A visit to the october country — 2015
He spends the week before trying to control his anticipation.
Adding books to his bag, spending long minutes staring out into the increasingly gray weather, fingering the ticket on his desk to the point that it looks foxed and well-used. He wishes to be there, to set out for that “fated migration” and find himself again.
He checks the list, almost a book for every day, more books than he could ever read in a month even by his standards. He will bring them all anyway. To line the shelves and make him feel at home. To fill his bag on travels abroad and afar. To bring him comfort during a busy month, even as he realizes he may spend less time in the Country than he hopes.
Satisfied, or as satisfied as he can be, he lingers and waits and holds his breath. And as the clock in their bedroom ticks towards then past midnight and she shifts next to him, well-ensconced in slumber, he hears a friendly voice say again: “Your ticket please, sir.”
He looks up to see the conductor there - and then he is away…
The 2015 October Country Reading List
The Hellbound Heart, Clive Barker
The Fifty Year Sword, Mark Z. Danielewski
The New and Improved Romie Futch, Julia Elliott
The Library at Mount Char, Scott Hawkins
The Blind Owl, Sadegh Hedayat
The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson
The Uses of Enchantment, Heidi Julavits
Witches of America, Alex Mar
Slade House, David Mitchell
Rooms, Lauren Oliver
“Why is This Night Different From All Other Nights?”, Lemony Snicket
The Merciless, Danielle Vega
In a Dark, Dark Wood, Ruth Ware
Mockingbird, Chuck Wendig
A Night in the Lonesome October, Roger Zelazny