Best Books of November
Shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she read that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better about doing this.
So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.
These are the four books I liked from November.
Amberlough (Lara Elena Donnelly): I’ve had a hard time putting my feelings about this book (and the others in the trilogy) into words, so maybe I’ll start with this: I was only a few pages into my library copy when I decided I needed to own all three books in the trilogy. It is that good. Think Isherwood meets Le Carré. It’s the tail end of a queer renaissance in a decadent fictional city, with a right-wing fascist waiting in the wings. Spies. Black market hustlers. Cabaret performers. Secret messages. It is fantastic.
Armistice (Lara Elena Donnelly): This is the second book in the trilogy above. It took me a few pages to get my bearings; some characters from the first book are back plus many new ones. We’re in a new setting with its own connected but distinct political situation. This feels like a middle book in a trilogy, but I mean that in a good way. It’s connective, taking us deeper into the world, and leaving the reader excited to start the third book.
American Royals (Katharine McGee): I liked her earlier series (The Thousandth Floor), so I sensed I would enjoy this alternate American history where we have a royal family, and I was right. It is such a fun book; the perfect piece of mind candy at the end of the day. Like her other series, the point-of-view switches from chapter to chapter. I think my highest compliment is that I enjoyed being in every character’s brain.
Diary of a Bookseller (Shaun Bythell): I’ve written about this book a lot on the blog, but it’s a fun read. It’s a diary of a year in the life of a Scottish bookseller. A lot of food for thought in the pages. Definitely recommend it for a light read.
What did you read last month?
4 comments
I got 5 books read in November:
* This Particular Happiness: A Childless Love Story by Jackie Shannon Hollis
* The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman (library book club selection)
* Me by Elton John
* Mrs. Tim Flies Home by D.E. Stevenson (online author fan group read)
* Notes to Self by Emilie Pine
All reviewed on my blog, generally one at a time when I’ve finished them, although I do sometimes do them in a bunch, especially if I’ve been away on vacation & got a lot of reading done. 🙂 And I enjoyed all of them, for different reasons. “The Home for Unwanted Girls” was about a rather difficult/sad topic, and I probably wouldn’t have picked it up if it wasn’t a book club read, but it did keep me turning the pages. “Me” by Elton John was a whole lot of fun. 🙂
Thanks for giving me some ideas for my “to read” list. 😉
Have you read Sourdough by Robin Sloan? It was my book club’s selection for December, and I really liked it. His book Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore has been on my “to read” list for a while, and I haven’t gotten around to reading it, so this book was my first selection by him.
Oooh, I like this idea – perhaps because 2019 was the year I got back into reading!
November was a good month for me, with some great books featuring strong women central characters. I think I gave them all four stars.
I finished Dolores Redondo’s The Baztan Trilogy, which was set in Spain, with the central character a police detective. And I finished a seven-book Young Adult series set in the near future in Australia, by John Marsden, told in the first person by a teenage girl. Often men don’t get the inner minds of a woman, let alone a teenage girl, but I felt this was quite realistic. Some of the books in the middle of the series slipped from four stars to three – which means they were okay, and still kept me reading – but I would give the overall series four stars.
And I loved too Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee, about Koreans living in Japan, over several generations. It was fascinating.
I’d better step up my reading game. And my reviewing game.
Just finished The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, and now starting Institute by Stephen King. Returning to a few authors I’ve loved in the past.