What I Read In November

 How are we already in December? It’s almost 2024?!? I can’t comprehend this. November was my worst month of reading all year but that’s ok. It was just a weird month and I started 11/22/63 and it’s 850 pages. I’m still reading it 😂 It’s all good though. I read more in November than I did all of 2019 so that’s a win 🙌🏻 

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. This was an ARC and it comes out in January I believe. I really enjoyed this. Solid suspenseful book. It felt like a comforting thriller. Like just a fun read about crazy family drama and secrets. It wasn’t the most mind blowing, best written thing I’ve ever read but I had a lot of fun reading it and I would recommend. 

The Woman In Me by Britney Spears. Well speaking of not well written 😂 I’m sorry. This was not a well written book. It was all over the place and choppy. She would talk about something and then abruptly stop that story and go to something else. What I loved was hearing her side and it was absolutely heartbreaking what she went through. Her entire family should be in jail. I hope she gets to live the rest of her life in peace. I would recommend even though the writing isn’t great.  

Shark Heart by Emily Habeck. Ugh this book!! 🙌🏻 this book has my whole heart! I know it won’t be for everyone. You’ll either love it or think wth did I just read?! In this book people can mutate into animals. It’s a disease like any other and can happen whenever. So one of our main characters is turning into a shark. I know it sounds bizarre and almost scary but I assure you this is a beautiful romance story. You just need to realize going in that it is a little out there. Please check it out! One of my favorites this year 

A Short Stay In Hell by Steven L. Peck. This was a very interesting novella. It really takes the idea of “Hell” in a unique direction. A vast library with no end in sight full of books but the catch is most of the books are complete nonsense. You can not leave this hell until you found your life’s story in a book. I did like this book. I really liked the premise and characters. There was just something that fell a little short for me. I can’t pinpoint it though. Maybe the writing wasn’t my favorite. I’m not sure but I would recommend and it’s nice and short. 

So there it is! The 4 books I read in November  have you read any of these? What are your opinions? Decembers reads may be worse than this month 😂 I’ve only read 2 books this month so far. We got this though! Let’s finish this year out strong! Happy reading! 

What I Read In September & October

 Yikes ok I am so behind!! I was doing so good staying up to date with this but life happens! I thought before I shared my November reads, I should share my September and October reads. I read 6 books in September and 6 in October. Most of which I loved! Let’s start with September. I’m going to give brief synopsis of each book 

Happy Place- I absolutely loved this second chance romance book. This is my first Emily Henry and I can’t wait to read more from her. This is about a romantic relationship but also friendships as a person in your 30s which was very relatable. 5 out of 5 stars!

Black River Orchard- Man I loved this book. Now be warned, it is really long! Did it have to be that long? Maybe not. I was never bored though there were just parts I preferred over other parts. What I can say about this is evil apples and fantastic body horror! Such a messed up book that I need to be turned into a movie! 4.5 out of 5 stars 

Never Whistle At Night- My favorite anthology of the year. These are dark indigenous stories. These just really worked for me. They were dark, creepy, educational and I really enjoyed it. I found some new authors I want to check out too! 4 out of 5 stars  

The Push- Ah one of my favorite books of the year! The writing was excellent, the story was compelling and even relatable. It was chilling and really kept you guessing. Morherhood really is the scariest thing! Highly recommend! 5 out of 5 stars 

Sula- Absolutely beautiful writing. Her books are classic for a reason. Really interesting and unique story. If you’re new to Toni Morrison start here! 4 out of 5 stars

I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls- Ok well this is like my 3rd book pertaining to puppets this year and it just doesn’t work for me. I think there is probably a way to make them creepy, and this book I think did the best, but they just aren’t scary to me. Like I said this book did do a good job just based on the scale of the puppets and the environment they were in but the story was kind of all over the place and I didn’t love the writing. 3 out of 5 stars 

Pretty Girls- I’ve been wanting to read this one for a long time. It is a longer book and at times I felt a bit too long. I was told this book was very intense and graphic and honestly I was expecting more. Don’t get me wrong it talks about some really horrific stuff but I was expecting worse. I did really enjoy this, lots of twists and turns. 4 out of 5 stars 

None Of This Is True- Such a fun book! Even though this was a predictable read while you were reading it, the ending will have you guessing what is and isn’t true. I’ve heard the audiobook of this is fantastic! It has a podcast in it so I’m sure that is great on audio. I really thought this was fun and I highly recommend. 5 out of 5 stars. Please make this into a miniseries!!

The Hellbound Heart- My first Clive Barker. This is the book that the movie Hellraiser is based off of. One of my favorite horror movies. This really was true to the movie. They are very similar. I preferred the movie honestly. I wasn’t expecting his writing to be so…classic, old times like lol. It felt very old world. I know Hellraiser has a lot of sexual aspects in it and it worked ok there but I didn’t love it in the book. This was just ok but it is a good quick read. 3 out of 5 stars 

Frankenstein- Alright we got a classic! I had never read Frankenstein before. I’ve seen the movies but wow the book is much more different! I’ve realized the thing I struggle with the most when it comes to classics is that they do too much telling and not enough show. So much rambling on and on about god knows what but then when it came to things like creating the monster it was completely glazed over! I wanted to know the details of the creation and what happened leading up to it. The thing I did like was how much dialogue we got from the monster itself! In the movies the monster is this big, mute being who just stumbles and mumbles around. In the book the monster is very well spoken and has pages and pages of dialogue. I loved those parts. Frankenstein himself was a weenie. He got a fever and was bedridden every other page! This was a bit of a disappointment. 3 out of 5 stars.

Joyland- This was such a great surprise! Stephen King is always surprising me. If you want to try a King book but don’t want scary, check this one out. Yes there is a mystery and some suspense going on but at the core it’s a coming of age story and a beautiful one at that. The writing was great. I loved the carnival setting and all of the different characters. This was just a “joy” to read and I highly recommend it. 4 out of 5 stars 

Mexican Gothic- A creepy, gothic, story that went in a direction that I was not expecting. The atmosphere and vibes in this book are immaculate. A bit of a slow burn but still engaging. The ending gets pretty weird but I thought it worked. Also some romance thrown in there which I really liked. 4 out of 5 stars 

So there you go! There are all of my reads for September and October. Great reading months with a few favorites of the year. Have you read any of these before? What are your thoughts? Happy reading!