November Reading Recap
Greetings from snowy Montreal! Having lived in Georgia for seven years, I haven't been able to experience an actual Hallmark-y holiday season in a long time. Reading under a cozy blanket just hits differently when it's not 70 degrees outside and sunny. It's truly one of the best feelings there is. November was another reading tear for me, with only a few duds and a couple hits. Hope you can find something to add to your list. Happy holidays and happy reading!
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez
Quick Synopsis: 6-year-old Gasper is in danger. After possibly inheriting supernatural powers from his medium father that allow him to unlock doors to different realms and talk to the dead, the Order, a wealthy family that will stop at nothing to gain immortality, needs Gasper’s powers. Gasper and his dad are on the run, attempting to outrun the family while trying to live a semi-normal life.
Strong Points: While this was on the longer side (almost 600 pages), it didn’t feel long. I was enjoying the characters and story and stayed curious throughout the whole book to see what would happen next. The writing and storytelling were quite beautiful. This is one of the few translated novels that I didn’t feel lost anything in translation. It’s hard to sum up this book. It’s a story about families and our sometimes complex relationships with them, a little bit of a ghost story sprinkled with Argentinian history, and lots of subplots woven throughout. The author’s strong voice really made the book for me. I couldn’t put it down.
Weak Points: I really don’t have any complaints. The third part of the book had a completely different shift in tone and voice when switched to Gasper’s POV, but I felt like it worked; it just took some getting used to.
Writing Style: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Flow/Pacing: 4.5/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Recommend
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
Quick Synopsis: In 1978, there was a serial killer on the loose. After being awoken in the middle of the night, Pamela sees a mysterious man leaving the sorority house, only to discover a few of her sorority sisters were attacked. Pamela goes on a mission to discover who committed these awful crimes. Meanwhile, in Seattle, Tina hears of these attacks and is sure it is the same person who is behind the disappearance of her best friend, Ruth. The two join forces to prove the All-American Sex Killer is behind these tragedies.
Strong Points: I liked the concept of the book being based on the real-life murders of Ted Bundy, but it lost me with it being told through fictional characters' perspectives. Great concept, poor execution.
Weak Points: This one fell kind of flat for me. The author’s writing was very weak, and the storyline and characters felt unnatural and forced, and it was around 200 pages too long. I’m already not too big of a fan of historical fiction because I’m constantly wondering which characters and sequences are fictional and which are factual. Maybe I would have liked it more if I liked the genre, but it just wasn’t for me.
Writing Style: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Plot: 3/5
Flow/Pacing: 3/5
Overall Rating: 2.5/5
Not Recommend (Maybe recommend if you like this genre)
North Woods by Daniel Mason
Quick Synopsis: This novel follows a single house in the New England woods throughout the centuries, examining the lives of the people who live in it and how the land around the house evolves and changes with time.
Strong Points/Weak Points: Man, this is a hard book to review. I was thinking throughout 3/4 of it that I really wanted to like it but that it was overhyped. For example, there’s a sequence in the book where there are pages and pages describing a beetle burrowing through a piece of wood, mating, and then documenting the offspring’s lives, and it felt pretentious and left me rolling my eyes and skimming the pages. I was fully prepared to give this book three stars, and then the ending had such a beautiful and effective landing. This was a masterpiece of showing how life goes on and nature lives on far after we are gone, and yet in the short period of time we are alive, we can damage and change the environment around us so quickly. The author did this in such a subtle and beautiful way, in a few single sentences. Instead of force-feeding this theme to the reader, the author gently guides them to it. The last sentence in the book might be one of my favorite last sentences in a book. *chef’s kiss*. HOWEVER, it took too long to get to that point. What do you rate a book that you didn’t care for ¾ of but felt the ending was exceptional?
Another Small Weak Points: I wish there would have been date stamps or even year markers on each section. At times, I had a little trouble figuring out where in time each section was taking place, and it took me out of the story a little bit. There were some stories I had a hard time connecting with, and truly, I didn’t care.
Writing Style: 5/5
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Flow/Pacing: 2/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Recommend (If you can hang through to the very rewarding ending.)
The Pole by J.M. Coetzee
Quick Synopsis: After Beatriz hosts an older Polish pianist in Barcelona for a concert, he becomes infatuated with her. Sending her love notes and wanting to meet again. Beatriz, a married woman, slowly finds herself clandestinely meeting up with the pianist.
Strong Points: Strong, tight writing with a beautiful story wrapped up in a bright, shiny bow. On the same level as Claire Keegan’s writing. When an author can deliver a beautiful, rich story in less than 200 pages, that’s so much more impressive to me than a story delivered in 600 pages with the same depth. How can a book be so simple yet so complex at the same time? I devoured this strange little book in less than 24 hours.
Weak Points: It’s billed as a “psychologically probing” story per Goodreads, and it just isn’t that. If you go into it knowing it isn’t that, then you’ll enjoy it.
Writing Style: 5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Plot: 5/5
Flow/Pacing: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Highly Recommend
The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Quick Synopsis: After getting in a car accident on her bike, Ingrid suffers amnesia, just like her mother did decades before. Could there be some truth to the family curse? Going back to Columbia to dig up their grandfather’s body to be cremated, they also dig up some family history.
Strong Points: I love this family! They were hilariously loving and charming. Their banter and interactions had me feeling like I was part of their family. What the family had to endure in Columbia during the 1980s and 1990s had me forgetting it was nonfiction at times. Yet these hard times only seemed to bring the family closer together. I also liked how Columbian history was inserted throughout the book, like little bits of history lessons. I found it interesting when Ingrid lost her memory; much like her mother, she didn’t want her memory to come back. She could live in ignorance of not knowing and forge a new life for herself with new memories and experiences and a clean slate.
Weak Points: There were a few points that were less enthralling but overall very engaging.
Writing Style: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Flow/Pacing: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Recommend
Among the Bros: A Fraternity Crime Story by Max Marshall
Quick Synopsis: Max Marshall was a student, a fraternity bro, and a drug dealer involved in a Xanax trafficking ring that ended in homicide and millions of dollars. Among the Bros takes an investigative look into the inner fraternity life of prestigious southern universities.
Strong Points: The book was heavily researched, with interviews with the fraternity brothers. The author was a frat boy himself, so he brought a part of the frat boy perspective and experiences with him that I really enjoyed, and it gave the reader more insight. But wow, these little white, privileged snots with Daddy’s money used college as their playground and got away with it. The most frustrating part is that some of these people who run around the government (looking at you, Mitch McConnell of Phi Kappa Tau, Mike Pence of Phi Gamma Delta, and Linsey Graham of Pi Kappa Phi) defend their fellow frat buddy Brett Kavanaugh of Delta Kappa Epsilon, and they get away with the same behavior that was demonstrated in the book. I’m sure there are nice, good-hearted frat boys in the world, but yikes! This makes me not like the college Greek scene. This story is equally engaging and frustrating about how wealthy white men so frequently avoid the consequences of their actions.
Weak Points: I would have liked to know the aftermath of these crimes. How did the college’s PR deal with and try to cover up these disastrous crimes that took place right under their nose?
Writing Style: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Flow/Pacing: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Recommend
The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O’Rourke
Quick Synopsis: O’Rourke documents her journey and struggle with her decades-long chronic illness with her own experiences, research, and interviews with healthcare professionals.
Strong Points: I am so sympathetic to her health journey. I can’t imagine how beaten down you must get from feeling like junk day after day with no answers or relief. Like most patients dealing with a chronic illness, O’Rourke had to take her health into her own hands and learn how to advocate for herself, writing this book and raising awareness about how hard it is to live with a chronic illness when doctors don’t listen or take your complaints seriously. It’s very well researched.
Weak Points: It might be a little too well researched. There were a few times I got a little bored of reading about the same autoimmune concepts over and over again. There were sections that I felt could have used some fat trimming. She went to several doctors and specialists all around the country, stating that's just what someone with a chronic disease has to do. While she does say how expensive it was and how the bills stacked it, I think it was a little bit insensitive at times to assume this is what all people with chronic diseases do because the average person sometimes can’t even afford to go to their regular doctor for their symptoms (whether it be due to time off work, poor insurance, etc.), let alone different specialists all over the country. She could have added a sentence acknowledging how fortunate she was to be a freelance writer (so she had the time) and have a spouse who had good health insurance. If I were struggling with a chronic illness, I probably would have found this book annoying.
Writing Style: 2.5/5
Plot: 4/5
Flow/Pacing: 3/5
Overall Rating: 3/5
Not Recommend
The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland
Quick Synopsis: Rudolf Vrba may not be a name that you know is synonymous with the Holocaust, but he played a small part in World War II’s history by breaking out of Auschwitz to warn the Jews around Europe about their fate and eventually getting word to leaders in the UK, America, and even the Pope.
Strong Points: What these people had to endure in concentration camps is unfathomable. I can’t imagine living through that and holding onto the hope that one day you might escape to tell the world what was happening. There really aren’t any words that describe what it must have been like. It’s too unfathomable to even imagine that happening, so instead, world leaders turned a blind eye, even after reading about Vrba's experience. It was heartbreaking to read because it was so well researched. It’s engaging and a hard but good read.
Weak Points: I didn’t really think there were any weak points. It was strong from start to finish. I know there are a few raised eyebrows from readers that Vrba was not the first person to escape Auschwitz and that historians have disproven this, but I didn’t think it took away from the story. Anyone who had the guts to escape or even try to escape Auschwitz deserves to have a book written about them.
Writing Style: 4/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Flow/Pacing: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Recommend
Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick deWitt
Quick Synopsis: Lucy Minor hears of a job in a remote village as an assistant to a majordomo at Castle Von Aux. Upon arriving in the village, he finds a cast of odd characters and a dark secret about the master of the castle.
Strong Points: What a fun, charming, and delightful book! The characters were all so quirky, loveable, and well-developed. The author’s humor was dark and strange, making the story much more fun, yet oddly heartwarming at times. It’s a land that you’ll want to stay in as long as the author lets you. It's one of the strangest books I’ve read in a long time. I will definitely be reading more from this author.
Weak Points: No weak points here!
Writing Style: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Flow/Pacing: 4.5/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Highly Recommend
How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann
Quick Synopsis: Set in present-day New York City, a group of classic fairytale characters work through the trauma of their pasts together in a therapy group.
Strong Points: What a delightfully fun read. It was fun reading and piecing together which girl belonged in what classic fairytale and how the author tweaked each story to fit into today’s world. If you’re looking for something light and fun to end the year with, I couldn’t recommend this one more!
Weak Points: The writing wasn’t groundbreaking or beautiful, but it wasn’t that type of deep book. It was just fun.
Writing Style: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Flow/Pacing: 3.5/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Recommend
"I find the constant upkeep of the body woefully fatiguing, don't you?" - Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick deWitt
