Hello friends, and Happy December! Time seems to be moving even more quickly now and 2024 will be here before we know it. But November did leave us with happy memories. Highlights include my husband's birthday celebration, our nephew's wedding, a long Thanksgiving weekend with the family, and a 38th anniversary dinner at our favorite restaurant.
November was a good reading month, too. I managed to finish four books... but that was only because two were novellas!
Books Read in November//
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
⭐⭐⭐💫 literary fiction, coming-of-age
We the Animals by Justin Torres
⭐⭐⭐⭐ novella, literary fiction, backlist
Why Fathers Cry at Night: A Memoir in Love Poems, Recipes, Letters, and Remembrances by Kwame Alexander
⭐⭐⭐⭐ nonfiction, audiobook
Favorite November Read
Why Fathers Cry at Night by Kwame Alexander
December Reading Possibilities
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney - reread, finished 12/2
Day by Michael Cunningham - currently reading
Eastbound by Maylis De Kerangal - NYTimes 2023 Top 10, audio on hoopla
Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey - if I feel like a holiday romance
Horse by Geraldine Brooks - on my TBR shelf
Joan is Okay by Weike Wang - MMD January selection
Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher - Pilcher is perfect for the holidays
Also in December
Our upstairs bathroom remodel is underway, but should be finished within the next week and a half. Fingers crossed - we'll certainly need it by the 20th, but that gives us a week to spare. We also have the usual decorating, shopping (which we'll keep to a minimum) and baking ahead, plus a few other holiday activities. At the end of the month we'll visit my parents ... and then it will be time to head south!!
How are you doing? What was your favorite November book?
See you soon, Sanibel!😎
November sounds like a fantastic month (for life and reading) and your December promises to be wonderful as well. You are brave doing a remodel before people show up to your house; I hope the extra week is a good buffer.
ReplyDeleteHelen - The company we're working with to do the bathroom is known for finishing the job within their estimated time frame. So far they have been here working every day... not like in FL where they show up when they feel like it! I'm hopeful they'll get it done.
DeleteI'm glad that bathroom remodel is going well -- that can be so disruptive. You have terrific plans for December!
ReplyDeleteJoy - I hate remodeling, but we bought this place last year with an 'original equipment' bathroom from 1982. So far it hasn't been too awful... we'll see what I have to say next week!
DeleteSounds like a great Thanksgiving weekend! Happy Anniversary! Cindy-from Cindysbookcorner.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cindy.
DeleteAll good thoughts for your remodel. Been there, done that. Ha! The holidays are coming for sure. We are figuring out how to do things this year and also I'm trying to come up with a Christmas meal plan or the outline of one. Then I will send an email to the various family members and see what they would like to contribute. And I'll fill in the gaps. Take care and happy pre-holidays!
ReplyDeleteKay - Between here and FL, the remodeling is getting pretty old and I seem to be developing a skill set I never even wanted! But our CT condo/house was build in the 1980s so here we are. I like your meal plan idea for the holidays... sounds like a solid plan.
DeleteIt sounds like you had a wonderful month of celebrations, JoAnn. December is going to go by in a blur, too, I'm sure!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to read Day (Cunningham) later next year sometime. It sounds really good. I have Joan is Okay on audio and need to get to that one, too. I'm all caught up on Pilcher's books, but maybe I'll reread one in 2024. It's been a while since I read September.
As always, your photos are gorgeous. I'll bet you're looking forward to heading back to Sanibel. You've been away a long time this year!
Les - It seems like November was one big party around here, lol!
DeleteI've read about 10% of Day so far and really like it. Cunningham's writing is beautiful! Plus it's set on April 5 2019, 2020, and 2021, our twin daughters' birthday. So easy to look back and compare what we were doing on those days.
I read Winter Solstice over the holiday last year and bought Coming Home as a daily deal so I could have more Pilcher this holiday season! Hope it works out, but that may end up being a week of travel for us. This is the longest we've been away from Sanibel in nearly a decade! Hurricane Ian changed a lot of things, but I still miss it.
Are you reading the print edition or listening to the audio of Day? I see that Julianna Moore is the reader for the audio! Ah, yes. I can see how you would remember what was happening in your lives on April 5th, especially during the pandemic years. I plan to get a copy of the book, as well as Lillian Boxfish. I gave up on that audio. Currently reading Hello Beautiful, which is quite good.
DeleteLes - I was reading Day on my kindle, but when I noticed Julianne Moore narrated the audio I got that, too. Added incentive from audible credits about to expire! The beginning is really good. The specific day helped sell the book for me!
DeleteThe MMD forums for Lillian Boxfish opened this weekend and it seems we're not the only one who struggled with the audio. Print is the way to go.
Hello, Beautiful is a book I'm still thinking about and I read it at the beginning of the summer. The audio is really good, too. It was a read/listen combo for me.
Good luck with the bathroom remodel! I hope you have an awesome December.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Aj!
DeleteYou had a great reading month in November! Good luck with the remodeling. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteYvonne - I'm glad I could still average a book per week even with all that was happening last month. Hope you have a good week, too!
DeleteVicki - Yes, Lillian was 5 stars again but a slightly slower reading experience. I really love that book! I'm on the library hold list for Faking Christmas, so we'll see if I get it in time. I think it's based on the old Christmas in Connecticut movie... looks like a fun read!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the end of the remodel!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mae... they're back at it again today.
DeleteYou really had a jampacked month, JoAnn. Even with all of that going on, you managed to find some great reads for last month and the coming one. I can imagine that the remodeling would have made that a bit difficult. We had the kitchen and master bath done at the same time a few years ago, and haven't been able to face the thought of going through that ever again. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'll look forward especially to what you have to say about the Michael Cunningham book because I think he's a terrific writer. The other one on your December list that I'm particularly curious about is Horse. I've almost read it a couple of different times only to decide that the topic and setting really didn't appeal to me all that much. Maybe you can help me make a final decision about that one.
Sam - Cunningham is such an excellent writer! I'm enjoying the way he sets up the novel and introduces the characters. The 'day' is April 5 over three consecutive years 2019, 2020, 2021 and that is our twin daughters' birthday... so very easy to look back and see exactly where we were/what we were doing on each of those days. Adds even more to its appeal.
DeleteI'm not hopeful about getting to Horse this month, but certainly will by January or February. It will likely be a read/listen combination for me and came highly recommended by a writer friend. We'll see.
Adding the Kwame Alexander book to my TBR. I read everything he has written and I haven't seen this one before. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely month! Cheers! My Sunday Salon post
Anne - I hadn't heard about the book either until it was included in the Modern Mrs. Darcy summer reading guide earlier this year. The audio is especially good... hope you enjoy it, too!
DeleteA notable November!
ReplyDeleteI’m starting to consider what I can prepare ahead for our Christmas meal too, but there’s not much really. I usually spend all of Christmas Eve day cooking.
Wishing you a happy reading week
Shelleyrae - That's my next task this week! It gets a little more complicated with one of daughters being a vegetarian, but we make it work. Hope your week is off to a good start.
DeleteHappy anniversary! It sounds like November was a good month both reading-wise and socially.
ReplyDeleteI bet you are looking forward to some lovely winter beach-y weather.
Deb - Thank you, November had a lot of high moments. After we get through December, I know I'll be ready for some relaxing beach time! This is the longest we've been away in a decade... I miss it.
DeleteSounds like November was truly special - congratulations on the anniversary and all the wonderful occasions. And, looks like you have a busy month with all the holiday preparations! December is going by quickly already but I'm trying to take a minute to think about the season and enjoy it. Oh and I'm thinking of picking up a Rosamund Pilcher book for the holidays too!
ReplyDeleteIliana - I read Pilcher's Winter Solstice last December and loved it... just perfect for the season! Don't think Coming Home is a holiday novel, but it still must have that Pilcher vibe. The Shell Seekers remains my favorite. Happy December!
DeleteYou've had an incrediably busy and fun November! Happy anniversary (belated) and thank you, as always, for some great highlights on books.
ReplyDeleteYou have inspired me to read Coming Home again by Pilcher. That is one of my favorites as well as The Shell Seekers. I have the book September as well, a followup on Noel's character and he's much more likable in that one.
Glad your remodel is on track and I hope it turns out as you hoped. We've never regretted ours.
Hi Tina! I think Shell Seekers is my favorite Pilcher, but this will be my first time reading Coming Home. I just noticed that it is over 900 pages!! The audio is available on hoopla, so I'll make it a read/listen combo... I never get tired of spending time in Pilcher's world! I'm pretty sure I read September ages ago, but don't remember much about it.
DeleteHope things are good in FL. We have some snowflakes in the air today - crisp and cold - but I'm looking forward to some beach time next month!
Coming Home is epic, I think I will start it in January. I have it on my Kindle and it's been decades since I read it. Pilcher was so prolific and I have read probably 90% of her books. Did you ever read the background on what propmted her to write Shell Seekers? Interesthg story about her agent an a meeting at her home with her family.
DeleteGetting back to Florida will be nice. Beach walks!
Tina - I decided to borrow Coming Home on audio before my walk today and already love the narration & mood. It's 40 hours (!) so will be a long term read/listen. I'll have to look for the story behind The Shell Seeker... if I did read it before, I have forgotten. High temps in the 30s again today... can't wait for the beach!
DeleteWow you will love to be back home in Sanibel. Just walking the beach with your audios again in the nice FLA warmth will be great R & R! I will enjoy it vicariously LoL. Meanwhile I hope you have a wonderful holiday season in the northeast. I will wait to hear what you think of the novel Day before deciding about that one. cheers.
ReplyDeleteSusan - This is the longest we've been away from Sanibel in a decade! I'm hoping more of the lush vegetation has filled in over the summer and I know the rebuilding is still in high gear. Sure do miss that beach!
DeleteI've finished the first of the three 'days' in Day and just love the writing! The characters aren't especially likable, but they are interesting. I'm curious to see how they fare in 2020... will let you know.
Horse was one of my favorite books of 2023 - seems like so long ago I read it! I haven't written about my November reading yet but I think the best book I read was Beyond That, the Sea, although there were some lapses in the author's research. Reading a book set in my hometown made me more critical, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteCLM - I'd still love to get to Horse this month, but it could end up being my first book of 2024 instead. Beyond That, The Sea has been on my radar for a while and I hope to read that next year, too. I can see where reading a book set where you live, or have lived, would make you much more sensitive to early detail. I've had that experience myself!
DeleteLooks like you had a great reading November! I haven't read Coming Home in forever. I do love Pilcher's books. Fingers crossed on the renovation and hope you're having a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteKatherine - Pilcher is such a comfort read for me and perfect for this time of year. Bathroom renovation is progressing and should be done in time... so happy they are showing up to work every day!
DeleteI hope your remodel is done or nearly done! Sounds like a memorable times happened in November and some very interesting book titles! I'll have to check those out.
ReplyDeleteJinjer - We're getting close now.. hopefully just a few more days!
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