Hello, hello! The end of the year is fast approaching, and I feel a little bit like I’m tubing behind a speed boat. Am I having a good time? Mostly. Am I holding on for dear life? Also, yes. That said, this last week of November has been a much needed respite. We had a week off of work and school, and unlike many years we stayed home. We had some delightful visitors and fun activities, but also got to relax, sleep, putter around the house (one of my favorite things), bake, eat. It felt very getting-ready-for-wintery, and was the deep breath that I needed.
Now on to what I’ve been reading!
Send Me Their Souls by Sara Wolf. This was a satisfying end to the Bring Me Their Hearts trilogy: hopeful, tense, inspiring. I won’t say much about this book specifically, but will just reiterate that this trilogy as a whole was highly enjoyable. The YA angst wasn’t overwhelming, and the characters were distinct, endearing, sassy. I loved the celebration of friendship and found family, the pacing, and the immersive world building. And I even found the juxtaposition of (genre appropriate) violence and humor to be really interesting.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawlett. This low-stakes fantasy was cozy and charming, with unique, very flawed characters and vivid, engaging writing. A prickly, solitary, ambitious professor is on a quest to catalogue all of Fairy-kind. When she’s joined on an isolated, cold, Scandinavian island by her least favorite colleague (who may or may not be one of the fae himself), shenanigans ensue. It was an easy book to get lost in in the best kind of way, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
Spook Street by Nick Herron. This was another book in the Slough House spy series, and perhaps one of my favorite so far.
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. This was a fun, fast-paced young adult mystery about a teenage girl who unexpectedly inherits the fortune of one of the world’s richest men. It’s soon clear that the inheritance comes with a puzzle with surprisingly high stakes. The story has a little bit of a Knives Out vibe, but without murder and with angsty, hormonal teenagers.
Five Star Stranger by Kat Lang. This was a quiet, introspective novel that, despite a unique, punchy plot hook is more about the development and inner movement of the character than what happens externally. The main character is a “Rent a Stranger,” an individual who hires out to play roles in customer’s lives–a best man, a long-lost family member, a wing-man for a night out, or–in the case of the main character–a fill-in father. It’s clear from the beginning, however, that the main character is lost, in search of healing from a traumatic past, and somewhat disconnected from reality. There are a lot of questions about family, mental health, ethics, and what it means to truly love someone. To be honest, while I liked this book for the most part, the ending was really lacking. I think this would make a great book club book.
And Then There Was You by Sophie Cousens. I am a huge fan of Sophie Cousens. I think she writes books that do a great job of balancing lightheartedness and depth, swoon and sweetness. Her characters are endearing, and her stories are both fresh and familiar. I say that because this book has probably some of the most polarizing reviews I’ve seen for a Sophie Cousens book, but I really enjoyed it. There’s an early twist that requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief, but that also raises some provocative questions about human connection and relationships. It’s a friends-to-lovers story that’s really sweet and involves a good amount of personal reflection and an apology, and it’s a story about a woman remembering who she is, and how she is going to define success in her life after losing herself for a season.
The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman. The Cooper’s Chase pensioners are back, and I for one could not be more excited. I thought this Thursday Murder Club mystery was excellent, balancing, as always, life’s realities and heaviness with humor and just a bit of absurdity. This series continues to live on my list of top five books series of all time.
That’s all for now! Question for the group: are you a Christmas/holiday movie watcher, and if so, what are your must-watch movies of the season? At our house the every year watches are the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas, White Christmas, and While You Were Sleeping. Being a movie-watching family, there are more seasonal favorites that we rotate in and out every year. This year we’re planning on adding The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and my kids really want to watch The Christmas Chronicles. So, inquiring minds want to know—what are you watching this Christmas?
Until next time!
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