November welcomes another year of German Literature Month hosted by Caroline and Lizzy. The idea is to read fiction, non-fiction, short stories, etc. as long as the original work was written in German. There are also two scheduled readalongs which you can read more about here.

As I mentioned in my recent library haul, I found two books that I thought might be good for this challenge. In addition I have the following books that I could look into: Crabwalk by Gunter Grass and The Quest for Christa T by Christa Wolff. I also have this short story collection which on one side is in English and the other page is the German version. A good way to practice my German.

When we were in Germany last Summer I picked up several free book magazines from the various bookstores I visited (you can see them underneath the books). I always like to take these even if my German definitely needs a lot of help, but I like to see the names of the German authors, book titles and book covers.

One display that I really enjoyed when I was at the Graff bookstore in Brauschweig was a table of Krimi novels and they all were set in the Harz. If you’ve read about my trips to Germany you know how much I love that area. I should have bought one of those even if it would probably take me a whole year to read with dictionary in hand and bugging my husband the whole time but I think it would be a fun challenge. Anyway that might be a challenge for next year.

So I’m definitely in and looking forward to discovering some German literature. I am not sure if I’ll be able to participate in the readalongs but I’m going to try to read at least one book for this challenge and I’ll also tell you about some German shows we enjoy. Thanks again to Caroline & Lizzy for hosting the challenge.

Now, what about you? Are you participating and what are you reading?

The first part of the month I felt like I was making no progress in my reading but I have ended the month clearing off my nightstand of most books in progress so that is a great feeling – means I can start some new books. I typically have between 3-5 books in progress and try not to have many more than that.

So what did I finish in October? A Killing at Cotton Hill by Terry Shames, Witch by Barbara Michaels, Hallowed Bones by Carolyn Haines, The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood, Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine, and My Name is Leon by Kit De Waal. I will try to do some write up posts on the books but my favorites were The Wicked Girls and Witch.

Not bad right? And, best of all I completed the R.I.P. Challenge. I read four books, two short stories and even watched a scary movie. I think this is the best participation month I’ve had in all the years I’ve signed up. Thanks again to Carl V. for another wonderful year of scary reads!

We are now headed into the last two months of the year and there are so many exciting things to think about: German Literature Month, Nonfiction November, Holiday wishlists, book festivals, etc. It’s funny because I’ve already started seeing some best of lists and I’m like, wait there are still two good months to read some amazing books. So I’m definitely looking forward to finding some great reads.

How about you? What are you most looking forward to in November?