November Reads

1. Life After Life– I took me awhile to get through this book. It had an interesting premise. You follow Ursula Todd as she is born, and dies, again and again. Each time, there are slight changes or different decisions made, that have a profound effect on her situation and even history. However, the book did begin to feel repetitive, after awhile, as you read some of the same scenes over and over, with only slight changes.

I saw that it was picked as The Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction for 2013. It was definitely interesting in it’s historical context, but the amount of repetition made it difficult to get through.

2. Allegiant– Like so many others, I was anxious for the final installment in the trilogy. The book was…OK. I know many other readers took issue with the ending, and I did not feel strongly one way or another about it.

I was, however, disappointed with where Roth took Four’s character. He was a favorite in the previous books and in this installment, he comes across as a little whiny and insecure.

This book definitely did not blow me away, but I was not horribly let down either.

3. Wild– This was a re-read for my book club. First of all, I am super excited to finally be apart of a book club, even if it has been just me and another person for the first two meetings, it has still been such a fun experience.

Second, this book is very personal to me. I originally purchased it because I truly hope to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail one day, and I was incredibly interested about a woman who set off to do this on her own.

However, this book is about so much more than a hike. Strayed talks quite a bit about losing her mother and the grief that follows.

I was reading this book on the very night that my dad was murdered. It was SO hard to pick this book back up after my life was changed by that event. However, I believe it truly helped me start the journey into grief and loss.

Strayed really describes the experience of losing a parent, so well. I am deeply grateful for her honesty, it truly helped me through a difficult time.

4. Graceling– I had been eager to read this book for awhile now. I love series and have heard such good things about it.

It definitely lived up to my expectations and I quickly got sucked into this mythical world. I also appreciated the strong female roles in the book and the character development.

I am currently reading the second installment in the series and am excited to see where it goes.

5. The Mermaid Chair- I read this in one sitting, on the flight back from Boston, to Los Angeles.

The plot for this book was just OK for me, but I really love the way Sue Monk Kidd describes the relationships between women. That was my favorite part of The Secret Life of Bees, and the same type of connections where present in The Mermaid Chair.

What did you read in November?