This past month my friend Cathy has been to our house a few times for dinner. We’ve been friends for more than 20 years and live in the same town, but her wickedly intense travel schedule --- she goes to the Orient like I go into the city --- and her homes in a few places around the country keep us from spending much time together. When we get together it’s always memorable, and we catch up like we just were together. One thing we rarely talk about is books. Cathy always tells me she is not much of a reader. Given the amount of time she travels, this always surprises me.

October means...Halloween. It's still summer-like warm here in New York, so it feels odd to be thinking pumpkins. The other day my younger son started talking about his Halloween costume. He wants to be a ghost. Seriously. Last year he wanted to be a ghost, but I refused to let him cut eyes in a really big sheet that I had. Instead I made it into a toga. He still wants to be a ghost, so he suggested we just buy a cheap white sheet. I think this might be a good idea. One year my older son went trick or treating dressed as Harry Potter. At the school Halloween Parade there were lots of Harry Potters. I happen to think he was the BEST Harry Potter, but I am his mom! If any books or book characters have ever inspired your Halloween costume, be sure to tell us about it in this month’s poll and question.

October means...Halloween. It's still summer-like warm here in New York, so it feels odd to be thinking pumpkins. The other day my younger son started talking about his Halloween costume. He wants to be a ghost. Seriously. Last year he wanted to be a ghost, but I refused to let him cut eyes in a really big sheet that I had. Instead I made it into a toga. He still wants to be a ghost, so he suggested we just buy a cheap white sheet. I think this might be a good idea. One year my older son went trick or treating dressed as Harry Potter. At the school Halloween Parade there were lots of Harry Potters. I happen to think he was the BEST Harry Potter, but I am his mom! If any books or book characters have ever inspired your child’s Halloween costume, they can tell us about it in this month’s poll and question.

There are some months where news that we think is of interest to book clubs keeps coming and coming. Reacting to this, I delay sending the newsletter time and again as "one more item of note" keeps coming our way! This was one of those months.