"Autumn is bold bursts of colour that leap from every corner of the landscape; it is golden yellow, fiery red, bright orange, and rich chocolate brown, and a faded green that reminds us of summer. [...] Autumn is the scent of wet pavements, and the perfume of damp leaves as they lie trodden on the ground. it is the season of crackling bonfires, fireworks, and harvest; [...] Autumn brings the fragrant rain; heavy, fat drop that cleanse everything that they tough. [...] Autumn is the crunch of leaves as they scatter underfoot; its the rustles, the rattles, and whispers of woodland walk, and the wind whipping through bare branches and heaped foliage. [...] it's the cacophony of rainfall on a tin she roof, the patter of streams as they form on the ground, and the gush o a woodland waterfall. [...] it's leaf piles that have been disturbed by wellington-clad feet, the squelch of mud, [...] autumn is the soft comfort pf a warm woolly hat, the feel of a scarf as it slides around your neck, ad the heat from a new pair of gloves. [...] Autumn s a time for textured treasure; run your fingers through its landscape." - Louise Baker

"There is a sorrow to September, a space left In the sky by the swifts. Plants and grasses, gold with summer's sun, are tousled now by the first of autumn's storms. Even September's songsters speak of sadness." - Nick Acheson

"It's the month of ripeness - a golden, crimson, russet moth. [] These calm golden days have brought ladders and shouting, the creaking of wheels and the thud of falling apples. " - Clare Leighton

"The October sun lit the blond tresses stirring on her forehead; and to me she was the loveliest creature God had ever made." - Brian Carter

"There is an air of fulfillment and rest in the landscape and brooding weather of October." - Adrian Bell

"The naked trees. every last leaf was stripped off in the storm. in twenty years I cannot remember such a violent undressing. (It was a north, Viking gale.)" - John Lewis-Stempel

"Thus wears the month along, in checker-d moods,

Sunshine and shadows, tempests loud, and calms,

One hour dies silent o'er the sleepy woods,

The next wakes loud with unexpected storms;

A dreary nakedness the field deforms -" - John Clare

This is the kind of book you read slowly, whenever you have the time. You can flick through as whimsy strikes you or you can follow the division into months and read it time-appropriately. I simply cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of this series.

Now, when it comes to my autumn reading - I have obviously failed it. I have read so few books it makes me tear up. When I made the list I was near the end of my nine-month internship program and was looking forward to the free time to dedicate to my favorite pastime. But I only had two free weeks before I was back. Another teacher went on leave because of a family emergency and I was asked to take over. Of course, no one turns down a salary so I went back to the classroom.

Now, I don't know how familiar you are with teaching, but it is a hard, arduous, exhausting job. You don't really have set working hours - the classes start at 7.45 and end between 11.15 and 12.05, but then, when I get home, I have more work to do. You can't just show up in front of a class and wing it - you always have to prepare, and that work is done at home. I also had some extra work to do - making spreadsheet and such for all the students, trying to memorize as many names as possible (as their teacher is not the one who mentored me, so I worked with them only on a few occasions). Plus - they are between the ages of 12 and 14. The ninth graders are a disaster and I always come home with a headache and a sore throat. Just lovely. Also, I've been working on my paper - I need it for the state exams so I can get my teaching license. All I had time for was to glance at my books longingly from time to time.

Now, I do have some Christmasy books I want to get to in December but we'll see how that goes. I'm only going to get more busy and I learned from this experience never to set goals I am pretty sure I won't be able to meet. So - I'll try to read (and post) more if nothing that to keep my sanity and let my thoughts drift away from the rascals in school.

"As a girl, she dreamed about having a silent home, just to herself, the way other women dreamed of their wedding."

(It is simply uncanny just how much I find myself in this sentence.)

"I had to prove to me I wasn't scared of nobody's eyes, not even his."

This book is actually a series of vignettes that span a short time of Esperanza's life. She is a girl of Hispanic heritage that lives in a bit of a rough neighborhood. We see her experience as a daughter, a sister, a girl, a minority and an aspiring writer. Cisneros has said that this is not an autobiographical account but that Esperanza is a part of her in a way. Esperanza ruminates on many things - her parents' hard work, her friends and school experience, the interesting neighbors, the issues that she faces just by being a girl...

"She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow."

I feel that this is a book everyone should read at least once. I don't have much in common with Esperanza but I still found myself empathizing and there were certain times I felt as if I was reading about myself. I suppose there are certain things that all girls experience in their lifetime. 

In the end, the protagonist's name means 'hope' and that, I find, is the message of this little book of snippets of a life. You have to have hope that everything will work out.