Saturday, December 2, 2017

November Reading Log


November was a busy month.  I tried my best to read as much as possible but family keeps me busy.  I enjoyed the books I did  read several of them were really good.  I read three mysteries and four books about books.  That sounds strange but I am obsessed with reading books about books/bookstores/libraries.  

My favorite book of the month was Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan.  I found this one by accident on Overdrive and I loved it. I picked this book because it had the word "bookstore" in it and I thought that I would at least give it a try as an audiobook.  It has a bit of mystery with a conspiracy and lot of high tech references. There was even a bit of a romance and humor.  I absolutely enjoyed this book.  I couldn't wait to get in the car to listen to this book each day. Don't tell my family but I took the long way home several times just to listen a bit longer.   I gave this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5.   
A Fatal Grace, by Louis Penny, was a wonderful mystery.  I just love the character Inspector Armand Gamache.  The rest of the characters in Three Pines are interesting as well if not quirky.  This story takes place during the winter around Christmas and I found it interesting how all the pieces fell in place. I give this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.    
Of course, I quickly downloaded the audio version of the third story in the Louis Penny series, The Cruelest Month.  What I liked about this story was that it focused a bit more on Inspector Armand and his family.  As with all the stories, it takes place in Three Pines, but I found the supporting characters of Three Pines a bit frustrating and somewhat unbelievable in this story. I gave this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.  
The third mystery book I read this month was A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas.  The title really has nothing to do with the story.  The story was about a young lady who intensionally lets herself become a women who becomes an outcast in her society.  She runs away from home and tries to find her own way in London.  She is unable to find a job because she has no recommendations.  However she does have a talent, she can read people and solve crimes.  This book has so many turns and twists it keeps you reading.  I give this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.  I cannot wait to read the second book in this series.  
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, by Katarina Bivald, was a pleasant surprise.  When I read the review on Amazon, I thought, I'm not so sure what to expect.  However,  I really did enjoy this book.  I found it to be humorous and fun to read.  It takes place in a small town in Iowa and you think no way would this happen but that is what makes the story funny.  Of course any book that has a book store in it get extra stars in my rating system.  I gave this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. 

I read Dear Farenheit 451, during Thanksgiving break and I was a bit disappointed.  I read a lot of wonderful things about this book and how humorous it is and yes I did have a couple good laughs.  However there were lots of times were I just skimmed through the letters because I just didn't have much interest.  I do like the idea of writing a letter to a book with your response.  I gave this book ⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.  
The Borrower, by Rebecca Makkai, was yet another story about books and a librarian.  The story was so heart-warming at first about how the librarian helps a young boy read books after school, however when the little boy decides to run away that's when I started to go crazy as an educator.  As a read I kept saying, What??? No!!!! She wouldn't do that!!! That's not realistic....somebody would have put two and two together.  All and all it was a somewhat happy ending but I would still give it ⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

My last book of November was, One Summer Day in Rome, by Mark Lamprell.   I won this book in early fall from @bookwormeverlasting and @flatiron_books.  I have been looking forward to reading this book for awhile.  The story takes place over several days in Rome with three different couples and at the very end the author ties the couples together.  I have to be honest, there were several times in the book where I lost my focused.  Maybe my mind is on Christmas and struggling with the idea of summer right now but I had a hard time with this story.  Maybe because there was not a bookstore or a library or no reindeer, but for not I gave this story ⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.   




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