He Was Lookin' For a Soul to Steal. He Was in a Bind, 'Cause He Was Way Behind, And He Was Willin' to Make a Deal

Well, it's almost November, so I better do my "Travel Through Books" post for September.

I read six books in September. Not a whole lot, but we were busy most weekends, so I didn't have as much time, and my constant migraine for the month of September didn't help with the reading list either. Anyway, the few books I did read did help me with my "Calgon take me away" moments.

1.) As far as I'm concerned there's no better way to start your monthly reading list than with Jane Austen. the first book I read last month was "Mansfield Park". I found it very entertaining.

2.) The second book trip I went on for September was "Universal Harvester" by John Darnielle (the guy from the Mountain Goats band). It was a great premise. It took place in Nevada, Iowa in the 90's. A guy in his early twenties works at a video store, and videos start getting returned that have some brutal homemade movie scenes spliced in them. I wasn't super excited where the book went from there, but I did like the way it started.

3.) The third novel I read was "Manhattan Beach", by Jennifer Egan. I really liked it. It took me to New York City during World War Two and the main character was one of the first women divers to work on ships during that time. It was fun and glitzy and the Irish mob was involved. What more do you need for escapism?

 4.) The Fourth book trip I took was to Indiana and Kentucky from post WWII to the present. "Hillbilly Elegy" by J. D. Vance was an interesting look at that culture. I didn't always agree with his take on things, but it was still an interesting trip.

5.) The fifth adventure I took was to our future planet, in the South America region. Octavia Butler's "Adulthood Rites" was the second book in the Lilith trilogy. I liked this novel way better than the first book in the series. It looks at the question of whether humans are irredeemable, or whether we will make the same mistakes we originally made to ruin our planet. It's a good question.

6.) The last book vacation I went on was to Moscow in the late 1930's (?), and to the Middle East during the time of Jesus' crucifixion. the novel didn't get out of the Soviet Union for many years after it was written. It makes fun of the Soviet government and the devil comes to Russia to create havoc. It gives an entirely new meaning to "The devil went down to Georgia".

I had some strange trips in September, but it was just gearing me up for my scary, freakish, murderous books that I read in October.