfect book to sit down with when you need a few minutes to relax or calm down after a trying experience. You can read the book in one sitting, or you can read it one poem at a time. Either way, you will savor the gift that it is.

The Girls We Sent Away, by Meagan Church

Switching gears from the calming effects of haiku, The Girls We Sent Away, by Meagan Church, does not deal with a pleasant topic. It is about how in mid-20^th-century America, unwed girls who became pregnant were often “sent away” to homes for unwed mothers.

The stigma attached to such events in the 1950s and 1960s was something that middle-class Americans could not deal with. Such girls were hidden away at home or, in many cases including the protagonist in this novel, quietly sent away to facilities just for such situations.

In this novel, Lorraine Delford aspired to be an astronaut in the early days of space exploration. She had the intelligence to do it. She was on track to be the valedictorian of her high school class when all that was shattered.

Lorraine finds herself in the predicament of getting pregnant, being abandoned by the boyfriend, and devastatingly abandoned by her parents. She goes from being the apple of her parents’ eye to being a source of great shame and embarrassment.

Lorraine is hidden away at home until arrangements can be made for her to move into a facility for unwed mothers. All life choices are now made by her parents and the authorities in charge of the dormitory-type home.

She is given little information about what will happen there, and even less information about what her life will be like. She has no say in what happens to her baby. She knows from what happens to other girls that as soon as she has her baby she will disappear without having the chance to say goodbye to her friends.

This book takes Lorraine through the whole process and into her return home to her parents. It is then that she discovers a deep, dark secret her parents have kept from her for her entire life. That secret changes everything.

Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me, by Whoopi Goldberg

Photo of front cover of Whoopie Goldberg's memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me — *Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me*, by
Whoopie Goldberg

As a rule, I don’t follow the lives of celebrities. I don’t care about the ins and outs of their lives, unless it is to learn about their philanthropic endeavors. It’s nice to see someone with wealth using it to help less fortunate people or using it to save the planet and its wildlife.

Whoopie Goldberg is an interesting person. She and I are close in age. I have enjoyed her acting and I agree with a lot of her political views. I checked out her memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me, to learn more about her background. Although contemporaries in age, I knew that she and I had very different childhoods.

In this book, Whoopie pulls no punches. She lays out many of the details of her life with frankness that many others would shy away from. She and her brother were very close. She knew he always had her back – as children and as adults.

Their mother was an extraordinary person, to say the least. Raising two children on her own was no easy task in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s, but she worked hard and made sure her children took advantage of every available opportunity for educational and cultural experiences.

Whoopie’s mother and brother have died, so Whoopie is left with a gigantic hole in her heart. They were the two people on Earth who knew her as well as she knew herself. This book conveys to the reader to never limit yourself or those around you. It also conveys to never take for granted the loved ones in your life, for they can be gone in an instant.

Hebrides, by Peter May

This is a fantastic picture book about the Hebrides off the northwestern coast of mainland Scotland. I have visited several islands in the Outer Hebrides and Inner Hebrides, and the gorgeous photographs and detailed descriptions in this book transported me right back there!

Readers might be familiar with the mystery novels written by Peter May. This is the same Peter May. He now lives in the Outer Hebrides, and this book leaves no doubt about his love for the islands.

The Hebrides are sparsely-populated with scatterings of communities among the massive peat bogs from which residents get most of the fuel for heating their homes and for cooking. Here and there along the rugged coast are pristine beaches. The waters of the Atlantic and The Minch are as clear as tap water. You will usually have a beach area all to yourself.

The area is so far north that in the middle of summer there are almost no hours of darkness, which makes for a tourist’s paradise. It’s not easy to get there. You don’t accidentally find yourself on the Isle of Lewis! But the effort is worth it if you seek a quiet place where the people are kind, soft-spoken in their Scottish lilt and their native Gaelic tongue, and the pace is somewhat slow. There are no crowded highways and no chain fast-food restaurants.

It is a spectacular corner of the world, and I will be forever blessed by having spent some time there. If you are planning a trip there or know that you will never get there, I recommend Hebrides, by Peter May to whet your appetite or to make you feel as if you have visited the islands.

P.S. Be sure and pack a heavy jacket, even if you’re going in July or August!

Until my next blog post

Be sure to visit my website: janetmorrisonbooks.com and subscribe to my e-Newsletter. The September issue will be coming out this week. I don’t want you to miss reading about my “field trip” last week to Swannanoa Gap in the mountains of North Carolina where I learned about the construction of the Western North Carolina Railroad in the 1870s.

I hope you have a good book to read.

Hold your family and friends close.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

We get by with a little help from our fellow bloggers!

Simple Pleasures Blog Tour: Day #1

Liz Gauffreau is a blogger friend of mine. This week she launched her new book, Simple Pleasures: Haiku from the Place Just Right. It is a collection of 53 of her original haiku. Each one is paired with a photograph from her love of nature and the world’s beauty.

If you aren’t familiar with haiku, please give this concise form of poetry a try.

You will find Liz’s book to be calming, refreshing, and thought-provoking. It will transport you to another place where you can sit quietly, take a deep breath, and relax.

This is the first time I’ve ever tried to reblog another blogger’s post, so Liz and Joy, I hope this works!

Janet

Murder Mystery, Marketing, Second Marriages, Frozen Embryos, & Short Stories Galore Read Last Month!

As usual, I enjoyed reading a variety of books in October. By reading my blog post today, I hope you’ll discover a new book or new author to add to your TBR (To Be Read list.) There’s something here for almost everyone.

Under the Southern Sky, by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Right off the bat, this novel got into the hot button topic of frozen embryos. Parker’s wife, Greer, with whom he’d frozen those embryos has died of cancer.

Their marriage appeared to be a match made in heaven. Amelia, the proverbial girl next door during their childhoods, is a reporter researching frozen embryos for a story.

Will Amelia and Parker get together? Can Amelia overcome the idea in her head that Greer was perfect? Surely, she can’t compete with Parker’s memory of his perfect deceased wife. Or can she?

When Amelia approaches Parker with her idea of being the surrogate to give birth to one or more of those frozen embryos how will he respond? How will their families react? How will Greer’s father react?

I enjoyed the frozen embryos aspect of the novel. The on again, off again friendship and romance of Amelia and Parker was sappier than what I like to read, but that’s just me. The dynamics of their relationship are complex and they have to grapple with a lot of emotional baggage.

If you’re looking for a southern beachy story with a hefty dose of what happens to forgotten or abandoned frozen embryos, I think you’ll love this novel by Salisbury, North Carolina native Kristy Woodson Harvey.

I read this novel for the October 24^th meeting of Rocky River Readers Book Club at Rocky River Presbyterian Church. We had a good discussion. Everyone read the entire book, which is a good sign. We were in agreement that the ending was predictable, but it was a good book club selection.

The Second Husband, by Kate White

This is a murder mystery with a chilling twist. Did Emma’s second husband kill her first husband?

Emma’s 37-year-old husband is killed in an alley in the Soho section of New York City. The crime is not solved.

A few months later, Emma meets Tom through a work connection. They marry. Life is good. In fact, it’s perfect until the day a police detective shows up to ask some leading questions.

Suddenly, Emma feels like she’s Suspect #1 in Derrick’s murder. But she knows she’s innocent. She didn’t kill him and she didn’t hire a hitman.

Then, her suspicions turn to Tom.

I learned of this book by reading a review of it on the Linda’s Book Obsession blog on June 28 of this year. Thanks for bringing the book to my attention, Linda! Here’s the link to her review: Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Second Husband” by Kate White, Harper, June 28, 2022 – Linda’s Book Obsession: (lindasbookobsession.blog)

I think this novel would be a good choice for a book club.

Your First 1,000 Copies, by Tim Grahl

I give this nonfiction book about marketing for writers 10 stars on a scale of 1 to 5. I took copious notes. There are so many pointers in this book for someone in my position as I’m anticipating releasing several books in the coming 12 months.

Mr. Grahl has helped many authors launch their books. He’s been through the process enough times and recently enough that he knows what works and what doesn’t work. If you’re a writer hoping to publish a book – whether via the traditional publisher route or by self-publishing – you can benefit from reading this book.

Distant Flickers: Stories of Identity and Loss

*Distant Flickers: Stories of Identity & Loss*

Eight writers contributed short stories for this special anthology about identity and loss.

The book includes two short stories by Elizabeth Gauffreau, whose website and blog I wrote about in my September 26, 2022 blog post, Do you know about these 5 book bloggers?

Other authors featured in Distant Flickers are Donna Koros-Stramella, Keith Madsen, Carol LaHines, Jim Metzner, Joyce Yarrow, Rita Baker, and Amy E. Wallen.

Distant Flickers grew out of a spark of inspiration provided by a group of writers known as Telltale Authors. Each story ties into the subtitle. The topics are varied. There are secrets, loss, and identity issues. Each author writes in a way to pull you into the story. Soon you find yourself empathizing with the main character.

The name of that group gives me a perfect segway into the name of the other book of short stories I read in October….

Tell Tale, by Jeffrey Archer

Since I’m putting together a book of historical short stories, I’ve wanted to get back to reading more short stories. I need to get a handle on just what makes a good short story, right?

Although Jeffrey Archer is better known for his novels, I wanted to read some of his short stories. I found his stories in Tell Tale to be very entertaining.

My favorite stories in the collection were “The Road to Damascus,” “Who Killed the Mayor?” and “The Holiday of a Lifetime.”

Mr. Archer used a clever literary device in “The Holiday of a Lifetime.” He wrote three different endings for the story and encouraged the readers to select the one they preferred. What fun!

Until my next blog post

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post today!

I hope you have a good book to read and will find time to read it. If you have nieces, nephews, children, or grandchildren, it’s important for them to know you enjoy reading. They want to be like you.

If you live in the USA, vote tomorrow, unless you voted early. Our very democracy is on the ballot.

Don’t forget the people of Ukraine.

Janet

This Week: An Additional 5 Book Bloggers

Last week my blog was about five book bloggers I follow. I promised to highlight more such book reviewers in the coming weeks. Today’s blog post is about five other online book reviewers.

As with last week’s list, I selected these five in random order. I hope at least one of them will appeal to you enough that you’ll start following it.

LizGauffreau.com

At https://lizgauffreau.com/, you will find book reviews as well as a variety of other blog posts and information. Liz is a writer and blogger who lives in New Hampshire. As you can tell from her blog topics, she’s not a full-time book review blogger. I’ve included her on this list, though, because she sometimes reviews fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Her website is well-organized. You can click on her blog posts by month, or you can click on her Fiction Book Reviews, her Nonfiction Book Reviews, or her Poetry Reviews.

Here’s the link to one of her recent book reviews: #bookreview: Village Teacher – Elizabeth Gauffreau (lizgauffreau.com), in which she reviewed Village Teacher, by neihtn (Nguyen Trong Hien).

If you’re a fan of short stories, here’s a head’s up. Two of Liz’s short stories will be in the new anthology, Distant Flickers: Stories of Identity and Loss. It’s set for release on October 1. Look for it wherever you buy your books. If your local independent bookstore and public library haven’t ordered copies, ask them to consider doing so.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

As you can guess from the name, Smorgasbord Blog Magazine is an online magazine that covers just about everything. It also covers just about everything very well.

Sally Cronin is the powerhouse behind this online magazine. I marvel at the variety of topics Sally tackles. She not only reviews books. She also reviews music and does excellent posts about popular music from different decades. She also has a post once a week that offers four or five cartoons. As you can see, there’s something for everyone in Smorgasbord Blog Magazine.

You’re reading this, though, because my post today is supposed to be about book bloggers. Here’s the link to one of Sally’s recent book reviews: Smorgasbord Book Reviews – #Historical #1920s Jazz Baby by Beem Weeks , in which she reviewed Jazz Baby, by Beem Weeks.

Sally blogs from Ireland. Her almost daily blog posts are always entertaining.

Amorina Rose’s Blog

Barbara Strickland is the voice behind Amorina Rose’s Blog. Barbara’s website address is https://brstrickland.com/. She is an author as well as a blogger. Through her website you can access her blog archives.

May, June, and July Chilling with Books Corner 2022, being real and finding inspiration – Barbara Strickland – Author & Blogger (brstrickland.com) is a good example of one of her blogs about books and other things, such as movies she’d been watching. In it, she also reviews the historical novel, The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle, by Jennifer Ryan.

Barbara is of Italian and Australian ancestry. She holds a Bachelor of Education degree with TESOL (English as a Second Language) qualifications. She’s had a varied career and enjoys music, dance, art, and literature. She’s in the editing stages of her second novel.

Linda’s Book Obsession

Linda Zagon is the book reviewer behind Linda’s Book Obcession. She is a retired teacher with a massive book collection, including signed first editions.

Reviewing books is Linda’s hobby. She is a Top Reviewer on NetGalley and has also reviewed books on Facebook, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Twitter (as @peachyteach), Amazon (as teachlz) and BookBrowse.

You can find her current and past book reviews on her website, https://lindasbookobsession.blog/. She has been known to blog twice in one day about two different books.

Go to her website and click on her September 22, 2022 blog post in which she gives a rave review of The Child Between Us, by Alison Ragsdale.

Portobello Book Blog

Joanne is passionate about books, and it shows in her book reviews on https://portobellobookblog.com/. She especially likes contemporary fiction and historical fiction but also enjoys a good love story, according to the bio on her website.

There, you can easily scroll down through a list of her recent blog posts. Each one includes an opening paragraph or two from the post. Just click on “more” if you want to continue reading one of them. You can also click on any of give option at the top of her landing page. One of them is “Book Reviews, A to Z.” That will give you a drop-down menu where you can click on her book reviews from any year back to 2015 and get a list of the books she reviewed that year in alphabetical order by the authors’ last names. You can tell by the lengthy lists that Joanne is a voracious reader.

Her site also includes author interviews.

Go to Joanne’s website, https://portobellobookblog.com/, and I suggest you click on her September 20, 2022 blog post in which she reviewed The Dead Romantics, by Ashley Poston. I suggest you click on that one because through it you can read the first chapter of Ashley Poston’s novel. What can beat that in a book review?

Since my last blog post

Last week I mentioned that I’d run into a bit of a roadblock on the cover I wanted for the cover of the e-book I’m working on. I was discouraged, but things opened up this past week. I was contacted by the son of the deceased artist whose painting I wanted for the book cover. He couldn’t have been more accommodating! What a relief! I literally cried tears of joy after talking to him.

I’m still formatting my local history newspaper column articles for that book, Harrisburg, Did You Know? – Book 1. I’ll keep you posted as I reach publication.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read and an enjoyable hobby.

Find the good in the coming week. I’ll look for you back here next Monday. Please tell your friends about my blog.

Don’t forget the courageous people of Ukraine and the grieving people of Uvalde.

Janet

Janet's Writing Blog

Tag: Elizabeth Gauffreau

Books I Read in October 2025

The Weight of Snow and Regret, by Elizabeth Gauffreau

We get by with a little help from our fellow bloggers!

Murder Mystery, Marketing, Second Marriages, Frozen Embryos, & Short Stories Galore Read Last Month!

This Week: An Additional 5 Book Bloggers

Janet's Writing Blog

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