November Wrap-Up

Hello Interwebs!

So this is my wrap up for November. I'm just going to end up skipping the full reviews to this point and start fresh in December...maybe. It's been a bleh month for book reading, but a good month for book buying. I read a grand total of four books in November, one being one I started in October and another being a children's picture book. I fulfilled two of the four nonfiction November prompts and for the most part I enjoyed my reading. 

So first up are the four books I read in November. 

1. Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge (2006): this was the last book I read for Camp Weekend Ween and I read it from October 30 to November 2nd and gave it 4 stars. This was a horror about a town where teenage boys hunt a monstrous scarecrow known as the October Boy. It was a good solid horror story with a good twist to it and although I wish certain things had been slightly more fleshed out but I liked it well enough. 
   
   
   
2. The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (2021): this is a book of essays I read for nonfiction November's Collection prompt. I read it from November 2nd to 13th and gave it another solid 4 stars. There were essays on everything from Canada Geese to Soccer teams and I enjoyed most essays in it (even if I didn't always agree with his rating of the topic) and the presentation was very entertaining. I highly recommend this book as nonfiction for people who don't read nonfiction. 
   
   
   
3. Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe (2021): This was my book pick for nonfiction November's Industry prompt. I read it from November 16-28th and gave it a 4 star rating. This is a nonfiction book, kind of a collection of biographies really, all about the Vanderbilt family split into two sections: the rise with the building of the Vanderbilt dynasty, and then the fall with the destruction of their opulent homes and squandering of their riches. The book is written primarily by Anderson Cooper, whose mother was Gloria Vanderbilt the last real Vanderbilt born into the dynasty. This would've been much closer to a 5 star read without the inclusion of a singular chapter that involved far too many details about the racing of sailing yachts for my taste. 
   
   
   
4. Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (1981): this was a last minute choice. I needed a book to fulfill my 52 books in 52 weeks prompt for a National Book Award Winner which was a group of books I really didn't want to read. So I read Jumanji, the book that inspired the films both the one with Robin Williams and the more recent ones starring The Rock. This book was fine, it was nothing spectacular especially when put up against the nostalgia that the Robin Williams film holds for me. I read it on November 28th and gave it three stars. 
   
   
   

That being said I also started and did not finish three other books this month, not because they were bad but because they just weren't what I was vibing with this month. 

• Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Untamed Food by Gina Rae La Cerva (2020): this was my Literati book pick for November. It was good with a solid premise but it was one of those books I just couldn't get into for this month. 
  
  
  
• Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American who Loves to Walk Outside by Nick Offerman (2021): this is the new book from Nick Offerman who my partner and I really like to listen to on long trips. We started it on the trip to see my family for Thanksgiving and never got more than an hour into the audible version of it since our toddler decided to shriek periodically during all car rides this month. That being said I have it on audible and I'm going to finish it...eventually. 
  

Despite my terrible reading slump I did buy a lot of books: physical, ebooks, and audiobooks. More than a few of these books were holiday themed ones both ot decorate my display bookcase for Christmas as well as because I am really in the mood for fuzzy Christmas reading. 

• Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Untamed Food by Gina Rae La Cerva (2020): hardcover nonfiction from Literati's Atlas Obscura Finding Wonder book club. 
• The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker (2021): hardcover young adult fantasy from BOTM.
• The Collective by Alison Gaylin (2021): hardcover thriller from BOTM. 
• Tithe by Holly Black (2002): Modern Faerie Tales book 1; paperback young adult fantasy from Barnes and Noble. 
• Valiant by Holly Black (2005): Modern Faerie Tales book 2: paperback young adult fantasy from Barnes and Noble. 
• Ironside by Holly Black (2007): Modern Faerie Tales book 3: paperback young adult fantasy from Barnes and Noble.
• The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer (2021): a paperback holiday romance (Hanukkah/Christmas) from Barnes & Noble
• Christmas by the Book by Anne Marie Ryan (2020): a paperback holiday fuzzy book from Barnes & Noble
• The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox (2021): a paperback holiday romance from Barnes & Noble.
• Always, In December by Emily Stone (2021): a paperback holiday romance from Barnes & Noble.
• The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Baylliss (2020): a paperback holiday romance from Barnes & Noble
• The Hygge Holiday by Rosie Blake (2017): an ebook holiday romance from Amazon
• The Holiday Ex-Files by Jennifer Peel (2021): an ebook holiday romance from Amazon
• Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey (2021): an ebook Holiday romance from Amazon
• Collie Jolly by Leigh Landry (2019): an ebook Holiday romance (F/F) from Amazon
• A Family for Christmas by Jay Northcote (2016): an ebook Holiday romance (M/M) from Amazon
• Mangos and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera (2019): an ebook holiday romance (F/F) from Amazon
• Faux Ho Ho by Nathan Burgoine (2019): an ebook holiday romance (M/M) from Amazon
• Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah (2005): a paperback holiday chick lit from Barnes & Noble
• Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones (2016): a horror ebook from Amazon
• All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman (2021): a young adult fantasy hardcover from Barnes & Noble
• The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee (2021): Book 3 in The Montague Siblings series, hardcover historical fiction from Barnes & Noble.
• Voices in the Snow by Darcy Coates (2020): paperback horror from Barnes & Noble
• Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones (2017): paperback horror from Barnes & Noble
• The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon (2014): paperback horror from Barnes & Noble
• Cunning Folk by Adam Neville (2021): horror ebook from Amazon
• Lore Olympus Volume One by Rachel Smythe (2021): hardcover webtoon volume 1 from Amazon.
• Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside by Nick Offerman (2021): nonfiction audiobook from Audible
• Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassandra Peterson (2021): nonfiction audiobook from Audible

So that's everything I read and purchased in the month of November. I think that my favorite book I read was The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green and my least favorite was definitely Jumaji although nothing was really all that bad. I hope your reading month was better than mine but onward to December and cozy winter stories!

Happy Reading!

Richelle