Is it me or did November fly by? We had a great week last week despite the cold, rainy weather. I relaxed, read and did a bit of shopping.
Reading wise, I finished four books and was really hoping it would be more but oh well. I read The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion for Nonfiction November. Not my favorite read to be honest. I’m glad I read it but I didn’t feel the emotional connection I was expecting.
I also visited with Maisie Dobbs and finished The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear. This is the 16th book in the series and I liked this one a lot. The fear in the title is a running theme throughout the story and understandable as the characters have lived through WWI and now are deep in WWII.
I took a short detour to Painters Mill the fictional setting for Linda Castillo’s, Chief Kate Burkholder series and read Long Lost, a short story after book number four. Despite the quaint setting there is grittiness to this series. This short story was a bit more light as Kate and her partner, John Tomassetti are on a much needed vacation but of course they can’t resist falling into a mystery.
Finally, the last book I finished was The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves which is the first in the Vera Stanhope series. I’ve enjoyed some other Ann Cleeves novels a lot but this is my first time reading any of her Vera Stanhope books. I haven’t watched the television production either. While I don’t think I needed a 500 page mystery, I found it an engaging read and will definitely read more. And, Vera is such a character!
Sadly, I didn’t finish some of my reading projects I wanted to complete and only read one book for Nonfiction November. Oh well, it was still fun to plan and dream about which books to read. I did start one book for Novellas in November and hopefully will finish this week.
Looking forward to December I’m excited about bookish gifts (yes, I may buy myself some bookish gifts – haha), end of year reading review and of course planning for next year! I may be tired from all the craziness of this year but I’m also excited about December and a new year.
Tell me what you are excited about or looking forward to in December.
Yes the month (year, decade…) flew by!
I read The Year of Magical Thinking many, many years ago. 2005, I believe. It fell short for me and I never did review it, but I know there are several passages that I marked. Maybe I’ll give it a reread and see if I like it any better.
Have you read Winspear’s memoir? I started it a few weeks ago, but called it quits after 100+ pages. It was almost too personal, which would be great if the reader is related and knows the family, but for someone outside of the family, it was a bit dull.
December is a fun month, isn’t it? I’m excited about Rod’s book launch party on Sunday. We’ve invited dozens and dozens of friends and neighbors, so I hope we have a good turnout (and that we don’t run out of books!!).
Thanks for all the recent comments on my blog. I love hearing from my blogging friends. xoxo
It sounds like you had a good reading month, even if you didn’t get to everything you hoped to. I hope December will be even better for
you! I read quite a bit of manga this past month along with some urban fantasy. I am trying to get back into the rhythm of blogging again after an unintended absence. I have a lot going on this month and am not sure how much reading I will be able to get done, but I will fit it in where I can. I hope you have a great December.