Best Books of November
As I say every month, I’m 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 books I liked (or mostly liked) from November.
The Silver Arrow (Lev Grossman): I loved this book so much that I immediately bought a copy for the Wolvog and ChickieNob and another for my niece. It was NOT what I expected, and I’m really sorry that I didn’t get to it sooner. In my defense, while I love riding in trains, I did not want to read a book about trains. But… this book isn’t about trains. And it’s ten kinds of awesome. And all of us had the same reaction to the same moment in the book. If you have a child in your life OR an adult with a mushy heart, get them this book.
Last Tang Standing (Lauren Ho): This book was so much fun. It’s very much like Crazy Rich Asians with people who are more on the normal end of rich (vs. the obscene end) and very funny. It feels a lot like an updated Bridget Jones’s Diary. I had fun reading it. We need more books that simply make us happy.
Crooked House (Agatha Christie): This was not my favourite Christie mystery, but it’s a totally solid book. I wasn’t impressed with it, but I realized I was being unfair just because it didn’t blow me away like ABC Murders or Murder on the Orient Express. I wanted to read it before I watched the television adaptation. It’s funny how I hold her books to a different standard because I read so many surprising ones in a row. So it’s a three star for Christie but a four star for every other mystery writer.
Anxious People (Fredrik Backman): This just squeaked onto the list. I liked this book, but I didn’t love this book. It was zany. And quirky. And a little too much, even for the mushy-hearted. It was like being trapped at Wes Anderson’s party, talking to Aaron Sorkin (it is very very very repetitive AND the people spend a lot of time holding conversations that keep looping back to points made… and those conversations don’t move the story forward) and Zooey Deschanel. It was the kind of book where you expected someone to pull out a little ukulele. Just because. But here’s the thing about Wes Anderson, Aaron Sorkin, and Zooey Deschanel. They all sometimes drop interesting moments into your brain. So I put this book on the list because there were a bunch of moments I underlined, even while sighing at others.
What did you read last month?
4 comments
I only read two books in November :
* “Amberwell” by D.E. Stevenson (part of a group read with my DES online fan group). One of her better-known novels, following the neglected children of a prosperous Scottish family through the 1930s and WWII.
* “Do You Feel Like I Do?” by Peter Frampton. It got more interesting once he became famous & learned to deal with the ups & downs of fame and (more recently) health issues. Some good anecdotes.
“Anxious People” is in my TBR pile, as is “Us Against Them” by the same author. I loved “Beartown” — it was one of my favourite books that I read that year.
I jusst finished reading The Vanishing Half and loved it. Currently reading Sittenfeld’s latest and loving that, then Anxious People. I need to read more Christie and the Grossman book sounds divine as well.
So Anxious People, which of the author’s previous books would you say it’s more like: A Man Called Ove or Beartown? I’ve read both of those books, and I would be down for reading another book like the former but found the latter a little too heavy and depressing. On the fence about Anxious People because of this.
Can you believe that I’ve never read a book by either Lev Grossman or Agatha Christie?! I might have to try one (or more), given your praise for these authors.
If I have time a little later, I will share my books read in November. I am way above my usual average of books read for the year. One good thing to come out of this pandemic! 🙂
Back to share the books I read in November. . . .
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez. Enjoyable read. (Trigger warning: infertility issues are heavily discussed.)
Burnout by Emily & Amelia Nagoski. Checked this one out from the library after listening to a podcast interview with the authors about the book. Quick read, with some good practical tips, though I found the writing style a bit simplistic and informal.
When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis. This one was my book club’s November selection. I liked the story, but the ending felt rushed and left me feeling that the story was unfinished. (Trigger warning for this one, too, regarding infant loss.)
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas. This is the third book in this YA series. I enjoyed it but think it would be helpful to have read the first two books to really “get” this one. Also, it’s really long: 700 pages.
The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan. This book was my second by this author. I really enjoyed it and liked revisiting the main character, who was introduced to me in the previous book by the author (which was my book club’s September selection).
The Happily Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez. This book was basically the follow-up to The Friend Zone. I enjoyed it.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Wonderful book, one of the best I’ve read in 2020. Rarely do books live up to their hype for me, but this one did.
Kisser by Stuart Woods. My dad turned me on to this author ages ago. This book was the 17th “Stone Barrington” novel, and it was a good, if formulaic read. I honestly only read this book because it’s been sitting on my shelf, unread, for a couple of years, and I was looking for something light and easy to read after starting a non-fiction book with heavy subject matter (which I briefly paused to read this one). This fit the bill.