I’m not loving this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl, so instead I’m going to share the 11 books I currently have out from the library:

1. The Library Book by Susan Orlean — The amount of time this book is taking me is not indicative of how much I’m enjoying it.
2. Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads by Nick Hayes — I’ve had this graphic bio out since this summer, and it’s been living in a bag I haven’t looked in in a while. I need to finish it and get it back to the library.
3. Knitting the Fog by Claudia Hernández — This poetry collection is in the same bag with Woody. I hope they’re having a good time.
4. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong — This book was everywhere earlier this year. Honestly, I have no idea what it’s about and even whether I still want to read it.
5. Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell — I meant to reread Carry On first, but the sequel came in before I figured out where my copy has gotten to.
6. The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson — I loved this picture book history of Black American history and have kept it out because I haven’t yet had a chance to read all the biographical reference pieces at the back.
7. Book Love by Debbie Tung — This is a collection of bibliophilic cartoons. I like to read a handful at a time and then put it back down.
8. Autumn by Ali Smith — This got such good reviews when it first came out, both in the U.K. and here, that I picked it up when I saw it in the library’s window display, but this is another one where I have no idea if I even want to read it. Books sometimes just like to visit my house.
9. Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds — I am very much looking forward to reading Jason’s latest middle grade novel.
10. Kiss Number 8 by Colleen A.F. Venable — This is a coming-of-age graphic novel set in 2004 and I literally raced through the first half when I picked it up last night.
11. Bittersweet by Susan Wittig Albert — I’ve never read of of her China Bayles series, but this one, the 23rd in the series apparently, is set at Thanksgiving, so we’ll see!

What do you have out from the library right now?

Have you signed up for the Virtual Advent Tour event for bloggers yet? We’d love to have you join us!

I turned on ABC when I got home tonight in anticipation of decompressing to an episode of Stumptown. Unfortunately, it wasn’t on. However, the Country Music Awards were. I’m not a huge fan of awards show, but this had both a number of collaborations where I recognized at least the name of one of the artists and more singing than talking, so I dozed through the second two thirds of the show.

Here are a couple performances from it:

Here, I knew the song and Sheryl Crow. I’ve heard the name Dierks Bentley, but honestly I couldn’t have told you if it was a person or a group before tonight. (In case you were also wondering, he’s a guy and “Dierks” is his middle name.) Also performing are Chris Janson, Joe Walsh (he’s from The Eagles) and John Osborne.

This is a mashup of Lady Antebellum’s “What If I Never Get Over You?” and Halsey’s “Graveyard” and includes some amazing harmonies.

There was also a nice performance by Thomas Rhett of “Remember You Young,” but I can’t find a video of that anywhere for you. I’d never heard of him before, but it was a very pretty song.

We could look at this photo as a complete failure, having failed to complete sock or book, by the end of October.

Or…

We could look at it as getting a really nice jump start on the 2020 Halloween season. I know which perspective I’m going with.

Head over to As Kat Knits for what other folks are knitting and reading this week.

I had a day this morning at work. I decided midday that getting out of the office and going outside was key to turning things around. I took my sandwich to a nearby park and tried to read away my frustration, but it wasn’t working. Then some guy sat down nearby and started watching videos on his phone. Fair enough, but it was definitely not going to help me shake off the morning’s frustrations.

But, I thought, some music might help.

My go-to Google Play channel came through with this early Kelly Clarkson hit, which, played at full-blast on my headphones, started the reboot:

Adele was also a good choice from the streaming service, but then I opted to switch to YouTube to pull up two songs from my personal dance party playlist (since I didn’t have my iPod with me): “Accidentally in Love” and “The World Ain’t Slowing Down.”

And that was what it took. Upbeat music at warning-level volume and — ultimately — dancing my way back to the office in the autumn sunshine.

What do you do to turn around a (work)day?

My favorite Halloween song is probably “Zombie Jamboree,” popularized when I was growing up by Rockapella. It wouldn’t be for another couple decades before I learned that they were simply covering the song, written in the early 1950s by Winston O’Conner (who performed as Lord Intruder and debuted the song as “Jumbie Jamberie”) and popularized on the folk circuit by the Kingston Trio.

The Williams Street Mix, an a capella group at my college, made this one of their most popular tunes. This is a slightly more traditional version of the song than Rockapella usually performed.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday post from That Artsy Reader Girl is Halloween-themed, so I thought I’d share some suggestions for Halloween costumes you could do based on literary characters. I have only used some of them personally:

1. Pippi Longstocking:
   
2. Phryne Fisher (the tv show demonstrates how many amazing outfits you could pick from)
3. Raggedy Ann:
   
4. Sherlock Holmes (it helps if you own a deerstalker hat)
5. Anne of Green Gables (I’ve noticed puffed sleeves are in right now)
6. Anyone from Harry Potter:
   
7. Any of the ragtag group from the Oz books (if you pick the literary version of Dorothy, your shoes will not be red and fewer people will recognize you; conversely, you could go as the tornado, although I would make it a two funnel-tornado in order to be able to walk)
8. Go classic with Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (for the latter, you would need to divide your costume down the middle)
9. Little Red Riding Hood:
   
10. Paddington

Have you ever dressed up as a favorite bookish character?