Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween, Food Allergies and October Books!!!


Halloween isn't a favorite holiday for me. I used to love it as a kid and collecting all of that candy was heaven! For our family, it's not as enjoyable as our son has food allergies with peanut/tree nut allergies being the worst as they are life threatening. He can't eat any of the candy anymore as it all gets mixed in and the residue from the nut candy contaminates the rest of the candy. We end up trading and giving him his own safe candy and goodies. This year, he is not as interested in trick or treating as he doesn't get to eat the candy. He was unsure about it all for awhile but has decided he will do a short spin around the neighborhood. Fortunately, many of our neighbors have safe treats for him! He actually enjoys giving out candy so that is a plus as he will dress up and hand out candy with us also. For anyone interested in more information on food allergies, I have several excellent websites featured in the left column below my favorite blogs and websites. There is a wealth of information at these sites and I highly encourage anyone who is affected by food allergies in their own children, grandchildren, family, school, etc to check them out.

Here is a list of books that I have read in October:
That makes 5 books ( not including the current book I am reading) for the month and 40 for the year. This has been a slow year for me as I had a major reading slump earlier in the year before I started my blog!


How many books have you read this month and do you keep track? I know that some of you will put me to shame but I plan to improve those numbers by the end of the year and next year, for sure!!

9 comments:

  1. My son was never that big on trick or treating. He would go a few blocks and then say, "I'm done." I guess it's because he's never been a big candy eater. Sorry the food allergies put a bad spin on it for your son. I've never thought about that when I buy our candy and I do have some with nuts in it this year.

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  2. Bonnie, I'm having a banner year for reading books. I think the difference between our totals is:
    My kids are grown and out of the house; I don't work outside the home; I didn't have a slump all year (I know I just jinxed that, lol); I began my blog in February '08.

    I'm at 80 books read (I haven't listened to any books this year) and hope to make 100. Not sure how realistic that goal is with the holidays coming up but I'll give it a shot.

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  3. I thought I was being good having chips for kids with candy issues, but they probably aren't any better. I'm so sorry to hear about that type of allergy. I hope that all goes well tonight.

    I haven't tallied my books for this month yet. I'd better get started with that. My goal is to read 65 this year. I'm ahead of schedule at 62 so far. Thankfully my reading slump didn't last very long.

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  4. That's too bad about your son. I try to have one "non-food" treat in my treat bucket like a sparkly pencil or something just for that reason.

    I typically do not have a lot of time to read so I read 3 books this month..more if you count kid books.

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  5. hey.. i read 11 books this month and that's a record high for me. I never used to read this much! I just put up my summary list on my blog as well..:)
    the worst thing though is that i have only 6 reviews up..i am 5 reviews behind and i absolutely hate it!:(

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  6. Bonnie, I completely understand about Halloween-it was the same in our house. The best is to make him a nice homemade Halloween bag of goodies that he can have. I remember as a kid feeling so left out but not much you can do about it.

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  7. I'm sorry to hear about your son's allergies - I know from friends that it can be so stressful.

    I really liked the Erin Einhorn book - hope you do too!

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  8. Hi Bonnie.. that is a bummer about the allergies... on such a big day for kids.

    I used to be on track or 30-40 books per year..with a lot of reading done in the summer. But I really am not so sure for my count for Oct 2008. I think I completed 3, and am half way through with two others.

    I can't wait to read some of your recent selections.

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  9. I'm glad he had a good Halloween, even with the allergies.

    I had to go and count my October books because I haven't posted my summary for the month yet.

    I used to read about 4 books a month before I started blogging, and I was shocked to find that I had read 12 books this month. I know the only reason for it is because I am trying to get through a massive pile of ARCs that I've promised to read and review.

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