Warning: Affiliate links appear in the following post. Although shopping What I Read in November won’t cost you any additional dollars, it might mean that I download a few extra audio books this month. Your support of my reading habit is always appreciated!
After reading a ton of books back in October, I was hoping to have another book filled month. It turns out that moving is exhausting and I spent far more time napping and watching movies this month than I did reading. I have no regrets, given how many books I’ve completed this year, but I’m going to work extra hard in December to finish as many books as possible. I am looking forward to a book related year-in-review post and to finally decide what my favorite book of 2016 really was!
I’m using the following scale, courtesy of Goodreads, to rate the books I’ve read. I should probably warn you that I like almost everything I read. I love stories and being transported to a new place, so when books provide a plot I can get lost inside, I almost always like it. It’s much harder for me to love or hate something. When you see a single star or five stars, you’ll know I had a strong reaction to something one way or another.
1 star // did not like it
2 star // it was okay
3 star // liked it
4 star // really liked it
5 star // it was amazing
1. THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS BY M.L. STEDMAN // 5 OUT OF 5 STARS
This book. There are months when I hope that I don’t have any five star contenders because I start to worry you’ll think I love all the books (even though you’re probably right). This was the first book I picked up this month and I was blown away. I’m not sure I would have had the same response had I read the book, but the audio version was amazing. The narrator had the perfect voice (hello, accent) and he didn’t try too hard when it came to character voices. The pacing was beautiful and I would listen to it again right now if I didn’t have a phone full of audio selections already.
In case you aren’t familiar, this story follows Tom and Isabel and their efforts to form a family. After returning home from war, Tom takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on a small island of the Australian coast. His visits to the shore are few and far between, so he lives a very isolated life. Circumstances find him married to Isabel, who thrives on Janus and learns to love the solitary life of the lightkeeper’s wife. After many attempts at starting a family fall short, they are surprised with a weeks old baby who washes up onshore. The infant’s father is dead and Isabel convinces herself that the mother is dead, too. They raise Lucy as their own and only after she’s several years old are are they forced to face the decision they made together.
Although I never experienced the death of a living child like Isabel did, I do know the heartbreaking pain of loss. I cannot imagine what it was like to lose baby after baby and simultaneously deal with the isolation and separation of a life at sea. Tom and Isabel establish a secret life for themselves and are wrecked when faced with the ramifications of their deceit. This was so hard to listen to at some points and I both laughed and cried out loud as I listened. Their story is bittersweet, but I absolutely ADORED how it ended. Grab yourself a box of tissues, because you can’t escape this one without shedding tears.
2. THE MARTIAN BY ANDY WEIR // 4 OUT OF 5 STARS
I’ve wanted to read this book for quite some time, but hadn’t gotten around to it before now. I almost picked the paperback up last month, but I read several reviews for the audio version and talked myself into waiting until I had another credit instead. Our church used the movie version as a visual illustration a few weeks ago and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. I am so glad that I came back to this one this month!
The Martian is the story of an astronaut left behind on Mars when his mission goes south. Given his proximity to earth, it is months before anyone knows he survived and years before they can dream of getting him home. This is a fantastic survival story and equal parts imaginative and realistic. The narrator is so dry and he delivers Mark Watney’s one liners so perfectly. Imagine being stranded on another planet, all alone. The dialogue that he has with himself, within his daily log, and eventually with NASA is witty, hilarious, and downright devastating. It is heavy on the scientific speak, but is written in a way that makes every single sentence incredibly engaging. I highly recommend the movie and the book.
3. THE WONDER BY EMMA DONOGHUE // 4 OUT OF 5 STARS
I honestly had a hard time playing favorites this month since I loved everything I read, but this one was wonderful (pun fully intended!). I reviewed it for this month’s Collaboreads book club, so you can read all about it here!
4. HILLBILLY ELEGY BY J.D. VANCE // 4 OUT OF 5 STARS
I wish I had drafted this paragraph right after I read the book. My head was spinning as I wrapped it up and I had all the thoughts. Almost a month later, it’s difficult to remember, specifically, all the things I wanted to share. Written by former marine and Yale Law School graduate, Hillbilly Elegy offers a firsthand account of life in the Rust Belt and the struggles of the American working class. Amazon touts it as “the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.”
I saw this book and its author referenced in so many post-election articles and even read a few articles authored by Vance himself. I had never heard of this title before, but I knew almost immediately that I wanted to read it. I would have told you I was very aware of the plight of working Americans, but I learned so many things while listening. Yes, this was another audiobook for the month (I only read one physical book in November) and Vance read it himself, which I always prefer. The book is equal parts memoir and op-ed, and although you might not agree with everything Vance has to say, it is worth the read. I loved hearing him recount his childhood with candor and humor and although I live in the deep south and haven’t experienced many of these things first-hand, there were so many anecdotes that I could relate to — both in the lives of my family members and in those living within my community. This book reminded me that racial tension and economic tension aren’t mutually exclusive.
I hate that I didn’t log more than four books this month, because I still have three to go to make my goal for the year! I feel sure I can squeeze in three books over my TWO WEEK LONG holiday vacation, but I wish I was further along than I am. What was your reading goal this year? Are you on track to make it happen?
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