It’s over a week into October and here I am. October is a crazy month for us, We have 2 birthdays and an anniversary in within a week and half and this year we decided to add a four state road trip into the mix, lol.
I’ve been trying to read some creepy books for this spooky month.
I woke up to find 50 flowers waiting for me. Happy birthday month to me!
I’m intending to read from these stacks worthy of #ripxiv #ripperils 💀. I’ve got ghosts, magic, horror, and mystery waiting for me this month.
What’s your favorite story with a ghost?
For my first ghostly story I read the kids book The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall and loved it! What a great intro for kids into the the horror stories of the day. It had a little Haunting of Bly Manor feel, only with a 12 year old orphan girl protagonist. There was real danger and scares here.
The Flip by Phillip Michael Cash was full of ghosts, just what this month calls for. A newly married couple flips houses and one of them falls in love with an old Victorian, hoping to make it their permanent home. The other feels the presence of spirits not altogether friendly. The ghosts are dealing with issues of their own and you even get their backstory of their time in the house.
A quick and ghostly October read 👻
And I finished up Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz. An evil wanna be god nicknamed Tick Tock because he tells people when they’re gonna die, wreaks havoc. Fortunately, there’s a hero dog that saves the day more than once. A decent audio for October listening.
The birthday fairy came again and brought 50 chocolates from @malleyschoc 🧚♂️ You may notice the pack of 2 chocolate covered pretzels is already empty. 🥨🍫
I read the spooky Full Wolf Moon by Lincoln Child and loved it for an October read. People in the Catskills are being brutally murdered. First they say it’s a bear, and then a wolf, but some people suspect a more human element.
This is the most recent of the Jeremy Logan series and even though I haven’t read any of the others I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. I’m tempted to go back and read a few others this month. Think X-Files or Supernatural.
I read Gage the 84 page book, Scary Tales: One-Eyed Doll. Spooky and fun, it was a great atmospheric October read. Siblings dig up an old box from the yard of an abandoned house. Inside the locked box they found a doll. The 5 year old girl takes it home and starts to act strangely forcing her brother to ask questions about the house. Loved the layout of the book and the few pictures included. I’m going to track down some more of this series this month.
A few years ago Jason bought me a Keurig and we use the reusable pods because all of this plastic trash everyday would drive me nuts. But I’m not gonna lie, when the birthday fairy brought me an assortment of 50 coffees for the machine I was happy to know that on more difficult mornings I could skip a few steps for my joe. It even came with a fun mug for those mornings 😆
Gage read me Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol: The Sleepwalking Snowman. This is #7 and we haven’t read any of the others, but when the library put up their spooky story display for kids I grabbed randomly. Desmond and his best friend Andres (who happens to be the book’s author) are called upon to solve a case from someone in their school. What the find is a snowball bully and something scary enough to only come to life in a dream.
Loved the humor, the illustrations, and the spookiness of this Halloween thriller for the older elementary school set. We will definitely be picking up more from this series! 120 pages.
I listened to another from the Jeremy Logan series by Lincoln Child since I liked the other one I read. It was just as appropriate for October since Dr. Logan is a ghost hunter. This one is about a mysterious scientific think tank and the scientists who are going crazy. Logan discovers a secret room with a machine that seems to summon the supernatural. I like Logan, the atmospheric setting, and the moral quandary presented. This is a fun series!
It’s Ivy who brought us to Cleveland in 2000. Her maternity leave allowed us to live in up in midtown Manhattan for 4 months. She always treated Jason and I well, even inviting us to parties at her home and events for her kids. Thanks to her I attended my first and only Bris. Soon after he started, fresh out of college, I remember her gifting him a $200 dinner wherever he wanted to go. Needless to say, we had to do a little looking to find out where we could blow $200 on a dinner for 2 😂. Now I request Johnny’s downtown every birthday!
She has written a book about her ascent to the #1 analyst in her field and the lessons she learned along the way. In a male dominated profession she did things differently, not relying on her name or degree at an Ivy League school. I liked getting a different, more personal perspective from a powerhouse woman. And yes, the best page is 74, the one pictured, for obvious reasons.
Jason worked for Ivy for 4 years and she taught him well.
Stacy's Books 
Wow! Your birthday fairy is doing up your whole turning-50-year big! It sounds like you are having great fun.
This is going to be the birthday you never forget! Enjoy I remember when I turned 50 the florist delivered 50: pink, yellow and red roses – I was shocked and mad that he spent so much SS on flowers but they were gorgeous and memorable. LOL
What a wonderful birthday celebration! Your birthday fairy is very creative and loving.
Your birthday fairy is hitting it out of the park! Happy Birthday month!!
Loved this and a very happy birthday to you, Stacy! Lots of fun stuff. Enjoy your month!
Awesome! Fifty is nifty. Card on its way.