Show Us Your Books December 2021

In November most of my reading focused on the Nonfiction November challenge, but I did manage to read some fiction too. Here are the highlights.

Five Stars

11/22/63 by Stephen King - This is the third or fourth time I‘ve read this chunkster and I really just am amazed every time. I prefer the print to the audiobook, but audio works when my hands are busy.

Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver - Mary Oliver‘s poetry soothes my heart, and I was so glad to curl up with this last month. She was just so good.

Four Stars

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - This book was WILD and I loved every minute it.

November Road by Lou Berney - Great historical fiction set around the time of the Kennedy Assassination. I loved the characters in this one.

Three Stars

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Now that I‘m done reading this I kind of feel like I need to start again so that I understand what‘s going on. Overall a pick, but I need a closer read.

Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer - This was dumb and silly in all the best ways. I really enjoyed it.

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Show Us Your Books November 2020

The sun coming through stormy skies

November 2020, it really seemed like we would never get here! We made it!

I read a ton in October, mostly thanks to a Halloween reading challenge on Litsy. In retrospect it probably wasn’t the best for my mental health to read five Stephen King books in the weeks before the election!

Best of the Month

Self care - a good book and ice cream

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - This was a great book, and so, so clever. It starts in Ghana in the 1700s where two half sisters end up on very different paths- one is kidnapped and sold into slavery and one lives the pampered life of a slave catcher’s wife. From there each chapter skips a generation and we see how the two halves of the family live- one in America and one in Ghana. This will probably be on my best of 2020 list.

It Is A Truth Universally Acknowledged

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding - After reading P&P last month it was time to read a few adaptations. I was obsessed with Bridget Jones in my 20’s and really enjoyed re-visiting with her. This was my first time reading it on audio, and I enjoyed it in that format. If you need something to make you laugh this month Bridget is a good choice!

Pride and Prejudice Graphic Novel by Ian Edington - I’ve become a big fan of graphic novels based on the classics in the last few years and this was no exception. Mr. Darcy just looked so…proud.

Most Mysterious

I spent a lot of October with The West Wing running in the background.

The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 - I grabbed this when I was wandering around the library one day, and liked it more than I thought I would. I’m not usually a short story person, but lately they’ve been perfect for when I can’t concentrate. This was a good collection, and I'm going to pick up another volume next time I go to the library.

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger - I’m averaging about a book a month by Krueger since I started early this summer. Ordinary Grace was a stand alone, but I enjoyed it just as much as his Cork O’Connor mysteries. The book takes place in the early 1960’s but is told 40 years later from the point of view of a pre-teen boy. Great book!

The Likeness by Tana French - The second book in the Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French. It went on a bit long for my tastes, but the mental gymnastics the undercover cop main character underwent kept me mostly entertained. I’m not in a huge rush to get to the next book, but probably will at some point this year.

And Five From The King

A bit too close to current events

The Dead Zone by Stephen King - What would you do if you knew the new popular politician who sold himself as “just a regular guy” was actually a psychopath who would kill us all? I read this as a teenager, and re-read it in October because I started thinking it was eerily close to current events. Thank goodness we live in America and not a Stephen King book so we can take care of these issues with elections.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King - King’s sequel to The Shining, and another re-read for me. Both times I’ve read this I’ve been bored by the beginning and then get about a third of the way in and can’t stop. Read The Shining first.

The Institute by Stephen King - A decent modern King book. Kids with psychic abilities are kidnapped and kept in a secret facility supposedly for the good of the world.

11/22/63 by Stephen King - Another re-read and probably my favorite Stephen King book. In this one a man goes back in time to stop the assassination of JFK. It’s a great story and what King has to say in the afterward about his motivation for this book is almost just as great. It’s a chunkster, but worth the time.

If It Bleeds by Stephen King - A book of four short stories, the best best one featuring Holly Gibney from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy. Worth reading, but I’m glad I got it from the library instead of buying it.

One More

Speaking Truth To Power by Anita Hill - This was completely different from everything else I read in October, but I wanted to give it a mention. This is such an important book, and I really think everyone should read it. It really shows how sexual harassment can change the course of a woman’s life through no fault of her own, and how men need to do a better job of listening (looking at you Joe Biden. I think you’ve learned your lesson but giving you the hairy eyeball just in case.)

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