Here we are almost at the last day of October! Time is such a funny thing. As they say, long days but short years. This has been such a wonderfully golden month. I fall in love with it all over again every year. As Anne says so well, "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." I've got a new helping of nice words for you today, as well as some good links and updates. First for the fun links. The weekend is a great time to check out good articles and such.

13 Things I Learned in October
~Modern Mrs. Darcy is the bomb, for reals, you guys. I really liked this post for its variety and interesting facts and just fun-ness. It got me thinking about recording what I'm learning too. But really, browse her whole blog for a bit - she's such a relatable writer and is one of the most wonderfully bookish bloggers out there. If you need a book recommendation she will surely have you covered!

Book Fifty
~Speaking of books, I'm so excited to share this one too! This is the new book blog of my good friend Sarah with whom I had an English class at Auburn. We had many fun talks about the classics and England and Broadway shows that year. She's one of my most well-read friends and has this blog to record her wide range of book selections! She also will definitely have a good recommendation for you if you need one!

Sherlock Special: New Trailer
~An official trailer for the Sherlock Special is out! I'm not exactly sure why they're in Victorian times, but I'm definitely okay with it. This trailer is awesome and is getting me pumped. It will certainly whet your appetite, fellow Sherlockians!

James Spann on Instagram
~If you're from the Southeast, you likely know Alabama's obsession with our main weather anchor, James Spann. But his photos on Instagram have been sights to behold this month. Fall colors abound in almost every picture and I want to jump into them so bad. Give them a look – so much beauty!

Caroline and Henry: A Romantic Paris, France Wedding
~This is the photography blog of my friend Allison. She is ridiculously talented and, no big deal, got to shoot a wedding in PARIS this month!! Just look at these pictures and try not to swoon. I dare you.

Now for updates! A big one (for me anyway) is that I started using Audible this month and have decided I love it!! Audiobooks are just way better than music for long drives to me, and the wide selection on Audible is so impressive. I'm currently listening to The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and plan to listen to Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay next. Stay tuned for either more thoughts on either of those and/or Audible in general. I'll likely come up with Audible tips for you at some point.

Also, I've now read the first two books in the Poldark series, appropriately titled Ross Poldark and Demelza. I may write another post in more detail on them, but suffice to say for now that they are stunning works of fiction. Winston Graham's narration is nothing short of genius, and the characters are so real from his development of them. Since I'd already watched the show I obviously knew what was going to happen, but I was still just as drawn in as if I were seeing the story unfold for the first time. And pleasantly, the books also made me appreciate the show more in some ways. The stories obviously had to be compressed for television, but I'm now so much more impressed with the show's writer, Debbie Horsefield. Many of the best scenes from the show are not in the books, but are her original writing, and it's amazing to see how she crafted so many excellent dialogues and scenes to capture the story's emotion and bring together different parts of the plot that couldn't be fleshed out as much as they are in the books. I highly recommend them, fellow Poldarkians! I laughed and cried and love Ross and Demelza even more now.


Now I will leave you with my newest batch of favorite quotes. I've enjoyed collecting them.
  
Outside of the will of God there is nothing I want. And in the will of God there is nothing I fear. –A.W. Tozer 

I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable, beautiful, and afraid of nothing as though I had wings. –Mary Oliver 

I think the room the English get right is the library. –Julian Fellowes 

My life is more precious for being less certain. And richer for being poorer. –Ross, Poldark (2015 TV series) 

Help me, O Lord, to make a true use of all disappointments and calamities in this life, in such a way that they may unite my heart more closely with Thee. –Susanna Wesley 

I will not tell you how long or short the way may be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder. –Aslan, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

In appreciation of beauty, mountains, music, poetry, knowledge, people, science – even in the tang of an apple – God is there, to reflect the joy of His presence in the believer who will realize God's purposes in all things. –Pete Fleming 

Now I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who had courage to go forth into its expanse to seek real knowledge of life amid its perils. –Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 

Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything. –Anonymous 

If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books. –Roald Dahl 

That's the thing about pain... it demands to be felt. –Augustus Waters, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 

"I have a dream," [Gilbert] said slowly. "I persist in dreaming it, although it has often seemed to me that it could never come true. I dream of a home with a hearth-fire in it, a cat and dog, the footsteps of friends – and YOU!" 
Anne wanted to speak but she could find no words. Happiness was breaking over her like a wave. It almost frightened her. –Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery