A visit to the october country — 2017

The last twelve months having passed in something of a blur…

He found himself walking around the city a man once again awake after a tumultuous sleep.

The air had turned crisp once more, just in time for the turning, and he forced himself to keep his excitement in check. It would do no one any good to get overly excited, to expect more than was possible - and yet he felt it like a tingle on the back of his neck. 

He now understood that it was impossible to fully escape the realities of the real world. Armed with that understanding, however, he considered that he might in fact be able to enjoy his time away all the more. He had been planful, these past few weeks, positioning himself to take fullest advantage. And where last year he was running (as were so many) from the fear of a dark future, the fact that the dark future had in fact arrived did not push him into hiding or melancholy but instead saw him standing tall despite the weariness of the long, long fight.

His bag was packed with (some) more caution this year. H brought many books that had traveled with him previously and returned unread - bringing only a few - well, more than a few - new books to balance those out. He would, of course, see many come home with him again… but for once, he hoped he could devote the entirety of his time to just these. An October for the ages.

And so, as the clock ticked forward then ticked past midnight, he found himself jacketed and with a bag slung over his shoulder. His partner stood by, her hand in his, and the conductor punched their tickets with a smile…

The 2017 October Country Reading List

  • Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places, Colin Dickey

  • The Grip of It, Jac Jemç

  • Locke & Key - The Complete Series, Joe Hill

  • Strange Weather, Joe Hill

  • You Should Have Left., Daniel Kehlmann

  • White Tears, Hari Kunzru

  • The Changeling, Victor LaValle

  • Broken River, J. Robert Lennon

  • The Gentleman, Forrest Leo

  • Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado

  • The Hike, Drew Magary

  • Beloved, Toni Morrison

  • Revenge, Yoko Ogawa

  • White is for Witching, Helen Oyeyemi

  • Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

  • Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

  • Security, Gina Wohlsdorf