Happy November, readers! October was fairly uneventful, which is fine with me. I mostly focused on work, volunteering in my library’s Fall Book Sale, and going to Washington Spirit games (our women’s soccer team – go Spirit!). It was my father’s birthday this month, which was sad, and I thought about him during the Jewish holidays.
November will be a busy month, as I participate in one of my favorite events, Nonfiction November. November is also Sci Fi Month, if you’d like to join that one. I can barely participate in one event, let alone two, though I wish I had time for both!
Here’s what I read in October:
- Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (audio)
- Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson (print)
- The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin (audio)
- The Outrun by Amy Liptrot (ebook)
- Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman (audio)
- The Librarians by Sherry Thomas (ebook/ARC)
- That Was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton (ebook)
- Bug Hollow by Michelle Huneven (audio)
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (print)
My favorite reads:
The Outrun was a moving memoir about a woman who struggles with alcoholism. She returns to her home in the Orkneys, a group of remote islands in Northern Scotland. I’ve always wanted to see the Orkneys, and I love nature-focused memoirs, so this was fascinating in a lot of ways.
Now that I’m working with teenagers, I’ve been wanting to read something by Laurie Halse Anderson. I picked up her memoir, Shout, which is written entirely in verse. It was powerful to read about her life and her writing career, and I look forward to reading more of her books, especially Speak.
I’m a big fan of Alice Hoffman, but Practical Magic wasn’t one of my favorites. Still, I loved Magic Lessons, its prequel set in the 17th century, about a magical woman who travels from Britain to the Caribbean to New England. I enjoyed learning about the Jewish pirates of this time (yes, there were in fact Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean) in addition to the Salem witch trials. There’s love and heartbreak and danger without it ever feeling too sappy.
The Outsiders was every bit as good as I remembered it, and That Was Then, This is Now was both darker and more complicated. S.E. Hinton is amazing, I can’t believe she started writing The Outsiders when she was fifteen.
I loved The Bletchley Riddle, about the secret code-breaking operation during World War II. It was a fantastic combination of history (I learned more about code-breaking and day to day life at Bletchley) and great story and characters. I liked the alternating narration between a brother and sister.
Disappointing reads:
I was looking forward to The Librarians – a murder mystery with librarian detectives – but the book felt flat to me. Too many characters, and none of their stories felt real.
On the blog:
This month I reviewed The Librarians, The Gilded Heiress, and Gabriela and His Grace. I also wrote about the young adult fiction I’ve been reading lately, my favorite series, my progress on reading challenges, and my year in nonfiction.
Books for challenges:
- Nonfiction: Shout, The Outrun
- 52 Book Club: Magic Lessons (a prequel), The Outsiders and That Was Then, This is Now (set in the same world), The Bletchley Riddle (related to puzzle) and Thornhedge (by an author who publishes more than once a year), Shout (told in verse)
- Backlist Reading: The Outrun
- Jewish Genre Reading Challenge: Bug Hollow, Magic Lessons
What I’m reading now:
I’m listening to Pandora’s Jar and To Boldly Go Where No Book Has Gone Before, for Nonfiction November and the Nonfiction Reading Challenge. I’ve almost finished Resonant Blue (short stories), which is excellent, and I’m taking my time with To The End of the Land.
What’s coming up:
My ARCs in November are The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy and The Marriage Method by Mimi Matthews.
That’s my October wrap-up. I hope you’re enjoying the fall (or spring if that’s where you are) and reading something good!
