Well, 2021 is almost over! I know I say this every month but it really is crazy how fast this year is flying in. November was another busy month that caused me to put blogging to the bottom of my priority list. Despite being on holiday from work for some of the month, thing in my personal life took a challenging turn and my priorities had to change a lot. This is likely to be the case for the foreseeable future, however I am hoping to get more organised with blogging and bookstagram in the New Year which should help.
Back to November though, I read a total of 5 books, three of which were non-fiction for Nonfiction November. They covered pretty much the whole rating scale, one being a stand out favourite that will most likely make my favourites of the year list.
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker -
This was my first read for nonfiction November, a true crime novel detailing the case of the online escorts who became victims of the long island serial killer. This is a case I had never heard anything about so thought it would be a good first true crime nonfiction read as I would be super interested in learning about something totally new. Unfortunately, I really didn't enjoy this book. It focused much more on the lives of the girls than the mystery itself, which is an interesting idea and makes a point of humanising people who may have been seen as simply victims previously. However, I don't feel it was done particularly well. The way it was written is incredibly jarring and confusing as the reader is introduced to so many different people in a very short period of time, all of whom have quite similar stories, and then continuously flips between each girl's story. I found it very hard to keep track of who was who. This book also focuses so much on the issues in these girls' lives and the family drama. I found this really took away from the fact this was a real crime that is still yet to be solved and made it into some kind of soap opera. Overall, this was a disappointing read and after reading a 400+ page book about this mystery I still don't know anything about it.
Rating: 2/5
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren -
After discovering Christina Lauren last year and really enjoying a lot of their work, this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. It follows a single mother who, on a total whim, signs up to a new app that promises to find your soulmate based on DNA. When her results come back as an unprecedented 98% match with the app's founder, the pair agree to fake date in order to gain publicity for the app ahead of it's official launch. I really like the premise of this as it sounds like a much more light-hearted and romantic version of The One by John Marrs, which I read and enjoyed but definitely had a different vibe. I also love a fake dating trope, especially when it is also enemies to lovers as this is, and I typically like single parent romance. This really should have ticked all my boxes, but ended up being a bit of a disappointment. I was bored for a lot of it and considered DNFing as it has such a slow start. I struggled to find the desire to keep reading but found my enjoyment of the relationship developing helped me get through it. While there were aspects I enjoyed, such as the relationship and our heroine's daughter, they just weren't enough for me to love it. I expected more from this author duo but this one just wasn't for me.
Rating: 3/5
The Only Plane In The Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M Graff -
This was my absolute stand out of the month. Another nonfiction November read, this is an account of all of the events of September 11th told by the people who experienced it first hand. This is probably the most comprehensive account of that day, and the days following, that you could ask for. It has accounts from those inside the Towers at the time of the attacks and family members of those who died both in the Towers and on planes, those inside the Pentagon and family member of those who lost their lives in that attack, family members of the passengers on Flight 93, air traffic controllers and those working in the airports, first responders involved in all three attacks, government officials and those who worked with them, and so many more that I can't list without being here forever. It was incredibly informative but also emotive and intense. It was such a powerful read and as someone who is too young to remember that day in anymore than very faint memories, it gave an idea of just how horrific that day was for those all over the world.
Rating: 5/5
Fighting For Your Life by Lysa Walder -
My third and final nonfiction read of the month was, of course, some form of medical memoir. This is a memoir of a London paramedic, in which Lysa Walder shares just some of the most memorable jobs she has had within her role. I have read a lot of books like this so I am pretty critical but I didn't particularly enjoy this book. This was very much an account of the most shocking calls the author has been to and seemed to be much more about the shock factor than human emotion. I started to wonder at one point if any of the stories were going to involve the patient actually living in the end. While this may be more exciting to read about for some, as someone with experience in this area this definitely gives a very inaccurate view of the job. Though much of the role of a paramedic does involve really shocking calls with life threatening emergencies, so much of the job is about being caring and compassionate individuals, which was not something that came across at all in this book. In fact, some of the language used made the author seem not very caring or compassionate at all at points. Overall, this did have it's interesting parts but did not showcase the role of a paramedic well in my opinion.
Rating: 3/5
The Christmas Blanket by Kandi Steiner -
I was planning to save my Christmas reads until December but I just couldn't wait that long. This is a short novella following a woman who gets stuck in a blizzard on her way home for the first time in four years to see her family for Christmas. However, when she is rescued by her ex-husband things get awkward as the two are stuck in his cabin together through the storm. I absolutely loved this novella. It was such a sweet second-chance romance, with the chemistry between the main characters being apparent from the beginning. It was a very cozy, festive read and my only complaint is that I wish it had been longer. I could have read a full length novel of these characters.
Rating: 4.5/5
A Groom With A View by Sophie Ranald -
My last read of the month was one that I have owned in my ebook library for far too many years but never got around to picking up. It follow a woman who has been in a long term relationship for years with no plans to get married until one drunken night the pair end up engaged. While she has very little interest in the wedding plans, her husband-to-be becomes wrapped up in planning the perfect, extravagant wedding, with the help of his mother, who does not think she is good enough for his son. I knew nothing about this going into it so didn't realise that this is really not my kind of book. It's definitely more Women's Fiction than romance, which isn't usually my thing, and I hate the meddling mother-in-law that makes the life of her son's significant other absolute hell. Despite not being my kind of book, this was fine and I enjoyed it enough, until something happened at the end that I wasn't a fan of. I probably should have DNFed this when I realised it wasn't my cup of tea.
Rating: 2.5/5
Those are all of the books I read in November. A bit of a mixed bag, both in terms of genre and enjoyment, but a couple of really great reads in there. I am so excited to get to all of the Christmas romance in December, so definitely leave me some good recommendations.
What was the best book you read in November?
Sophie :)
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