OCTOBER ROUNDUP

Hard to believe it's roundup time already...

I read 6 books in October (New Bedlam; Halting State; Mister Pip; The Gum Thief; Here, There & Everywhere; and I Just Want My Pants Back), which brings my total for the year to 35. This is the first time I have read 6 books in a month since I started keeping my book goals in 2001 and probably the first time I've read that many books in a month since summers off of college. I am also ahead of pace on my goal of 40 books read this year; I have two months in which to read 5 books. Looks good.

I read 12 stories in October, a bit of a dropoff from last month (but to be expected with reading as many books as I did). 11 of those stories were in the Oct./Nov. issue of Asimov's; the other is in the Oct./Nov. issue of F&SF, which I started on today. My story total for the year stands at 157.

I did not read or purchase a single comic in October and haven't done so since Sept. 12. I wandered around a sale last weekend but nothing jumped out at me (though a better selection would most likely have made a difference). So the yearly total stays at 109, 23 of which have been trades.

I got 8 CDs in October, 6 downloads (five from eMusic and the Radiohead) and 2 actual discs (Bruce Springsteen's Magic and Sea Wolf's Leaves In The River). That brings my total on the year to 90.

No movies again this month, which leaves the year's total at 14.

I didn't watch anything on DVD this past month either. Not sure when that happened last. It's explainable, though, as I'm about a week-and-a-half behind on my TV viewing (thank you, DVR).

And just to mention it here, there will be no October "Performance Log" either, since I didn't get out and play anywhere. That will change tomorrow. October out!