What I Read: November

I took the day off work to go on a field trip with Elise. I had some time to kill between dropping the kids at school and meeting her at the field trip, so I read at a coffee shop.

Books:

• Odder by Katherine Applegate- I read this one aloud with the kids. It wasn't as good as some of her other ones, but we liked it.

• Fairy Tale by Stephen King- This was my struggle bus book. I don't often buy hardcover books, but I was so excited to read this one and I was over 100 holds deep at the library, so I bought it. Since I bought it, I was determined to finish it, but I didn't like it very much. The overall plotline and story was good but it was just so slow and boring for most of the book. I was not impressed and I've loved King's other books I've read so I was surprised. I love fantasy and fairy tales so I expected this one to be right up my alley!

• The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden- I saw the cover of this one and thought it was cute. It reminded me quite a bit of The Midnight Library.

• The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera- This was a prequel to They Both Die at the End. It was really good, but not as good as the first book. I think mostly because it wasn't a new idea so it wasn't as interesting and surprising. I did like that he snuck the characters from They Both Die at the End into small little parts of this book.

eBooks:

• The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune- I loved this. I loved the magical characters and the redemption of the main character at the end. I also liked the conversations the adults had with the children and the example of loving and caring responses to children.

• Last Chance Motel by Karen Hawkins-  I was excited about this Dove Pond Novella and it was only $3 on iBooks so I bought it. I haven't liked the novellas and short stories as much as the books and this wasn't an exception to that. I did enjoy it though.

Audiobooks:

• The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams- I absolutely loved this one. I loved how the reading list wove all the characters together. I also loved that reading brought joy into all of their lives. I would highly recommend it! I liked it as an audiobook because there were different narrators for characters and they had accents.

• Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas- This was a book club pick and I didn't get it in from the library until right before Ty left for a work trip. It was a little creepy to listen to stories about serial killers as I was home all alone. The kids were off school that Monday and Tuesday so they were with my parents at their house and Monday evening it was just Skippy, the hamsters, and me because they wanted Tesla with them. Suprisingly, after the kids came home, the book became less creepy, haha!

• The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket- I wanted something short while I waited on a hold to come in, so I went with the next Series of Unfortunate Events book. I liked this one more than the last couple I read.

• The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan- This was our January book club pick, but I went ahead and listened to it early because I wanted to be able to mostly listen to Christmas books in December. It was very interesting and I learned quite a bit.

• The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan- First Christmas book of the season! I went ahead and started it a couple days before Thanksgiving, I usually wait until after Thanksgiving. To get Christmas downloadable audiobooks during December from the library (they are very popular), you have to put them on hold in early November. I did that with this one and a few others. When this one became available, I wanted to listen to it, so I did. I was a bit annoyed with it at the start because the main character was a bit of a self-centered brat. I actually almost returned it and tried something else, but I knew I'd never get it back before Christmas if I wanted to try it again later. It ended up being really good and I was bummed when it was over! It was a great companion on my first 20 mile long run of my marathon training block since I was running it solo.