November Wrap-Up

 Hello Interwebs!

I am officially the worlds worst blogger. The last blog post I put up was the November preview/TBR and I have posted exactly no reviews or anything else in all of November. I'm still not sure where November went. I read my way through my books, started on some knitted Christmas presents, and was not on my computer hardly at all. I read six total books in November AND I managed to read a book for all four prompts for Nonfiction November and I read the group book. So without further ado, in the order they were read here are the six books I finished in November. 

• Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand. This is the third novel in Hilderbrand's Paradise trilogy and was the conclusion of the family drama following the Steele family: Irene and her two sons Cash and Baker and their friends/extended family in the US Virgin Islands. Everything is wrapped up in a nice little bow at the end and it was feel-good dramatic good time. I gave this book a nice solid, enjoyable 4/5 stars. 
  
  
  
  
• The Yellow House by Sarah M Broom. This was the Nonfiction November group read and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I was going to. It's a memoir about Sarah Broom growing up in East New Orleans and her life and identity and how it is tied not just to her large family but also to the yellow house she was born and raised in. This book was a surprise favorite and I look forward to anything else she may put out. I gave it a 5/5 stars. 
  
  
  
  
• The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth. This is the first of the trio of memoirs by former nurse and midwife, Jennifer Worth about her time working as a nurse/midwife in the East End of London in the 1950s/1960s. This is the book trio that inspired the PBS series Call the Midwife which I adore so I was excited to read this book and it didn't disappoint. I gave this book a 4/5 stars. 
  
  
  
  
• Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob. This book was one I head about on a Nonfiction November TBR video that was linked to in the main video threads. It's a memoir written in a graphic novel format about a woman growing up the daughter of first generation Indian immigrants and her experiences being Indian-American and marrying a white man, having a bi-racial child, and navigating the racial climate in America. I loved this book so much and I devoured it. I took about 24 hours to read the book cover-to-cover and it immediately went on my Christmas list to own. Another 5/5 star read. 
  
  
  
  
• The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies by Dawn Raffel. This book was interesting. It's about a man who billed himself as Dr. Martin Couney who ran incubator sideshows at Atlantic City and Coney Island and the worlds fairs that showcased real premature infants and their care. I found out about this as something that happened in Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland which I read back in August and it was interesting to find out the true story of these sideshows and why they were so important. 3.5 out of 5 stars. 
  
  
  
  
• My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This was my last read of November and it's a memoir of sorts from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her life and work. I have a paperback copy of this book but I ended up listening to my audible audiobook copy instead. For most sections the narrator would read the introductions and any comments on the following sections and then they would insert the actual audio file of the speech or hearing or whatever that RBG had actual given or participated in. It was so good and so interesting to see the personal insights she had on her professional life. A 4.5/5 read. 
  
  
  

So those were my November reads. I wasn't disappointed with any of them this month and I'm glad I participated in Nonfiction November and branched out my normal reading. 

I also bought a lot of books, especially with black Friday sales seeming to happen for half of the month. 

• Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink; Amazon eBook; comedy/horror.
• Bird Box by Josh Malerman; Amazon eBook; horror
• Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism by Barbara Weisberg; Amazon eBook, Nonfiction
• Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks who Shaped How We See the Natural World by Kathryn Aalto; Amazon eBook; Nonfiction
• Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie; Fred Meyer paperback; mystery
• Home Before Dark by Riley Sager; Book of the Month hardcover; mystery/thriller
• The Zookeepers' War: An Incredible True Story from the Cold War by J.W. Mohnhaupt; Barnes and Noble paperback; nonfiction
• The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth; Barnes and Noble paperback; nonfiction
• The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende; Barnes and Noble paperback; magical realism/historical fiction
• FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven; Amazon eBook; horror
• The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa; Amazon ebook; romance
• Mountain of the Dead: The Dyatlov Pass Incident by Keith McCloskey; Amazon eBook; nonfiction
• The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold; Amazon eBook; nonfiction
• Simmer Down by Sarah Smith; Unplugged Book Box paperback; romance
• Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth; Barnes and Noble paperback; nonfiction
• Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth; Barnes and Noble paperback; nonfiction
• Dearly: New Poems by Margaret Atwood; Barnes and Noble hardcover; poetry
• Dyatlov Pass by Alan K Baker; Amazon eBook; horror
• Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones; Amazon eBook; horror
• Attack of the 50 Foot Indian by Stephen Graham Jones; Amazon eBook; horror
• Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare; Amazon eBook; horror
• Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell; Amazon eBook; thriller
• The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick; Amazon eBook; literary fiction
• The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon; Amazon eBook; romance
• The Complete Works of Jane Austen by Jane Austen; Amazon eBook; classic
• H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction by H.P. Lovecraft; Amazon eBook; classic horror
• Little Women: Complete Series-Four Novels in One Edition by Louisa May Alcott; Amazon eBook; classics
• Davenport House by Marie Silk; Amazon eBook; gothic mystery
• A Promised Land by Barack Obama; Amazon eBook; memoir
• A Promised Land by Barack Obama; Audible Audio Book; memoir
• The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson; Amazon eBook; horror 
• Miracle Creek by Angie Kim; Amazon eBook; mystery/thriller
• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson; Amazon eBook; historical fiction
• A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer; Amazon eBook; YA Fantasy
• Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas; Amazon eBook; Gothic thriller
• The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni; Amazon eBook; historical fiction
• Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok; Amazon eBook; mystery
• A Portrait of Death by Claudio Hernandez and Manuel Del Prieto; Amazon eBook; supernatural thriller
• The Bite-Sized Bakery Cozy Mysteries #1-10 by Rosie A Point; Amazon eBook; cozy mysteries; includes: Murder by Chocolate; Marzipan and Murder; Creepy Cake Murder; Murder adn Meringue Cake; Murder Under the Mistletoe; Murder Glazed Donuts; Choc Chip Murder; Macarons and Murder; Candy Cake Murder, and Murder by Rainbow Cake
• Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson; Amazon eBook; YA Mystery/Thriller
• The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel; Amazon eBook; mystery/thriller
• A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas; Amazon eBook; YA fantasy
• An American Marriage by Tayari Jones; Amazon eBook; literary fiction
• An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir; Amazon eBook; YA Fantasy
• Frozen: Conceal, Don't Feel: A Twisted Tale by Jen Calonita; Amazon eBook; YA retellings
• The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K LeGuin; Amazon eBook; science fiction
• Luster by Raven Leilani; Amazon eBook; literary fiction

So that's it, the million books I bought in November and the six I read. I have a TBR that I will never ever finish but I'm slowly making my peace with that fact. Anyway I'm going to try really hard to blog most days in December. It won't be any kind of formal Bookmas or anything but a reset of the blog to usher in the new year. 

Happy Reading!

Richelle and Emma