This fall was… crazy. The school year started off with a mad rush, then in October, we decided to buy a new house. I only read ONE print book in October… audio really saved the day.
But amidst the craziness, I managed to read some really great books. Everything from lighthearted humor to poignant historical fiction to crazy thrillers to mindblowing nonfiction — no genre was untouched, and I am so grateful to these stories for getting me through this hectic season.
Reading Stats
- Total Books Read in September, October, and November: 26 Books
- Total Authors Read in September, October, and November: 24 Authors
- Total Pages Read: 4136 Pages
- Total Hours Listened: 155 Hours
- Total Books Quit: 1 Books
- Average Days Per Book: 3.64 Days per Book
- Average Pages Per Day: 45.4 Pages per Day
Books are listed in the order they were read. For more mini-reviews, check out my What I Read tag.
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
Patrick lives all alone in Palm Springs, but when his best friend dies and her husband (his brother) has go to into rehab, Patrick ends up with their kids for the summer. The 90 days that follow are filled with laughter and healing for all of them.
Rating: 4 Stars
What to say about this book that hasn’t been said already? This is one of those books that swept through my entire book club and I had to read it, if only to be able to participate in the conversations. I was a little wary because I wasn’t a huge fan of The Editor by the same author, but this story seemed much more comfortable for him to write, and the witty dialogue and banter felt so… effortless. And real. There were parts I laughed out loud and read to my husband (who, by now, is very good at tolerating these outbursts).
Some of the more emotional parts felt a little forced to me, but that could be more about me and less about the book… I do think this book did a great job moving between humor and emotionality, and I really loved how real the characters all felt. With this Guncle character, it could have felt very stereotyped or one-note, but the author did a good job of making him feel both real and representative. I really enjoyed this book.
Who Should Read It: Anyone looking for a light read that isn’t romance. Anyone who enjoys sitcoms. Anyone looking for a book with fun kid characters.
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
At 85 years old, Lillian Boxfish has lived a long life. It’s New Years Eve 1984, and, with the turn of the year nearing, she decides to walk to places in New York City that she has frequented over the years.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Maybe one of my preferred niche genres is “old people take walks”, but I really enjoyed this book. It took me a second to get into because so many books I’ve read recently have been fast-paced, action books, and this book is anything but that. Slow, methodical, contemplative, introspective — but action-packed, it is not. I didn’t mind… there was poetry in the delivery and falling back into Lillian’s past was such a respite.
Also, maybe because of my career teaching business classes, but I was pretty fascinated with Lillian’s fascination on advertisements and marketing. Her career clearly was a passion, not a paycheck, and her ability to read people and their motivations colored the whole book. It was a delightful stroll through NYC, and her reflections on her past (particularly in the 1930s and 40s) kept me hooked throughout.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who is looking for a slower-paced book. Anyone who likes books featuring elderly protagonists.
A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey
Lila’s abuela dies, then her boyfriend breaks up with her, then her best friend cancels their college plans to go work in Africa… it’s been a rough spring for Lila. Her family is concerned, so they ship her to England to live with her aunt in Winchester, and she finds a new kind of family.
Rating: 4 Stars
This book was the balm I needed during a crazy and hectic month. It was cute and light and fluffy, nothing too heavy (aside from grief), and a lovely little love story thrown in there. Lila is a baker and businesswoman, planning to take over her family’s bakery at 18, and the descriptions of all the food she was cooking throughout the book had my mouth watering. Couple that with some fun friends, an adorable falling-in-love scenario, and I’ll take this brand of YA over and over again.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who likes books about food. Anyone looking for a fun YA rom-com.
Cultish by Amanda Montell
Montell analyzes the language used in cults and applies it to cult-like things, like MLMs and social media. The analysis focuses on the way that these groups create cult-like followings and how that impacts the world around them.
Rating: 5 Stars
THIS WHOLE BOOK. I would not say that I am someone who likes true crime or reading about serial killers, but for some reason, cults fascinate me. Their ability to completely infiltrate people’s lives and turn them into a new “follower” is astounding, and so I picked up this book hoping to learn a bit more about cults.
What I got was 8 and a half hours of analysis on everything from Jonestown to QAnon, from Scientology to Instagram influencers. This book looked so closely at things that aren’t technically cults, but just feel… off. I especially loved the focus on language and the way that leaders of these groups weaponize language to make their followers feel exclusive. The author even touched on Trump’s rhetoric and the way it mirrors many cult leaders through the use of dehumanizing language and pithy statements that make people feel like they are in the “in crowd” when they use that language.
I never wanted this book to end. It was so fantastic.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who has ever been called a “#bossbabe”. Anyone who is fascinated with language. Anyone who thinks they may be susceptible to cults (or want to know how to avoid them!).
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
On her 25th birthday, Libby receives a letter from a solicitor, letting her know that she has inherited her biological parents’ house that was previously held in a trust. While she knew she was adopted, her adoptive parents told her that her biological parents died in a car accident. Unfortunately, the truth is a bit more complicated than that…
Rating: 4 Stars
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Truly, at some point, I looked up and said out loud, “wow I really like this book!” Not that I didn’t think I would enjoy it, but I listened to it on audio and the narrators were very weird with their accents, so I didn’t have high hopes at the start.
But this story had some good twists and turns. It felt dark without being too suspenseful or anxiety inducing, and the mystery was a good one. The different points of view were occasionally surprising, and I cycled through wondering if each of them were an unreliable narrator at one point or another. All in all, a solid mystery/thriller (though I’d recommend reading it over listening).
Who Should Read It: Anyone who wants a thriller that doesn’t make your heart race. Anyone who likes family dramas and cults. Anyone who likes nice and tidy endings.
The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah all receive letters from their grandmother, inviting them to come work and stay at her island resort for the summer… except they have never met their grandmother, since she disinherited their parents 24 years ago. Their parents force them to go for the summer, and what they find begins to unravel their complicated family history.
Rating: 4 Stars
You know, I’m enjoying this resurgence in YA mystery/thrillers. It all feels very Nancy Drew, and gives me the satisfaction of a mystery book without the heart-racing adrenaline spike I get from adult thrillers. To be clear, I am not a fan of that adrenaline spike, especially when I’m listening to audiobooks and also going about my normal day to day life. So as I’m in the middle of a whirlwind of a month, I picked up this book on audio to listen to while I pack up my house, and… it was just right. Enough of a mystery to keep me interested and listening, but not so plot-thick or heart-racing that I couldn’t zone out for a second if I needed to.
I really enjoyed the mystery of the novel. There were a few twists and turns, a few obvious foreshadowing bits that made me excited to see what was coming, but still enough of a spin at the end to keep me surprised. It was certainly YA… coming of age, teen romance, rebelling against parents, etc. But It was never sappy or over done. A solid mystery novel, I think, and one I’d recommend if you’re looking for an easy read.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who enjoys mysteries. Anyone who is looking for a good, non-cheesy YA book.
The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray
One house, three different times, three different women. Adrienne, the wife of the Marquis de Lafayette, struggles with her husband’s drive for freedom and concern for his safety. Beatrice is stuck in a loveless marriage, but WWI has driven them to opposite continents. Marthe feels ambivalent about WWII starting, but she is soon thrown in the middle of it while working with Jewish children.
Rating: 4 Stars
Stephanie Dray is just SO GOOD at writing really long, really detailed, really historically accurate novels. Due mostly to life circumstances, it took me a whole 16 days to finish this novel, but man, it was really good. I never lost interest, despite it being 575+ pages, and I enjoyed all of the character’s stories equally. I appreciated learning more about the French Revolution, a time period I have very little knowledge of (I fell asleep during Les Mis…), and it was interesting to see the politics of Lafayette’s movement from the American Revolution to the French Revolution.
But I really loved the focus on the women, and how different each of the women were! Beatrice and Adrienne were both firebrands, determined to make change, while Marthe went into it more reluctantly. Adrienne was a devout Catholic, while Beatrice and Marthe worshiped at the alter of survival. They all had different levels of love in their marriages and with their children. It was just really interesting to read such different perspectives in one novel, and done so eloquently.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who enjoys historical fiction. Anyone who. likes to learn about the women behind the curtains of war.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Keiko has been working at the convenience store since it opened 18 years ago. She loves working there, and feels that she is a part of the store, and the store is a part of her. But when society tells her that working there is unacceptable for a woman her age, she tries something different.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
This was a strange little book, but it infiltrated my whole brain for the couple days I listened to it. Keiko is clearly neurodiverse, and her family is always hoping she will be “cured”. But over and over again, this novel challenges the idea of normality and what it means to be a “normal” human. Keiko has her quirks and her obsessions, and she has trouble conforming to and understanding the nuances of the conversations that happen around her, but in her job, she is secure and content.
But people constantly question her choice of lifestyle, and as this book is set in Japan and written by a Japanese author, the need to conform and be someone who benefits society plays an even larger role in her life. I thought the analysis of normality, the ideas of necessary contributions to society, and the push to conform just set this book apart from anything else I’ve ever read.
Who Should Read It: Anyone looking for a thought-provoking novel. Anyone wanting a quick read that will make you think. Anyone looking to expand their reading.
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
We all know the story of the fall of Troy to the Greeks, but this novel takes the story of Achilles and Agamemnon and Hector and Paris, and ignores the men, looking for the women of the story. This novel flits between points of view, with Hera, Aphrodite, Cassandra, Penelope, and others taking turns telling their side of the story.
Rating: 5 Stars
Y’all. I’m a sucker for a good mythological story, but I haven’t read many in the last couple of years. This book (which I read on audio) totally blew my mind. I absolutely fell into the story of how the gods started the wars and the impacts it had on every woman’s life. I loved learning about the women behind the scenes, and the author did such a great job of conveying their individual personalities.
Some of my favorite chapters included Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena fighting over a golden apple, and Penelope’s letters to Odysseus fussing about him taking so long to come home. There was sass and strength and heartbreak and sadness and power and fear and… geez. I really didn’t want this book to end. I wanted to live with the characters.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who is a fan of mythology. Anyone who enjoys women’s retellings. Anyone who wants to learn more about Greek mythology.
Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
Sitara is a normal 10 year old… or at least as normal as one can be when growing up in the palace with Afghanistan’s President’s granddaughter as your best friend and your father as his chief advisor. But it’s 1978 in Kabul, and there’s about to be a violent overthrow of the government that will change Sitara’s entire life.
Rating: 5 Stars
This book will not be for everyone, but holy cow, it was for me. Some of book club has said that they had a hard time getting into it, but I dove right in and fell into the story of this little girl. First of all, the writing was BEAUTIFUL — poetic without being stuffy, and I found myself wanting to highlight all over that library book. It also was set during a time period that I have no knowledge of, and I really, really appreciated the perspective on Afghanistan, both from a historical perspective and a more present-day perspective.
But, not gonna lie, this is a heavy book. We see Sitara’s family get murdered in front of her in the first few chapters, and her evacuation from the palace, her journey to America, her life when she first gets to America… none of it was easy. But damn… this is a book that will be sitting with me for a while. The storytelling is beautiful, the story is heartbreaking but also hopeful, and I loved the characters and their relationships to each other and to Afghanistan. Bring tissues to this one.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who enjoys historical fiction. Anyone looking for a historical fiction novel set in a unique time period. Anyone who likes characters who overcome obstacles.
