November: What are we reading?

Happy November, everyone! What are you reading this month? I'm in the middle of Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold, and I'm so close to the end of the Vorkosigan saga, I can taste it! Please share what you're reading below.

I have read the first few chapters of The Trespasser by D.H. Lawrence and have resumed reading through Dame Traveller by Nastasia Yakoub.

Just finished Les scrupules de Maigret, by Georges Simenon, my first French book of the year.

I have currently reading Canadian Christmas Traditions by DeeAnn Mandryk. I am a notorious Grinch when it comes to Christmas so I was hoping this would ease me into feeling the season.

I am also reading the totally spellbinding Little Deaths by Emma Flint. It's not an easy read as it is about the murder of two young children, but it is written beautifully and the author, who based this on a real life murder case, really captures both the time of 1965 and the Brooklyn location.

Reading Bright air black with the eyes and reading Enduring love with the ears.

Hubby and I are still away so technically the only book I'm reading is Us Against You by Fredrik Backman; a following book to Beartown. I'm hoping to finish it on the drive home today. We'll be home by tonight and I have a few library books waiting for me - Less by Andrew Sean Greer, An Unequal Defense by Chad Zunker and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson which will be my next audio book. And I still need to finish The Snowman by Jo Nesbo which I left on my nightstand.

I'm reading A Heart Full of Headstones- Rebus is back and it looks like he's in big trouble!

I finished listening to The Guns of August (The Coming of the Great War #2; by Barbara W. Tuchman; narrated by Wanda McCaddon) and; managed to get in a short audio (3+ hrs), North to Paradise (by Ousman Umar; narrated by Kwesi Busia) thereby satisfying the “G” and “U” AlphaKit prompts for the month of November early!
I’ve just started Pet Sematary (by Stephen King; narrated by Michael C. Hall).

In print, I’m still picking at Delta Blues (by Ted Gioia) and building a playlist as I read along :-)

My reading almost came to a standstill towards the end of October so I'll be finishing my October reading this month. I've just finished my final Bingo square (weather word) with Death in a darkening mist by Iona Whishaw. Still working on Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit for RandomCAT It's All in a Name.

>5 Helenliz: Love how you said that!

Just finished a short Regency novel Countess by Christmas by Cheryl Bolen. I just discovered my namesake! She is a prolific author.

Currently reading (depending on my mood): The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes, Badger Game by Michael Bowen for some mystery in my life, and Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe. This latter is less of a slog than I thought it would be and is really quite well-written. More a series of stories to bring to play all the myriad threads of the events starting from 1900 to now.

I am reading the 10th Roy Grace police procedural by Peter James, this one has hooked me immediately. I also have started a YA dystopia entited Monument 14 which has started out well.

Finished listening to Enduring Love now listening to Shadows in Bronze.
Still reading Soul Music.

>13 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy! I'm reading the 11th Roy Grace, You Are Dead.

Over the weekend I breezed through Would You Rather by Allison Ashley (thanks to @JayneCM for the BB!), and now I'm reading Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas.

I raced through The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman, and now I am meandering through some Regency novels set at Christmas time. They are really novellas, and somehow I got hooked into them. I have not read Regencies for quite some time, so these are a sweet treat (I don't go for the steamy ones, as they do not fit the standard Regency form with which I am familiar and enjoy.)

>15 lsh63: I find the Roy Grace series irresistible. I gobble them up like popcorn!

I finally got around to reading the first Isle of Man cozy mystery, Aunt Bessie Assumes (by Diana Xarissa)! Aunt Bessie is an older woman who lives on her own in a cottage by the sea. On her morning walk on the strand, she trips over a body and; who he is, what happened and, whodunnit are the questions that propel the story forward. The setting reminded me a little bit of the Hamish Macbeth TV series all those years ago— an isolated island in the North Sea, a small community where everyone knows each other, a bit of local color & history…

>19 Tanya-dogearedcopy: - I started this last year for the Alpha Kit, but our state library system doesn't have any of them so I need to order the next one from Amazon, I guess.

I am reading A Scandal Above Stairs and Murder in the Eternal City which are both by the same author under different pen names.

I'm in the middle of Her Favorite Rival by Sarah Mayberry, a contemporary work-rivals-to-lovers romance that I'm really enjoying!

I just finished A Scandal Above Stairs by Jennifer Ashley. Excellent read!

Still reading Murder in the Eternal City.

Currently reading The Bullet That Missed, by Richard Osman. My mum just read it, so we'll have to compare notes.

I liked In Milady's Chamber, the first book in Sheri Cobb South's John Pickett series, so have started the next one, Dead Bore.

I'm starting The Soul Weaver by Carol Berg, book #3 in her Bridge of D'Arnath series.

I've finished Us Against You by Fredrik Backman which is the second book in the Beartown trilogy. Really excellent.

Finished reading Soul Music, next up is Stonehenge. I have read this before, but, 50 pages in, can't see myself doing it again. So far the only woman mentioned by name is a witch, and all the rest are X's wife or slave. *rolls eyes*
Still listening toShadows in Bronze

I am currently reading The Sands of Windee by Arthur William Upfield and The Good Journey by Micaela Gilchrist. Both books are being read for the November AlphaKit.

Finished listening to Shadows in Bronze. Next up for the ears is When will there be good news.
Still reading Stonehenge.

Gearing up to start Deep House, by Thomas King, the 6th book in the Thumps DreadfulWater series. After this I'll be caught up on the series.

I've decided to start Less by Andrew Sean Greer which won the 2018 Pulitzer for Fiction

I am reading the seventh John Pickett Mystery in a row but will save the next three for later.

Yesterday I finished The Trespasser by D.H. Lawrence, which was a depressing, but beautiful novel.
This morning I started The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes and have been blown away by its first pages. I can't wait to go on with it.

My current poetry book is Goblin Market and Other Poems by Christina Rossetti. I enjoy the poems, but I find it hard to go back to it for some reason.

I have also started United by Cory Booker as a nonfiction read, but I am only two chapters in.

My current audiobook is When Harry met Harry by Sydney Smyth, which is funny and I like the characters very much. However, there are two narrators and one of them reads a little boringly, so I always find myself waiting for the other's turn.

I'm reading The Pull of the Stars.

I finished Murder in the Eternal City by Ashley Gardner, which had a real twist at the end that I did not see coming. Currently reading On the Way to Christmas which is an anthology of stories set at Christmas time. I finished the first one (a story of redemption of a mean girl, who I still did not like at the end of the story) and now reading a tale set on a train called The Christmas Express.

I'm reading and enjoying Last Night's Scandal by Loretta Chase, the last book in her Carsington series.

Currently reading A Mackenzie Yuletide by Jennifer Ashley.

Currently have three books in various states of near completion:

• Delta Blues (by Ted Gioia - I just have B.B. King and Mississippi John Hurt to go. Taking each over the next two weekends (listening to their music/digging into their respective catalogs as well as reading the chapters)
• Pet Sematary (by Stephen King) - Taking this one slow because... well, I'm pretty sure animals dying are involved and even though I know it's fiction, it's not something I can breeze through. I actually do not know the plot to this one (never saw the movie either) -- so in-between not knowing what's going to happen next and taking it slow, I'm soaking in detail and the tension is ratcheting up...
• The Passion of the Purple Plumeria (Pink Carnation #10; by Lauren Willig) - A romance set in the Napoleonic Era, this features an older couple-- a retiring East India Company soldier returning from India and a parasol-wielding chaperone are on mission to track down two missing schoolgirls. Most likely to finish this one before or over this weekend.

I've begun Golden Hill by Francis Spufford, which I'm enjoying more than I expected to thus far!

I've just finished The Widow of Bath and have started Garry Disher's latest, Day's End.

Finished A Mackenzie Yuletide and started The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber.

I am currently reading An Unlikely Duchess by Mary Balogh and Rhododendron Pie by Margery Sharp. Both are light-hearted and, so far, enjoyable.

I just wrapped up The Passion of the Purple Plumeria (Pink Carnation #10; by Lauren Willig) and am now starting, The Color of Lightning (by Paulette Jiles).

>43 DeltaQueen50: Taking a BB on Rhododendron Pie!

I just finished The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber, which is her 2022 annual Christmas offering. It was a fun and delightful read and perfect for the holiday season. It would be a good one to read aloud as a family and also to talk about the meaning of the book, acceptance of others, and forgiveness.

Currently reading A Christmas Deliverance by Anne Perry, which is her annual Christmas offering too. Her novels are written in a Dickensian style, and often underscore the differences between classes in England.

>34 MissBrangwen: I read and loved as many of D.H Lawrence books as I could lay my hands on a few decades ago. There are some I'd really like to read again. Which reminds me that A Sense of an Ending is on my "revisit" collection. I loved it.

Finished A Christmas Deliverance and currently reading How Snowball Stole Christmas which is a very cute, light romantic comedy story--and Snowball the Cat speaks her parts in the story too.

>45 LadyoftheLodge: I hope you enjoy it, Cheryl. BTW, it is Margery Sharp's debut novel so it would work for the 2023 Bingo square - A popular author's first book.

I am now reading Into the Savage Country by Shannon Burke and Village Diary by Miss Read.

Finished Stonehenge not recommended.
Next up is Howl's Moving castle because I can't renew the library loan and need to return it Saturday.

I've started listening to Allegedly by Tiffany D Jackson after taking a BB from Judy for this.

>48 DeltaQueen50: Thanks for the Bingo tip! I am working on my reading list for the 2023 BingoDog card now.

>51 LadyoftheLodge: Goodness, that's far too organised!

I've finished Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby which was my Nov book club book. Pretty violent but an interesting ending.

>52 Helenliz: Just getting excited for a new reading year!

Just finished a silly romantic comedy Resting Scrooge Face and now reading In the Spirit Intended which is a Pride and Prejudice novella by Jan Ashton no touchstone.

Finally finished Badger Game which was a re-read, and still reading Diana Paxson's The Hallowed Isle. It is a perfect book for vacationing and longish weekends.

Also continuing to read Empire of Pain. I'm really blown away by how well-written and easily readable this book is. Keefe is telling story after story and weaving them all into a whole.

Finished Howl's Moving Castle. The child in me appreciated it, the adult had too many questions.

I’ve started Bleeding Heart Yard and am really enjoying it.

I finished Always in December by Emily Stone for our book club next month and decided on Same Places, Same Things by Tim Gautreaux for my next book.

Finished The Color of Lightning (by Paulette Jiles) and gave started The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla (Pink Carnation #11; by Lauren Willig).

I took a break from listening to Pet Sematary (by Stephen King; narrated by Michael C. Hall); but plan on picking it back up tomorrow and finishing before next weekend.

Slogging through Blue Jeans and Coffee Beans for our community book club. Just finished Dashing through the Snowbirds and seem to be stuck on Pride and Prejudice spin-offs.

Started Hogfather in paper book.
Still listening to When will there be good news

I'm currently reading Castle Skull by John Dickson Carr and enjoying the gothic melodrama of it all.

Unexpectedly polished off, The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla (Pink Carnation #11; by Lauren Willig) in one day-- though perhaps I should not have been surprised given that it was a rainy day and I'm cooped up with the flu. I just sort of dozed and read and dozed and read...

Today, I'm feeling a little better and I've started Mademoiselle Chanel (by C.W. Gortner).

I am currently reading The Bullet That Missed which was a library hold that came in. Hope I can finish it in the time allotted before I have to send it back! This is part of the Thursday Murder Club series. Better to read them in order, although they are okay as stand alones.

I wrapped up Mademoiselle Chanel (by C. W. Gortner) early this morning.
Now I’m determined to finish off Pet Sematary (by Stephen King; narrated by Michael C. Hall).

I sat down and finished, Pet Sematary (by Stephen King; narrated by Michael C. Hall) yesterday and have started the second book in The Kills omnibus (by Richard House), "The Massive".

Also started listening to The Wright Brothers (written and narrated by David McCullogh).

Currently reading The Bullet that Missed and Love Always, Christmas (which so far reads like a movie or TV program).

I finished listening to When will there be good news by Kate Atkinson. It rattles along at quite a pace but leaves more questions than it answers.
Next up for the ears is London Fields.
Still reading Hogfather with the eyes.

I have started A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks, my second attempt at reading it. I have also begun a reread of Der König der purpurnen Stadt by Rebecca Gablé.

My last audiobook was Once Upon A Christmas Eve by Elizabeth Hoyt, which I only gave two stars, and now I am about to start listening to A Jane Austen Christmas - Regency Christmas Traditions by Maria Grace.

Finished Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.
Next up for the eyes is Oryx and Crake.
Still listening to London Fields