Friday 2 December 2022

Books read in November

I read 6 books last month, so my slower reading months continue but I'm fine with that. Devouring books at the rate of 10 -12 a month is fine and fun but it's not my natural level which is more 5 to 8. I'll be happy to continue that into 2023 and focus more perhaps on getting some longer books off my tbr pile. Anyway, more of that in due course. These are my November books.

96. Dear Hugo by Molly Clavering

97. The Necessary Aptitude by Pam Ayres

98. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

99. In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu 

100. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

101. Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher 

So, 5 fiction, 1 non-fiction.... the cut overall this year so far is 72 fiction books and 29 non-fiction and I feel quite pleased with that. Looking at the 6 books read my favourite was definitely Winter Solstice.

 


I'm still thinking about this lovely book. But The Necessary Aptitude was also a super read and so was Dear Hugo. I do seem to have haunted Scotland a bit last month but also went on a very interesting foray to North Carolina. I like to travel around the world a bit more than I did in November. Not sure if that will be better in December, but it definitely will be in January. I hope.

Ok, so I'm now going into Winter/Christmas mode and am currently reading this:


This about Clara, who is Danish but for some reason is wandering aimlessly around England. Hopefully we'll soon discover what the secret 'reason' is. She stops in a village in Suffolk and ends up taking over a toyshop to run while the owner goes on holiday. The son of the owner kicks up about this thinking Clara is gold-digging. So far it's fun and readable, if not completely amazing. 

Anyway, I hope you're all well, keeping the flu and bugs and covid at bay and finding lots of good books to read. I'm definitely doing the Hygge thing at the moment, lighting the fire and settling down in front of it with a good book and a cup of tea. Heaven.


16 comments:

Margot Kinberg said...

I agree completely, Cath; there's no need to push oneself to read more and more. I think reading is most meaningful and gives the most rich pleasure when we read at our own pace. And I think that pace changes at different times of the year and different times in our lives. At any rate, I'm glad you had some good reads here, and it's a nice mix. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of The Hygge Holiday.

Cath said...

Margot: I think I'm naturally mathematical, numbers always interest me, so I'm naturally inclined to count how many books I read, keep lists of titles read and books I want to read. My husband 'never' does that and thinks I'm pretty weird doing it. He may be right. LOL Just finished The Hygge Holiday, a 3 star read, it was ok, some people on Goodreads only gave it a *1* but there were bits about it I liked.

Lark said...

I haven't read as many nonfiction books this year as I'd hoped to, but I did read some really good ones. I also didn't read several that have been on my TBR list for far too long. Sigh. Maybe next year. ;D (I seem to say that a lot lately.)

TracyK said...

I read six books in November and was very happy with that. Plus a few short stories and still plugging away at Anna Karenina. I sort of would really like to finish that before the end of the year but not going to push myself if it interferes with Christmas book and short story reading.

You had a really good reading month. I plan to sample something by Le Fanu sometime. Glen has a couple of his books. Two of the books you read I definitely plan to read soonish: Dear Hugo and Wind in the Willows.

Cath said...

Lark: I think quality over quantity is a good thing and I will maybe do that next year too. Really excellent non-fiction is quite hard to pin down sometimes. I need to learn to stop reading if the book is not great.

Cath said...

Tracy: Yes, I was happy with six books too as they were all worth reading. Impressed that you're still plugging away at Anna Karenina! I plan to take a long classic myself next year and do the same, possibly Our Mutual Friend or The Count of Monte Cristo. I figure if I can get through Moby Dick I can get through one of those and it should be a bit more readable and interesting too.

I hope you enjoy Dear Hugo and The Wind in the Willows when you get to them.

Nan said...

I do love Dear Hugo. And I did like Winter Solstice, but, and it is a big but, I simply couldn't get over the beginning. I wish there had been a different way to make the rest of the book work. There are still parts of it that pop into my mind. But that beginning...

Lisa of Hopewell said...

Hygge Home was ok--I read it last year along side Meik Willig's little Hygge books. Crawdads--wow, I loved it! Dear Hugo was really good.

Cath said...

Nan: Yes, that event at the start of the book was traumatic and shocking. And I did wonder a bit at Oscar's behaviour with Elfrida so soon after it. I'm hoping her other books don't have that kind of thing in them.

Cath said...

Lisa: I gave The Hygge Holiday a three on Goodreads so I felt like you did about it. I had mixed feelings about Crawdads but Dear Hugo was delightful.

Sam said...

Happy to see that you are enjoying your new reading pace, Cath. I'm doing the same these days, and it's kind of nice to relax and enjoy the more leisurely pace. I just finished up another one by Ann Cleeves, Silent Voices (#4 in her Vera Stanhope series), and it was kind of nice to linger a bit in that world again.

Stay well. We are very relaxed about Covid in this part of the US, but several of my friends and relatives have recently been hit by that bug. I have to work hard at reminding myself that it's still on the prowl.

Cath said...

Sam: Yes, I've decided I like my former slower pace a lot better than dashing through books as quick as I can and then not retaining any details of said books. I haven't read any Vera Stanhope books but am a huge fan of the TV series. Brenda Blethyn 'is' Vera for me, she's so brilliant that I can't now imagine anyone else playing her.

Yes, Covid is still around albeit a bit weaker I think. My daughter said they're now regarding it as just a really bad cold. I'm sure though that it can be much worse than that for some so we're still being careful. You stay well too.

Vintage Reading said...

Oh I wish I'd looked after me teeth...! Love Pam Ayres, I'd like to read this.

Susan said...

I'm glad you're enjoying your books. That's better than rushing through a bunch for sure.

I haven't read anything by Pilcher. I've heard lots of good things about her books, so I really need to give her a try. WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING is another one I haven't read yet. I need to do that before I watch the movie.

Enjoy your reading!

Cath said...

Nicola: Yes! And what a classic that was. Her autobiography was far better than I was expecting, so much social history that was fascinating.

Cath said...

Susan: I can now say that Pilcher is well worth a try. The village in Scotland was a character all on its own. I haven't seen the Crawdads movie yet, will watch that over Christmas.