What are we reading in November?

Happy November, everyone! What are you reading this month? I've begun The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla by Lauren Willig, the penultimate Pink Carnation book, which has a suitably gothic theme. Please share what you're reading or planning to read below!

I am working my way through The Dark is Rising sequence for a nostalgic re-read inspired by Among Others (Octobers SFFKIT challenge).

So far, the only book in the series that stands the test of time is The Dark is Rising. The rest of the books feels more like Enid Blyton with added instant magic. There is even a gypsy caravan in Greenwitch.

I am currently reading Olivia and the Little Way and Old Farts on a Bus which are both Kindle Unlimited books.

In the late-middle of The World of Sugar: How the Sweet Stuff Transformed Our Politics, Health, and Environment over 2,000 Years (by Ulbe Bosma; narrated by Julian Elfer) and in the early-middle of The Secret History (by Donna Tartt).

I'm starting the month reading The last Devil to Die by Richard Osman, Breath by Tim Winton, and listening to Auntie Lee's Deadly Specials by Ovidia Yu.

I am reading and really loving Gap Creek by Robert Morgan, this could well be a 5 star read for me. I am also reading a post-apocalyptic thriller entitled The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis that is certainly holding my attention as well.

I'm almost finished with Outback which is still available through Kindle Unlimited, thank you for the BB Judy! After that I will start on Let Us Descend.

Finished The World of Sugar: How the Sweet Stuff Transformed Our Politics, Health, and Environment over 2,000 Years (by Ulbe Bosma; narrated by Julian Elfer) and now am going to commit to finishing The Secret History (by Donna Tartt). By Monday I hope to be starting with a clean slate in both audio & print.

I've finished Babel by R. F. Kuang and am reading The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth.

I'm starting A Counterfeit Suitor by Darcie Wilde, book #5 in the Rosalind Thorne mystery series.

Finished listening to Baggage, about which I am ambivalent. Now started listening to If Cats Disappeared from the World, which sounds like a nightmare to me!
Reading April Lady on paper.

I've finished Breath by Tim Winton for my book club next week and have started A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson.

Voting for the 2024 CATs is now happening at https://www.librarything.com/topic/354675#8274629! Voting will take place until Thursday, November 9, at 6:30 p.m. EST, at which time the votes will be counted and the 2024 CATs officially chosen. So stop by and vote for your favorites!

(Cross-posting to a bunch of threads to reach as many people as possible.)

I've begun The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter, which so far is a delightful romantic spy romp!

Finished The Secret History (by Donna Tartt) over the weekend and have started Stories of Your Life and Others (by Ted Chiang) and Part 3 of 3 of Master of the Senate (by Robert A. Caro; narrated by Grover Gardner).

I've started reading The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis which I bought after seeing the mini-series on Netflix (I think).

I'm reading Augustus by John Williams and enjoying it more than I thought I would.

Finished Tiger Lily and started Raven Black. Still reading April Lady because I decided it wasn't up to the rigors of foreign travel!
Listening to If Cats Disappeared from the World.

I just finished Alone in the Light by Benjamin Bass. Currently reading Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas by Vicki Delaney and A Campy Christmas by Karen Musser Nortman.

I am now reading Pop Goes the Weasel by M.J. Arlidge. This is the second book in the DI Helen Grace series. I am also enjoying Keep the Home Fires Burning by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, also the second book in a series, this one about World War I.

I am reading The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan.

Thanks to September's MysteryKIT Challenge, I've jumped back into cozy mysteries. The "Cat in the Stacks" series jump-started my interest, as it was available at my local library, and I wanted to see if there were any needlework-inspired cozy mysteries there as well. Yes, yes, there are. So I've read the first book in the Double Knit Murders duo and will start the second anon.

Also finished the first in the Sebastian St. Cyr series, What Angels Fear and am reading Elly Griffith's recent The Night Hawks.

And for a carry-along, I'm reading Merlin's Booke by Jane Yolen. Because what would a month be in my reading world without sci-fi fantasy??

Just finished The Book Club Hotel and deciding what to read next.

I'm reading Death Comes to London by Catherine Lloyd, book #2 in her Kurland St. Mary series.

Finished both Stories of Your Life and Others (by Ted Chiang) and Part 3 of 3 of Master of the Senate (by Robert A. Caro; narrated by Grover Gardner) today!
Tomorrow my pre-order of the new Murderbot, System Collapse (by Martha Wells) should arrive and; I’ve got Casino Royale (by Ian Fleming; narrated by Dan Stevens) queued up next on my iPhone 🙂

Read Stormbjerget, the newest Liza Marklund, and the conclusion to the Stenträsk trilogy. Got it in the Danish translation on publication day, and I don't think it has been translated to English yet.

I'm reading Bailey's Cafe by Gloria Naylor which was supposed to be one of my AlphaKit books for last month, but I ran out of time.

I've begun Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. This one had a lot of buzz when it came out, so I'm interested to see how I'll like it.

I am reading a very good historical fiction novel with Pillars of Light by Jane Johnson. Set in the Middle Ages it gives us alternate viewpoints of the Crusades. I also have started a vintage mystery with Hamlet, Revenge! by Michael Innes.

I am reading Christmas in the Scottish Highlands which is about a teacher who lives in Scotland and surprisingly becomes the caregiver for an elderly lady.

I'm reading Roman Stories, You Must Remember This, and I'm going to start Resurrection Walk. I wasn't expecting Past Lying to come in, so of course I dropped everything to start reading it!

Finished Raven Black on paper and If Cats Disappeared from the World on audio.
Reading April Lady on paper and Great Goddesses on audio.

Sob My Murderbot is delayed! It has shipped but is out there somewhere, not being delivered today! I think I'll start Ted Chiang's other short story collection, Exhalation in the meantime.

FWIW, it's not the shipper's fault. I live in a rural area with mountain passes, "weather" and, a post office distribution center that's something like 275 miles away... We have a chain bookstore, but it's not very well stocked and the independents definitely are not carrying Martha Wells Sigh. #Patience

ETA: Thursday. The book is expected to arrive on Thursday. I should've gotten the ebook version instead!

I'm reading Never Wager with a Wallflower by Virginia Heath.

I'm reading A Passage to India by E. M. Forster and Midnight House, a vintage crime novel by Ethel Lina White.

Currently reading The Common Reader by Virginia Woolf for non-fiction classic.

>33 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I ordered a book that never arrived! Death Comes as the End a used copy from a charity. It was supposed to arrive by Nov 3 and the tracking showed it last in Illinois. They ended up giving me a refund but I wanted the book!

Finished April Lady, which I warmed to more this time. Next up is Mexican Gothic.
Still listening to Great Goddesses.

I am currently reading a historical mystery with The Red Palace by June Hur and I am about The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax.

I finished both the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery, What Angels Fear and The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths. I did some reading last night on The Secrets We Kept as a palette cleanser from all of the recent murder mysteries. I love them, and sometimes my brain just needs a break.

I absolutely devoured Stella Riley's Cadenza over the weekend, then read Ali Hazelwood's YA debut, Check & Mate. Next up is Sharon Shinn's The Safe-Keeper's Secret.

I've now begun The Chocolate Cobweb by Charlotte Armstrong, which so far is pretty intriguing -- we already know the villain's identity and murder plan, and it's only chapter 4! Can't wait to see what subsequent chapters will bring!

>42 christina_reads: That does look intriguing. I love older mysteries - and love the cover of the first edition, and the 70s cover is fun. It was made into a movie in French in the 2000s, that would be good to find.

>43 JayneCM: I'm definitely interested in tracking down the movie once I've finished the book. This is my second book by Armstrong, the first being The Unsuspected, which I really enjoyed!

>43 JayneCM: Better look for that one as well!

I just finished Peg and Rose Solve a Murder on Kindle Unlimited, so I returned it for the next one in the series. I am also reading Amish Christmas Kinner which is a book of short stories set at Christmas time and involving children.

I had way too many books begging for my attention: Exhalation (by Ted Chiang), System Collapse (by Martha Wells), The Korean War (by Max Hastings), And Another Thing... (by Eoin Colfer)... that I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. Then "out of the blue", The Sentence (by Louise Erdrich) came my way and I've been happily engrossed with it for a couple of days! I should wrap it up either tonight or tomorrow and then see what really catches my eye next.

Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends & book lovers. I'll be back online over the weekend to set up the Historical Fiction Challenge 2024 :-)

>47 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Thanks for your good wishes.

I finished a couple of audio books, Great Goddesses and Fortunately the Milk. Not sure what's up next for the ears.
Still reading Mexican Gothic on paper

I'm in the middle of A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce, a YA retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. I read this years ago and really enjoyed it, and so far it's holding up pretty well!

I finished The Sentence (by Louise Erdrich) over the weekend for book club on Thursday. I can't wait to see what others think about it, because, to be honest, I'm not sure what to make of it myself. I'm hoping for some insight.
I've started And Another Thing... (Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy #6; by Eoin Colfer). It's a bit of a slow start (lots of exposition); but I'm hoping to finish it before the weekend.
Still listening to The Passage of Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson #4; by Robert A.Caro; narrated by Grover Gardner) - This covers the Vice-Presidential years of LBJ and, for context covers a bit of the Kennedys (JFK and Robert) as well.

Now that I've finished The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue that will wrap up my November reading and I'm posting a summary for the month.