Although I ended up reading 7 books in November, my reading didn’t exactly go as planned. Which I did expect, considering how busy I knew I would be. You can check out my TBR here to find out what I was supposed to read, but in short, I swapped one book with another and missed a few others. That being said, I’m not disappointed with my wrap-up for this month. Yes, many of these books were just okay, but I did get to read many books that were either anticipated or on my TBR for a while. Here are the 7 books I read in the month of November:
Thinner by Stephen King (Richard Bachman)
My Rating: 
.75
Thinner is one of the novels written under his farily short-lived Richard Bachman pseudonym. The book follows a man who has a curse placed on him after killing a woman who was jaywalking. After struggling with his weight for many years, Billy is relieved to be returning to a healthy weight with little effort, until he travels too far into the opposite direction. It isn’t before long before he becomes severely underweight, and with little time left, he must find a way to reverse the curse placed on him before it was too late.
I’ve read a few Stephen King books in the past, and loving the premises so far, I knew I wanted to read more of his works. The synopses of the Bachman books have interested me the most so far, particularly this one – unfortunately, it was not what I expected. I am used to the style of King’s writing that slowly bulds up the characters and storytelling, but this story lacked that, for that reason it just dragged for me. I actually started this book mid-October, and taking two weeks on a book in this genre is much longer than usual for me. However, I still am very interested in the other Bachman books, and would like to find out if the type of writing King used in Thinner was purely experimental for just this book, or for the other Bachman books as well.
My full Goodreads review can be found here.
Do Not Disturb by A.R. Torre
Deanna Madden #2
My Rating:
Do Not Disturb is the direct sequel and the second book in the Deanna Madden trilogy. After the events in the first book, Deanna is slowly working her way out of the confines of her apartment as her relationship with Jeremy grows. While camming, she was introduced to a client that, at first, only appeared to be a nuisance taken care of by the global block list. But as this client, Marcus, uncovers the true identity of his next person of interest, Deanna and her inner circle quickly find themselves in danger.
I found the concept of this trilogy so interesting when I first read it back in February, but I hadn’t continued the trilogy until now, mainly because I was unsure of whether or not to continue. I’m glad I decided to finish the trilogy because I found this book better than the first. I enjoyed the expansion of the plot to include Deanna’s struggles with returning to the world outside of her apartment, and the further development and perspectives of the other characters first introduced in book one. The first half of the book was a little slow, but I nearly finished the second half of the book in one sitting! I’m looking forward to reading the final book in this trilogy – and hopefully that doesn’t take as long as the time it took me to read book two!
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale #2
My Rating:
This long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale follows three women just fifteen years after the end of the first book, from the very center of Gilead to the world outside it. The Testaments provides more insight into the world of Gilead, the roles of women in the world, and the answers to the questions left behind in The Handmaid’s Tale.
Separating this book from its predecessor, I enjoyed the story overall. The Testaments brings to light so many parallels that exist in our present-day, and explores the divide of those raised inside and outside of Gilead. I did not, however, find the book very similar in style to The Handmaid’s Tale, nor did I find much of its content to be beneficial to the overall story. Despite this, I did not regret reading the book as some readers did. I found that it could be a great book to start a conversation around in terms of the parallels Atwood draws to modern life.
My full review can be found on my blog here.
Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan
Girls of Paper and Fire #2
My Rating: .5
Girls of Storm and Shadow is the second book in a trilogy that directly follows the first book. After the events of the last book, Lei and Wren flee to Wren’s home to recover and mentally and physically from their escape. However, news bbreaks out that the king is still alive and dangerous. Immediately, Lei, Wren, and their allies embark on a journey to gain new allies, and avenge the crimes of the king. Over the course of this journey, Lei faces many obstacles – not just concerning her mission, but the missions of her allies as well.
I was unsure of whether I was going to continue this trilogy when I finished the first book, but after seeing the second book was coming out, I recalled how the first book stood out to me because of the issues that it tackled. Despite this, I was still disappointed by the story. To summarize, Girls of Storm and Shadow suffers from being the second book in a trilogy, where the story needs to be stretched out. This book would have likely done better as a duology (and honestly works just fine as a standalone!), but making these books a trilogy may have been too much. I do anticipate that the final book will be better, and I will definitely consider finishing the trilogy once the third book is released.
My full review can be found on my blog here.
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven
My Rating:
If you’re the type of person that often worries about the most absurd situations, such as having to defend yourself in an alligator when you live in New York (hey, you never know!), you may feel relieved by this book. The author reached out to professionals in many oddly-specific situations and gives step-by-step guides to handle worst-case scenarios. Examples include escaping a car filling with water, surviving in the desert, what to do if you encounter a bear, and what to do if your parachute won’t open.
My friend got this book for me while we were at a library sale (thank you, Tom!) as we discussed how we tend to think of the what-ifs like the ones above. It’s a quick read with simple, easy to understand examples. And although the book is more for fun, I learned quite a few new things that may help me out someday.
Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday
My Rating:
Stillness is the Key uses anecdotes from several famous figures to demonstrate the need to routinely spend time in silence. Looking at mind, body, and soul, Holiday explores how stillness can positively impact these areas and bring more stability into our lives, and how the lack thereof can be damaging to our lives.
While I found no issues with the overall concept of the book (and, in fact enjoyed reading it), I found the writing of this book to not be as cohesive as it likely should have been. There are some chapters that are solid, and others that are loosely-wrapped together. Despite that, I found this book to be an interesting introduction to stoicism, and would recommend it to those not familiar with the concepts of stoicism (and reading from more of a self-improvement angle). It’s a fairly quick read, and therefore a fairly quick introduction to the subject matter (which I’d love to learn more about!).
You can find my full review on my blog here.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS BY EMILY BRÖNTE
My Rating:
Wuthering Heights is the tragic love story that occurs between Catherine, Heathcliff, and Linton. After an unsettling event (and an inquiry of the troubles between the families), the housekeeper recalls the series of events between the three and the continuation of these issues to the next generation.
I heard so much of how atmospheric this book was (especially this time of year), and I can confirm that! It seems as though I seem to enjoy reading tragedies, as well as books in this time period, so this book was also a great fit for me. Whenever I read a synopsis for this book, I felt that it fell short in its description, so I wasn’t sure what direction this book would take. I was not anticipating this story continuing to the next generation, and for once I can say I was very happy that the book did not go in the direction I thought it would. Additionally, I can’t say that I liked any of these characters, but this is intentional in the writing and ended up being an important aspect of the book. It’s hard to wrap up this book without revealing too much, but I can certainly say that I want to revisit this book again in the near future.
That’s a wrap for my November 2019 wrap-up! Have you read any of the books I read this month? Let me know!
-Julie Anna
