This month I focused on knocking out the Reading Women 2019 Challenge. I had four books to read: a book about nature, a play, a book about a female athlete, and a Lambda Literary Award winner. Challenge completed! I had a lot of reading time this month, thanks to two work trips and two 6.5-hour train rides to Boston for Thanksgiving.
Here’s what I read in November:
- Forward by Abby Wambach (audio)
- Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
- The Things She’s Seen by Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina (audio)
- Relish by Lucy Knisley (graphic memoir)
- There’s Something About Darcy by Gabrielle Malcolm
- Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
- Autonomous by Annalee Newitz (audio)
- A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
- The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
- Ruined by Lynn Nottage
- The Earl I Ruined by Scarlett Peckham
- Dear Girls by Ali Wong (audio)
- Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
My favorite reads: I loved Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, which I found really insightful. I also loved The Things She’s Seen. I was happily surprised by Autonomous and found Ali Wong’s Dear Girls laugh-out-loud funny.
Did not finish: I didn’t finish Tara Conklin’s The Romantics. It felt slow to me, and I didn’t care for the characters.
Books for challenges:
- TBR Pile: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
- Nonfiction: Forward, Relish, There’s Something About Darcy, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Dear Girls
- Read Harder Challenge/Reading Women: Forward, The Things She’s Seen, Relish, Autonomous, A Girl of the Limberlost, Ruined, Dear Girls
- Reading All Around the World: The Things She’s Seen, The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali
- Back to the Classics: A Girl of the Limberlost
What I’m reading now: I’m slowly working my way through The Brain That Changes Itself, a fascinating look at how the brain changes and adapts. I’m reading The Other Americans by Laila Lalami for my book club, but right now I’m sick and needing a lighter read, so I’m in the middle of an Australian mystery called The Dry.
What’s coming up: I’m looking forward to Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys, which I just got from the library. Otherwise my month isn’t too planned out.
Added to my TBR: I added a lot of nonfiction titles to my TBR list, thanks to Nonfiction November. In my book club we discussed books with complex, non-stereotypical representation of Indian families, and I added books by Arundhati Roy and Amitav Ghosh. I also looked up diverse representations of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, such as Unmarriageable and Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors.
As always in December, I’m checking out the best books of the year list, like the ones at NY Times and Washington Post and The Guardian. A few books I’m seeing frequently on these lists are On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Lost Children Archive, The Memory Police, and Disappearing Earth – all on next year’s TBR. Which best-of-the-year lists will you be checking?
Wishing you all happy holidays with friends and loved ones! Stay warm, and happy reading.