This has not been a great reading month for me – I was taking part in NetGalley November and had so many plans to zip through lots of lovely ARCs (including some that have been on my shelf for far too long).
The reality was work, work, work with a side order of insomnia! I managed to read 6 books this month, which isn’t many for me at all. Still, I’m on 121/100 on my GoodReads Challenge so this is a blip in an otherwise great year.
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November Wrap-Up
Although I only read six books, they were really good ones!
I started the month with ‘The Shadows of Men’ by Abir Mukherjee, the brilliant fifth installment in the historical crime series about Captain Wyndham and Sergeant Banerjee. This series is set in the 1920s in colonial India and is gripping, eye-opening and beautifully plotted. I loved everything about this one – my review is here.
Next, I read ‘Eligible’ by Curtis Sittenfeld, a huge error in my NetGalley November calculations as I didn’t actually have it on my shelf – just a copy I’d bought and mistakenly thought was NetGalley. I am an idiot. Still, I enjoyed this modern retelling of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ – it certainly hit some surprising notes and the audio version I also listened to was engaging. My review is here.
Returning to NetGalley books, I then finished ‘The Killer in the Snow’ by Alex Pine, a solid police procedural with some genuinely creepy elements. I enjoyed this one a lot – my review is here.
After all that murder, I thought some poetry would make a nice change – ‘100 Poets: A Little Anthology’ by John Carey was engaging, erudite and interesting. It introduced me to some new poems, reminded me of old favourites and made me remember why I will never love Walt Whitman! My review is here.
Book five was the absolutely fantastic (if blush-inducing) ‘The Dangerous Kingdom of Love’ by Neil Blackmore. This is a funny, bawdy and touching historical novel about Francis Bacon at the court of James I – and the dangers that came with being gay in a brutal and unforgiving era. My review is here.
Finally, I read ‘The Maid’ by Nita Prose with my Tsundoku Squad ladies! I loved this naive narrator navigating The Grand Regency Hotel…and the secrets it hides. This is a 2022 debut to watch out for – my review is here.
December TBR
As I totally failed to get through what I planned for November, don’t hold your breath for these!
I’d like to finish ‘The Twyford Code’ by Janice Hallett and ‘Traitor King’ by Andrew Lownie. I am loving both of these so far – the fictional twisty mystery due in 2022 and the non-fiction account of the abdication of Edward VIII.
Aside from these, it will be a good month if I can read some tense and thrilling mysteries to keep me on my toes:
I hope you have a great reading month!
Header photo by Pavan Trikutam on Unsplash
6 books is still really good! And you’re crushing your Goodreads reading challenge also. Hope December will be a good month for you.
Sorry you didn’t read as much as you’d hoped. I definitely hope to get more reading in this month too. I’m doing a #flattenthenetgalleys challenge on Instagram to hopefully knock off a few of those arcs.
-Lauren
Sorry that you felt you didn’t get through enough of your Netgalley titles. I think 6 books a month is good.
Thanks! I think it is more that I had plans to read more but life took over! Xx