November Reading Thread! 📖🦃

[CestLaVie]

sudsy, me too!

[bearfootzcontinued]

Nov 7, 2024 10:23:07 GMT -6 sudsy said:

Let’s talk books that involve women empowerment. Like f*ck the patriarchy. I need recommendations because that’s where my head is right now.

I thought Weyward was a good example of this.  

[cnf]

Nov 6, 2024 10:14:41 GMT -6 pearbear said:

Hi! Can I start going here? Because I am basically going to avoid all social media going forward and am going to dive into all of my library holds instead.

Anyway, here is a recap of my October (I didn't end up loving anything I read last month, sadly):

-Just Another Missing Person - 2 stars
-Middle Of The Night - 3 stars
-A Cup of Autumn - 1 star
-A Very Perry Wedding - 3 stars
-What Have You Done - 3 stars
-The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - 2 stars
-Bright Lights Big Christmas - 2 stars

For November I am finally going to read Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. These are SO not my usual genre, but I'm giving it a go. At least they'll be a good distraction from this disaster of a world. I also have a bunch of Christmas books on hold that I need to get through.

Fourth Wing and Iron Flame just dropped free to KU users!

[cnf]

I only read six books in October which is like half as many as I typically read. I broke my 100 book goal though, which is nice.

The Devil Made Me Brew It
Dawn Of The Cursed Queen
A Witch's Guide To Fake Dating a Demon
City of Gods and Monsters
A Demon's Guide to Wooing a Witch
A Warewolf's Guide to Seducing a Vampire

I finished The Roommate Situation so far for November. I stopped reading City of Souls and Sinners for a bit and today I went back to it. It's just SO LONG at almost 1k pages.

[sudsy]

Nov 7, 2024 15:18:37 GMT -6 bearfootzcontinued said:

Nov 7, 2024 10:23:07 GMT -6 sudsy said:

Let’s talk books that involve women empowerment. Like f*ck the patriarchy. I need recommendations because that’s where my head is right now.

I thought Weyward was a good example of this.  

I read that one too. Also excellent. Clearly I’ve gone through the “I am woman, hear me roar” phase before. 🤦‍♀️

[emma]

Nov 7, 2024 18:23:16 GMT -6 sudsy said:

Nov 7, 2024 15:18:37 GMT -6 bearfootzcontinued said:

I thought Weyward was a good example of this.  

I read that one too. Also excellent. Clearly I’ve gone through the “I am woman, hear me roar” phase before. 🤦‍♀️

I haven’t read it but I’ve seen it recommended- Slewfoot by Brom

[boxerific]

Some really great recs in this thread. My favorite part about reading it is adding more to my TBR list (which I have no business doing because it is LONG).

October was good for me. I fully expect to wrap up Nov & Dec with a ton, because I'm also taking an extended break from social media like pearbear . I just need to disassociate for a while.

• Pineapple Street (3 stars)
• The Boyfriend (3 stars)
• A House at the Bottom of a Lake (1 star - wtf)
• Drowning (4 stars)
• The Reformatory (5 stars - amazing)
• The Wedding People (4 stars)
• Shark Heart (3 stars)
• And Then I Woke Up (3 stars)
• I'm Sorry for My Loss: An Urgent Examination of Reproductive Care in America (5 stars - know it's triggering and now even more timely)
• My Life in Dog Years (4 stars - read because my son was doing a project on it)
• The Five-Star Weekend (4 stars)

I've already finished 3 books this month, and am mid-way through two more. I always have an audiobook and paperback/ebook going at the same time.

[emma]

boxerific same, I love reading people’s lists to look for recommendations, there’s been so many good ones I’ve got from these threads

[boxerific]

sudsy some of my recent faves involving strong female characters are:

• The 100 Years of Lenni & Margot
• The Breakaway
• The Women (which I saw already recommended)
• The Four Winds

[icedcoffee]

boxerific I'm so glad you loved The Reformatory! That made the list of one of my favorite books ever and one that I will re-read every so often

[angelashly]

Nov 8, 2024 7:10:21 GMT -6 emma said:

boxerific same, I love reading people’s lists to look for recommendations, there’s been so many good ones I’ve got from these threads

Same

[cakewench]

Nov 8, 2024 8:08:15 GMT -6 angelashly said:

Nov 8, 2024 7:10:21 GMT -6 emma said:

boxerific same, I love reading people’s lists to look for recommendations, there’s been so many good ones I’ve got from these threads

Same

Me too! Between these threads and BookTok, I (currently) have like 40 something books on my library TBR and I am constantly updating it.

[sudsy]

Nov 8, 2024 7:05:01 GMT -6 boxerific said:

Some really great recs in this thread. My favorite part about reading it is adding more to my TBR list (which I have no business doing because it is LONG).

October was good for me. I fully expect to wrap up Nov & Dec with a ton, because I'm also taking an extended break from social media like pearbear . I just need to disassociate for a while.

• Pineapple Street (3 stars)
• The Boyfriend (3 stars)
• A House at the Bottom of a Lake (1 star - wtf)
• Drowning (4 stars)
• The Reformatory (5 stars - amazing)
• The Wedding People (4 stars)
• Shark Heart (3 stars)
• And Then I Woke Up (3 stars)
• I'm Sorry for My Loss: An Urgent Examination of Reproductive Care in America (5 stars - know it's triggering and now even more timely)
• My Life in Dog Years (4 stars - read because my son was doing a project on it)
• The Five-Star Weekend (4 stars)

I've already finished 3 books this month, and am mid-way through two more. I always have an audiobook and paperback/ebook going at the same time.

My hold for the Reformatory just came in!

[trueblue]

Another refuge seeking solace in books

My October list:

Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir. 4/5 but it went on too long. I skimmed a bunch of pages about 3/4ths of the way through.

Expiration Dates - Rebecca Serle. 3/5 easy romance, no heavy emotional lifting

Before We were yours - Lisa Wingate 10/5. Best book of the month - stayed up late and grabbed bits of time during the day to read it. It addressed 4 siblings who were taken from their family and thrown into the Tennessee Children’s Home Society where kids of indigent parents were taken and sold for adoption.

This summer will be different - Carly Fortune. 4/5 Bright, easy romance that was a perfect palate cleanser after Before we were yours.

Comfort & Joy - Kristin Hannah. 2/5. Rare miss for one of my favorite authors.

[CestLaVie]

Nov 7, 2024 15:18:37 GMT -6 bearfootzcontinued said:

Nov 7, 2024 10:23:07 GMT -6 sudsy said:

Let’s talk books that involve women empowerment. Like f*ck the patriarchy. I need recommendations because that’s where my head is right now.

I thought Weyward was a good example of this.  

Oh yes this reminded me to recommend The Once and Future Witches - Really loved this one.

[nelzie]

Nov 7, 2024 18:28:15 GMT -6 emma said:

Nov 7, 2024 18:23:16 GMT -6 sudsy said:

I read that one too. Also excellent. Clearly I’ve gone through the “I am woman, hear me roar” phase before. 🤦‍♀️

I haven’t read it but I’ve seen it recommended- Slewfoot by Brom

sudsy yes, highly recommend Slewfoot!

[nelzie]

I read 9 books in October, my reading has been slowing down. My oldest got pneumonia the last week of the month so I got nothing done. My favorite for the month was Heartless Hunter and I can't wait for the sequel!

[nelzie]

These are the only November books on my tbr:

The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Green
A Very Merry Nanny by Lyra Parish
The Author's Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams

I may start reading holiday books to cheer me up.

[cdnfroggy]

I just finished a book that perfectly encapsulates feminine rage and strong "eat the rich" vibes: Guillotine by Delilah S. Dawson. This was a graphic, bloody, hell of a good read - please read content warnings, just because it does lean into the graphic/bloody kills, but if you can handle that/enjoy reading darker books/horror I highly recommend it.

[adelbert]

I just read such a fun mystery novel and I have to recommend it here. It's a mash of a Miss Marple type mystery/ a hard boiled LA detective mystery/ and some very light sci-fi elements. Basically you feel like you're reading two separate stories at first but it all comes together in a very enjoyable way. It's from a Scottish author and I think a lot of you would enjoy it. It's called, The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre.

[cnf]

Nov 8, 2024 14:14:32 GMT -6 nelzie said:

These are the only November books on my tbr:

The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Green
A Very Merry Nanny by Lyra Parish
The Author's Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams

I may start reading holiday books to cheer me up.

I have A Very Merry Nanny on my list of holiday books too.

[nelzie]

I've read 2 books so far in November.

The first was Wisteria, which was the final book in the Belladonna series. I really loved this whole series. This one i gave 4.5 stars. Highly recommend the audiobooks if you read these. I noticed on goodreads there is a holiday novella coming out next year so I'm excited for that.

The second book was Heads Will Roll. This was fine, kind of your typical slasher/horror. I gave it 3 stars.

I'm currently reading The Serial Killer's Guide to San Francisco and it's fun. I'm about halfway through.

[sudsy]

I’m 3 books away from reaching my yearly reading goal. I have so much stuff going on I’m not sure I’ll do it, but I’m still impressed with myself.

[snowyowl]

Recent reads:
I'm working my way through T. Kingfisher's Paladin series and it's all adorable and well-written and sweet without being annoying.
Emily's Wilde's Map of the Other lands - Didn't like it as much as the first book, but still really liked it.
The Midnight Feast - Lucy Foley writing very much to type, so if you've read her and liked her, you'll like this. The twists at the end were fast and furious, which was kind of fun.
We Solve Murders - Richard Osman. If you like the Thursday Murder Club, you'll like this. I really enjoyed the characters and will definitely stick with it.
A Very Woodsy Murder- meh. I was bored and it filled the time.
The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson. I've never read this, despite a love of horror and Shirley Jackson. I wasn't disappointed.
What the River Knows - DNF. Very fun premise, very poor execution.

[cnf]

I finished The Neighbor War and made a very sizeable dent in A Novel Love Story. I'm still struggling with City of Souls and Sinners. It's not hitting quite the same as the first book. It's still good, but I really loved the first. This one just isn't grabbing me the same way. I'm 37% in, but God, it is just SO LONG.

[DGM]

I tore through the Katama Bay Thanksgiving book. It was such a bittersweet storyline, but the escape from reality I needed. 4 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I also read the 2nd chapter of Life After Power. There is so much about John Quincy Adams I didn't know. This book is not at all an escape from reality but a good way to learn about and from history.

[angelashly]

I finished las one at the wedding-meh I was interested enough but something didn’t flow right

[angelashly]

I picked up my first Christmas book of the season

All I want is you Falon Ballard

It’s making me want to take out the computer and start writing

[boxerific]

Nov 11, 2024 8:05:39 GMT -6 angelashly said:

I finished las one at the wedding-meh I was interested enough but something didn’t flow right

I'm listening to this right now and feel the same way. It took a weird turn and then felt very disjointed.

[cakewench]

I finished These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall on Thursday night. It was fine, I'm giving it 3 stars. I've read a few by this author before and those have mostly been mysteries/thrillers; this veered a lot more into the supernatural.

Going through Iron Flame faster than anticipated. I do agree the first half could have benefited from some additional editing. I've got about 120-something pages left. Also trying to finish my audio book before it's due back in 3 days. Under 3 hours to go so I'm in good shape.

With this finish I have 15 books to get to my goal of 100 by year's end. Going to be tight!