My November reading was largely spent savoring every single minute of Surrender by Bono, I absolutely loved it. The rest of my selections were mostly just ok, with A Flicker in The Dark being my other top choice. Now that December is here I will focus on holiday reads (I’ve already gotten 2 in!) and see if I can get one or two more of my Reading Goals selections in, as I didn’t do very well on that this year. My nest is still empty and I am looking forward to filling it at the holidays. I also watched a bit more TV than usual for me – some of the shows we have been enjoying over here are The White Lotus (crazy town!!), From Scratch and Where The Crawdads Sing. My husband has been catching up with Yellowstone, but I admit I am not really paying attention when it is on and generally am reading on the couch instead.
Here are the books I read in November.
Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story – Bono
I grew up to U2 and their feisty songs the late 70’s, 80’s and beyond. One of my most memorable concerts as an adult was the U2 concert at Mile High Stadium after Bono’s back surgery that had cancelled the show a year prior. Their music has been a constant through out of my life.
While I enjoyed Surrender on audio and recommend that as the reading choice for this one, I also was lucky enough to pick up a library copy. I loved hearing Bono’s story of his childhood, how he found his bandmates and their rocky beginnings, all in his voice. I found him humble although real, admitting to what privilege has afforded him. He even owns up early on to being very aware that he didn’t have the best voice and in today’s world of singing contests he would have never made it. Each chapter centers somewhat on a song, 40 total. Sometimes it was what the song was about, other times it was about the events occurring at the time around them when it was written. I found it all fascinating. A good amount of the stories I knew, but even for a seasoned U2 fan, there was more than enough content to keep me engaged. Everyone knows of the humanitarian efforts that he has engaged in and in many cases been the driving force for, but the stories behind them were intriguing and sometimes fascinating. I also thoroughly enjoyed the chapters involving his wife and family as he has done a stellar job of protecting their privacy.
If I did have one critique – while the book is somewhat in chronological order, it also is not and it gets a tad whiplash-y at times keeping track of what time period he is discussing. This was probably more of an issue when listening, I believe I would have been able to track this better on a written page. With that said, the audio is the way to go 100%. He sings to us in the recording. The 40 songs are clipped but instead of words on a page, he has sung them. There are a good amount of photos throughout the book and each chapter beings with a cartoonish drawing as well. Highly recommend on audio, but try to flip through the book for photos and pictures/graphics. It is definitely a longer memoir and it did take me a bit to get through but I have zero regrets and loved it all.
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
A Flicker In The Dark – Stacy Willingham
4.5. Chloe is the main character and grew up in a community traumatized from several cases of missing teenaged girls. Shockingly to everyone, her father was convicted of the serial killer crimes. Now a psychologist, teenage girls are disappearing again and she can’t help but feel there is a connection. While I did see the outcome, I am ok with that as it is done so well. This was a debut novel for Willingham and it’s impressive. I have already received her next release as an ARC and will be reading it within the month, can’t wait!
🍷🍷🍷🍷1/2
Into The Drowning Deep – Mira Grant
3.5 ~ If you want to read a (VERY long) sci-fi thriller about killer mermaids, this is the book for you. My favorite parts of the book were strangely the point of view of characters just before they were victims of the mermaids and also the POV of the mermaids themselves. If this book had been tightened up and shortened a wee bit I probably would have enjoyed it even more. By 75%, I felt pretty done and ready for it to be over.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
Groundskeeping – Lee Cole
This one was a solidly written novel but it was a tad strange. I was reading this around the time of Election Day and it was a bit of a oddly deja-vu-ish time to read it, as the setting takes place around the 2016 election. I did enjoy Owen’s story and appreciated his experiences. The cast of characters was a tad wonky, especially his Trump supporting family, and I had a hard time connecting with most of them. I look forward to seeing what Cole comes up with next.
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The Office BFFs – Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
The Office fans will give this a 4/5. Others will say 2/3. Completed on audio, I have to admit that Angela’s voice was tough for me. While I enjoyed her on The Office, listening to half of a book narrated by her was a bit much. I like to be doing other things while listening to an audio book, or I listen as I wind down for the night. Neither of those things were conducive to her voice. But it is her voice – I am not going to downgrade the book for that, but I do think reading would have been a better fit for me on this one. Sounds like there’s lots of pics in the hard copy.
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The Widow – Kaira Rouda
The Widow is an okay political drama / wanna-be thriller. There are zero likable characters and the whole thing is a bit over the top mega-emphasizing all of the bad characters in DC and politics. It is a quick page turner and I did almost chuckle a few times, but unless you absolutely love books centering on DC, you will likely only find this one okay as well. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion. The Widow is now available.
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The Christmas Wedding Guest – Susan Mallery
This Christmas Wedding Guest is a cozy Christmas story with the added bonus of not one, but two love interest story lines. If you enjoy reading the light Christmas romance trope, you will likely enjoy. There is a second book to follow in The Wishing Tree series. I haven’t yet decided if I will pick that one up.
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The Christmas Bookshop – Jenny Colgan
Another cozy Christmas tale, Carmen is down on her luck – she has lost her job and has no where to live. She (reluctantly to all) has to stay with her sister and she helps her secure work in a floundering bookstore. I felt the season’s magic a bit in this one and again, if a cozy Christmas tale is something you enjoy, pick it up. If you don’t, it is one to pass by.
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Now Is Not The Time To Panic – Kevin Wilson
Earlier this year I read another book by Wilson (Nothing To See Here) and loved it, drawing me to this selection. It was not what I was expecting and I didn’t love it as much as his first.
Frankie & Zeke are teens that meet in the summer after Zeke has moved to town. They are both outsiders, are lonely and fairly quickly become friends with a bit of teen curiosity/romance. Out of a bit of boredom, they decide to create art and hang it all over town anonymously. It becomes viral and attached to unintended meaning and quickly events and consequences occur, creating the “The Coalfield Panic of 1996.” There is a second timeline to the future with Frankie as an adult and it takes a bit for that come together.
I did enjoy “Now Is Not the Time to Panic,” but at times found it a bit all over the place and I couldn’t fully connect to Frankie – which likely was intended. Wilson is a gifted writer and I will read more from him. Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco publishing for an advance e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Now Is Not the Time to Panic is now available.
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All Good People Here – Ashley Flowers
2.5. This could have been a 3 (= I liked it o.k.) until the end. The ending is terrible. Boo. And the rest is just ok, so all in all I am annoyed I actually bought this one. It felt like Jonbenet Ramsey copy cat story but it just wasn’t creative to feel it was worthy of it.
🍷🍷1/2
