Last year in November, I only read 4 books, so I knew that my goal going in to this month was to beat that. Luckily, I have discovered a deep and passionate love for audiobooks, and, since I spent a lot of time driving around in November, most of the books I read this month were via audio.
Also, apparently Nonfiction November is a thing, and I was apparently a participant this month. Four of the seven books I read this month were nonfiction, which surprised me, but also I enjoyed the heck out of them. I’ve taken on a lot of nonfiction this year (mostly thanks to audiobooks), and some of my favorites of the year were nonfiction.
Books are listed in the order they were read. For more mini-reviews, check out my What I Read tag.
Monthly Stats
- Total Books Read in October: 7 Books
- Total Authors Read in October: 7 Authors
- Total Pages Read: 2,404 Pages
- Total Books Quit: 0 Books
- Average Days Per Book: 4.29 Days per Book
- Average Pages Per Day: 80.1 Pages per Day
Long Story Short…
- If you like good memoirs, check out We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union.
- If you like mystical places, read The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.
- If you like historical fiction that’s NOT about WWII, check out Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.
Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
Premise: Joshua Foer is a journalist who is tasked with covering the World Memory Championships. Once he sees these masters at work, though, he decides to dive into memory training and take his shot at competing for the U.S. Memory Championship.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Thoughts: I went into this book thinking it would be a self-help type book, but it definitely wasn’t that. I’d say it was part memoir, part research paper, though I didn’t really mind all that. In this book, Joshua Foer walks us through his experiment with memory training, his interviews with savants and people with total memory loss and champions of the World Memory finals. He discusses the background of memory and how we’ve gotten away from memorization and knowing dates and times of historical events. He talks pretty extensively about how these changes have impacted society.
Overall, I guess I was more interested in his personal story than the background and history of it all (as the author would probably predict I would be), and I wished there was more of that in the book. The last chapter and the epilogue were my favorite parts of the book… it just sucks that it took me so long to get there.
Who Should Read It: Anyone interested in niche hobbies. Anyone who enjoys reading about history. Anyone who wants tips on how to remember things more.
Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham
Premise: Best known for her role as Lorelai Gilmore, Lauren Graham discusses what it was like to film Gilmore Girls (and the sequel!) and discusses life in Hollywood.
Rating: 3 Stars
Thoughts: I really wanted to like this book, and I’m probably being a bit generous with my three stars. There were some definite tangents that she took off on when writing this one, and I’m not exactly sure how it was all connected. The jump from Gilmore Girls to Hollywood diet trends seemed especially incongruous.
I gave this three stars, however, because the chapters about Gilmore Girls were just so damn adorable. I loved hearing about the background of this show, and I wish these chapters were the whole book. I recently started rewatching Gilmore Girls (thanks to this book), and I’m just wishing I forever lived in Stars Hollow.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who loves Gilmore Girls.
Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
Premise: When Jack King meets Kate at a party, he falls instantly in love. But when he realizes she has a life-threatening illness, he has to figure out how to save her… even if this means reliving the last few months over and over until he gets it right.
Rating: 2 Stars
Thoughts: Those 2 stars are generous. This is the problem with continuing books I’m not enjoying — I end up hating them so much that it’s impossible to write a good review. And there really wasn’t a lot I liked about this book. The characters were so hard to root for… they made stupid decisions (dumber than the normal teenager would make) and they liked to each other over and over again.
I think the most frustrating part of this book was the fact that it was so unrealistic and incongruent… and not just because of the going-back-in-time thing. Jack sells his car; his parents don’t even ask about it. In one back-in-time, Franny is alcoholic, but isn’t in any of the other timelines, and Jack just mentions it in passing. The worst part, though, was the fact that we spent so much time watching Jack attempt things with Kate and Jillian and Franny over and over again, but the final timeline is the shortest and least exciting… it felt like a dud at the end of a fireworks show. All in all, if you want good YA, I can point you in the right direction, but this definitely isn’t it.
Who Should Read It: Meh. No one.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Premise: Zachary Ezra Rawlins is perfectly fine being a graduate student studying stories in videos games. While he lives a pretty solitary life, he knows where he stands. When he discovers an ancient, author-less book in the university library, however, it has him questioning reality and what role Fate plays in our lives.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Thoughts: I’m trying to separate my anticipation of reading this book from the book itself, but it’s hard. I read (and loved!) The Night Circus last year, so when I found out that Erin Morgenstern was coming out with her second novel (8 years later!), I knew I had to snatch it up. I was hoping for the magic and immersion that The Night Circus gave me… and I got it here!
I will caveat this with the fact that this book is definitely not for everyone. If you want to know exactly what is going on at all times, this is not for you. If you want something fast-paced and upbeat, this is not for you. If you want a linear timeline, this is definitely not for you. But! What you do get in this novel is a beautiful world (despite being a bit past it’s prime). You get deeply fleshed out characters who have pretty clear motivations. You get secret societies and opposing sides and magic and mystery and very VERY pretty words. I took two and a half weeks to read this one because I savored every. last. drop. And it was so worth it.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who loves The Night Circus. Anyone who enjoys beautiful worlds. Anyone who wants a novel they can immerse themselves in.
We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union
Premise: Gabrielle Union discusses life as a black woman, sex, fame, sexual assault, and everything in between.
Rating: 4 Stars
Thoughts: I’m beginning to realize that my favorite genre of audiobook is by far memoirs read by the author. I looked for excuses to listen to this one, and Gabrielle Union is one of the best narrators I’ve ever listened to. This book was full of hard-hitting truths about being black in America, and even more about being a woman. She bounced from topic to topic a bit (think of this as more of a collection of essays), but they were definitely all related and and flowed well from one chapter to the other.
The two chapters that hit me the hardest were the ones about her sexual assault (Chapter 7, for those needing a trigger warning) and her infertility. They way she talks about her fame in relation to these two events… I just really connected with her. I also thought the chapter about her stepsons and their being tall black boys in America really hit hard, and she truly didn’t hold back. All in all, I thought this collection of stories and thoughts was just so… real and honest and true, and I enjoyed every second of listening.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who likes Gabrielle Union. Anyone looking for a good memoir. Anyone who is interested in hot political topics.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Premise: Avery Stafford is a 30 year old lawyer who is being groomed to take her ailing father’s Senate seat. When she does a press op at a nursing home, however, she encounters a story that may change the way she sees herself and her family forever.
Rating: 4 Stars
Thoughts: I’m such a sucker for a good historical fiction novel, especially if it is set during a time period or event that I know nothing about. And… I knew NOTHING about these adoption mills during and after the Great Depression. This book flashes back and forth between present day Avery and 1930s Rill, who lived through horrific things.
I blew through this novel (it helps that I woke up at 4:30 AM, but I finished most of it in one 4 hour sitting). I really liked Avery’s character and the struggles she faced, and the difficult parts to read were definitely Rill’s. I feel like now is a good time to put out a trigger warning (child abuse, sexual abuse, neglect…), because, while nothing was explicit, it was so difficult to read through… especially knowing it was based in fact.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who likes historical fiction. Anyone who enjoys dual timeline books.
Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
Premise: The hosts of the very popular My Favorite Murder podcast get real about their life and what led them to create the podcast.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Thoughts: I was hesitant to read this book. I like the podcast, but I haven’t listened to it in a while and I wouldn’t really consider myself a Murderino. I was very much against reading this book, just because I was sure that Karen and Georgia’s witty banter and cute quips wouldn’t transfer well to written form. And I was a little bit right?
I did listen to the audiobook, which is 100% the way to go on this one. I loved the format — each chapter was titled one of their famous slogans (“F*** Politeness”, “You’re in a Cult, Call Your Dad”, among others), and then each host took a turn telling a story that was related to that slogan. Some of the stories were touching and heart wrenching and meaningful… and some of them fell a little flat. This book was a quick listen, but I’d rather listen to the podcast.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who likes My Favorite Murder.
