Books I Read in November

 I spent November clearing off my bookshelves and book bins from all the books I had on hand so that I could spend all my time between Thanksgiving and Christmas reading Christmas & holiday themed books.  This is something I started a couple years ago and I find that it helps keep me in the holiday spirit... though I find it a bit harder to find new holiday books to read each year!  I think I mostly had a good month of reading as I flew through most of these books.. will any make it onto my favorites list though?  I'm just not sure.  

1. Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult-- OH I was so relieved to actually LOVE this book!  While there is quite  bit of talk about bees and honey; it is secondary to the main story.  Olivia is a beekeeper living on a farm in New Hampshire with her teenage son Asher.  Asher is dating Lily but when Lily turns up dead, Asher is the prime suspect.  Told in two parts from both Olivia's and Lily's point of view this books takes us through the trial and all the way back to the day Asher and Lily met.  I love how it focuses on all the secrets people keep; even from those they love. 

2. One Bad Apple by Sheila Connolly-- A cute little murder mystery that takes place on an apple orchard. Meg has just recently moved into an old house her mother inherited from some distant relatives with the intent to fix it up and sell it.  Meg finds herself learning about the orchard that came with the house, the town politics, the development plan that is in the works for the town (unknowingly headed by an old flame), and trying to make friends.  But all goes awry when her former flame is found dead and buried in her new septic tank. Now Meg is working hard to figure out who did it and clear her name as the #1 suspect on the police's list. 

3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid-- Such a FUN read!  I'm pretty sure out of the 3 TJR books I've read this was my favorite.  When movie star Evelyn Hugo requests a tell all interview about her life she picks an unknown reporter named Monique Grant.  Talking openly about her life and how she managed to wrack up 7 husbands in one lifetime, Hugo keeps very little back.  But as Evelyn's story winds down it has an unexpected intersection with Monique's own life and Monique is left grappling with feelings of anger, betrayal, and even more questions. 

4. Going Rogue; Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine by Janet Evanovich (A Stephanie Plum Novel)-- Oh I just LOVE this series and always read these books in just a day or two.  In this latest novel, Connie, the office manager of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds goes missing and Stephanie gets a phone call from the kidnappers asking her to return a rare coin that Vinnie took as collateral from a recently murdered man.  Stephanie can't find the coin and the search for it brings her on a wild goose chase all the way to Atlantic City.  With the help of Lula, her grandmother, and even Joe Morelli's crazy grandmother Bella this was a laugh out loud, nail biting adventure. 

5. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid- This was the sweetest story! Emma marries her high school boyfriend in her 20's. They have the perfect live traveling and exploring the world but right before their one year anniversary Jesse go missing in a helicopter accident and Emma has to learn how to live without the love of her life. Years later and in her 30's she finds herself falling in love again with an old friend, Sam.  Emma believes this is her second chance at love... until Jesse returns and Emma must pick between her husband and her fiancée. 

6. Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo-- I am always drawn to thrillers even though they make me so jumpy and I kind of hate but then also love to read them.  Kate is working as chief of police in a small town in Ohio after having grown up in the Amish community there.  That combination of Amish roots and big city crime investigator will come in handy when a body is discovered in the snow one winter morning.  The body reminds Kate of others that turned up when she herself was just a young girl.  Determined to catch the killer before he has another victim Kate must betray her family, her Amish background, and expose a secret she has kept buried for years. This was such a good book and I just could not put it down once I reached the half-way point.  I am thrilled to discover it's the first book in a whole series! It reminded me a bit of JD Robb's Eve Dallas series but set in the present day and in Ohio.

 7. Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult-- Oh I just KNEW I should not have read this book! LOL.  I avoided it because I knew it dealt with Covid-19/ the pandemic and I knew I was just sick of hearing all about it after living through the last few years BUT a certain someone assured me that the pandemic was only a small part of the story and... I heartily disagree. I think it was 95% of the story with a cute little side story about the Galapagos thrown in.  Definitely wasn't a fan.. might I have liked it more if it dealt with an unknown/ unnamed virus?? Maybe?  I did have a hard time relating to all the talk of fear and washing down takeout foods and not touching the mail for days--- as we never did any of that. We also never felt isolated or saw much change in our daily routines since my husband kept right on working and my boys and I kept right on homeschooling.. Anyway, mostly I was just bummed that this book was not anything like I thought it was going to be. Diana and her boyfriend are heading to the Galapagos Islands just as the pandemic is about to hit NYC.  He's a resident and is needed at the hospital but urges her to go alone. Her trip is pretty much a disaster and Diana finds herself questioning everything about her life.  The book then takes a rather unexpected turn and I think that's the part that fascinated most people but having been a psychology major in high school I've already learned quite a bit about the unexpected ways our brain works and that's really all I can say without giving away major plot keys. 

8. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing; A Memoir by Matthew Perry--  I found this book hard to put down.  Hearing about Matthew Perry's struggle with drugs and alcohol in his own words was really powerful.  Though I was amazed at just how awful his self- esteem was (and still seems to be!).  Quite a few times he mentions how others around him have no trouble with drug and alcohol abuse but I beg to differ-- I think there are different levels of abuse and he seems to gloss right over that or not even notice it.  It was hard to read at times and he nearly died a number of times.  I think this would be a great book for family members of addicts too as he really does try to explain how his addiction just seems to take over despite how hard he's fighting it. 

9. A Place to Land by Lauren K. Denton-- A very enjoyable, if a bit slow moving, story.  Violet has been taking care of her sister Trudy long before she stopped speaking.  Now in their 60's and contentedly living together while running an art store with all of Trudy's craft projects their world is about to change.  Maya, a young teenager struggling to make it on her own stumbles upon the sisters and they take her under their wing.  Frank, Violet's old flame, is back and Violet finds herself pulled towards him even knowing that the secrets between them will always keep them away. Then the boat surfaces and present and past collide as old secrets begin to surface with it.  It was intriguing and the relationship between the two sisters is quite sweet. 

10. Dashing Through the Snow by Debbie Macomber-- This was a cute little Christmas story that I read in a day. Both Dash and Ashley need to get to Seattle but all the flights are booked and when they realize that the last car the rental agency has is up for grabs they reluctantly agree to ride to Seattle together but neither one could have any idea how crazy the ride was going to get.  With a roadside puppy, a slew of FBI agents after them, and a crazy mechanic it was a pretty adorable story that had me both chuckling and rolling my eyes.  I can definitely see why it was made into a movie back in 2015. 

11. A Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer-- I just love Nancy's books and they never disappoint.  One year I swear I am going to make it to Nantucket for their Winter Stroll. It sounds so fun!  This book was really sweet. It's Nicole's first holiday with her new husband and she's so excited to celebrate. Her husband's grown daughter is coming with her family and though Nicole and Kennedy (her husband's daughter) don't get along the greatest, Nicole is determined to make it a wonderful Christmas for all. 

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