Happy December! It's the last month of the year and Will's birthday week! He turns 1 on Friday which is kind of mind-blowing. But also wonderful! The first year is, in a word, exhausting. Also exciting and wonderful, but mostly really tiring, especially for the mom when you are breastfeeding. So bring on 1 and all that is to come!
But that's a topic for a different post. Today, I'm sharing my November reads. November was kind of a meh reading month for me. I still read 6 books, but that's a low number for me. But still a good number of books. I was sick for the first week of the month and then again around Thanksgiving so I shouldn't be surprised that I read less than usual this month.
Best books:
I loved The Madness of Crowds which is the latest installment in Louise Penny's inspector Gamache series. I appreciated that it was pandemic-adjacent - I don't really want to read a book set DURING the pandemic because I'm just so burned out on pandemics, since it seems never ending (I'm looking at you, omicron variant). I will be so sad when this series ends! I also really appreciated Caste by Isabel Wilkerson which is about the race dynamics in our country and how we got here. It's brilliantly written. She weaves together history and data with personal stories from her life. This is our December book club and I think we'll have a great discussion.
Least favorite:
The Final Revival of Opal and Nev was my least favorite of the month. I should have loved this book but I felt pretty meh and it was a bit of a slog. I probably should have abandoned it.
The boys' reading:
Paul enjoyed reading new-to-him books at my parents house last weekend. It was nice to have extra readers around who were thrilled to read to him!
I sometimes worry he isn't going to love books as much as Paul but these pictures remind me that he does like books. He has learned how to turn pages, too, which is very cute!
Did you read anything great this month?
I just posted my November books! I'm glad you liked "Madness." That's on my pile for "next" or "really soon." It stares at me but I want the time to just sink in and plow through, although I always hate to finish her -- because I know it will be awhile before the next one arrives!
ReplyDeleteSomeone else recommended Caste - I currently have a towering stack I don't think I have a chance of getting through before library due dates...but I need to add this to my "Want to Read" list.
ReplyDeleteYou read some great books. Curious to hear how your bookclub received Caste. It's a great book to have a discussion about IMHO.
ReplyDeleteYour boys will always love books as you’ve instilled the love of them into their lives! It’s so cute how Will kisses the baby faces! Paul was lucky to have so many cousin readers last week!
ReplyDeleteI loved Olive Kittredge and A Deadly Education last month. I also enjoyed the Madness of Crowds, but I think I found the pandemic adjacent aspect jarring.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you loved the Madness of Crowds - I heard some mixed reviews so I am a bit nervous to dive in (whenever I get around to it!). Caste was such an excellent read, and I look forward to hearing how to book club discussion goes.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite book in November was Disability Visibility!
I'm reading Amanda Knox's book. I didn't follow her trial much when it was happening, but to read from her perspective is interesting (so far, I haven't finished the book yet).
ReplyDeleteI love the photos of the boys reading! How did you like Whispering Door? I did not enjoy it as much as Cerulean Sea...it was good but a little far fetched and I realized this author kind of has a theme (which I did not notice after reading only one). Have you read any others by him? I wonder if they are all kind of the same...
ReplyDelete