Whew, November was a busy month! I finished SO many books! Seven, to be exact. I am still way behind on my annual goal. We will see where I land and try again next year. How was your November? Ready anything good? Or bad? Let me know in the comments!
Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate
☕️☕️☕️ / 5
I received Twenty-Seven Minutes from Netgalley for free in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.
Twenty-Seven Minutes alternates between the current timeline and ten years previous and character points of view. The main focus of the story is an accident where a young woman, Phoebe, dies. There are questions and rumors surrounding the accident. What really happened the night Phoebe died?
Tate does a nice job of setting the scene. You can really tell you are in a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business. Many residents seem stuck in their situation and cannot get out because of what happened one night ten years ago.
Twenty-Seven Minutes has a lot of build-up and tension until we discover what happened, although it was easy to piece together before the big reveal. The author attempted to throw you off track with many twists and secrets. So many, it became too much.
I wanted to keep reading to see if I was right, but I felt there were too many twists and secrets and was too dependent on the small-town trope. I wasn’t as invested in this as I have been in other books. I did enjoy the shifting point of view and the unreliable narrators.
I felt sorry for some of the characters but none of them were good people. They were well-written. I appreciate a well-written, terrible person. I do want to know why they all stayed in this small town. It felt like it was supposed to be some sort of penance for a couple of the characters but it didn’t seem they felt bad for what happened.
Overall, a decent mystery/thriller with several unreliable narrators. A few chapters seemed to drag on, but overall, it had a decent pace. I would recommend it if you like changing points of view, unreliable narrators, and a mystery from years ago.
I Choose Darkness by Jenny Lawson
☕☕☕☕☕ / 5
I Choose Darkness is a short story about the holidays from Jenny Lawsone, The Bloggess.
Maybe it’s because I identify with her feelings on all holidays, but I really enjoyed the essay. She starts off with her feelings around Thanksgiving and Christmas, many of which I share. Then she moves to her, and my, favorite holiday.
She sets the stage by describing the early 80s and the Halloween costumes of the era. I felt like I was transported back in time. I could envision the exact costumes she mentioned. She then moved into the story of Halloween, the year she was seven.
The pacing of the story was perfect. I could feel the tension build, wondering where the trauma came in. I was immersed in the story, I felt like I was there. I felt like I knew her and her sister. I felt like I was at that Halloween, I mean, Fall Festival.
Overall, I really enjoyed this short essay from Jenny Lawson. Her storytelling style is very similar to mine. There are tangents and jokes, but she ties it all together in the end.
I would recommend this book if you 1) like Jenny Lawson, 2) have some mixed feelings about Christmas but LOVE Halloween, and 3) enjoy ADHD storytelling.
A Scandal in Brooklyn by Lauren Wilkinson
☕☕☕ / 5
A Scandal in Brooklyn is a locked room mystery around old friends Tommy Diaz and Irene Adler.
I wanted to like this book but felt it wasn’t best suited for a short story. I couldn’t fully engage because it was over before I could figure out who dunnit. It’s very unsatisfying to have the ending figured out, thrown at you, and you feel you haven’t even met all the characters yet.
The author dropped random things about Tommy and Irene, but everyone else, especially those at the lab, felt like random people without getting to know them. Wilkinson did a great job describing the setting. I could picture the lab in my mind.
I did enjoy the writing style. It left me wanting more and wishing this was a full story. I may check out more from Wilkinson in the future. I would recommend this if you like short, fast-paced mysteries where you don’t have time to figure out who did it before the reveal.
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️ / 5
The Inheritance Games was our November book club pick.
The Inheritance Games is an intriguing story about a random teenager being chosen to inherit a fortune from a man she has never met. Or has she? The only condition? She must survive a year in The Hawthorne House, surrounded by the disinherited family. Will she survive?
The main setting is the Hawthorne House in Texas. The House is a character itself, with hidden passageways and multiple wings. The story is told from Avery’s point of view as a poor teenager who lost her mother a year before. She was taken in by her older half-sister Libby. I liked the single point of view because it made it simple/easy to follow throughout.
I enjoyed Avery’s arc but wanted to see more Libby! I think she has a good story that we need more of. The Hawthorne Boys were too over the top and “perfect.” I would have liked less of the “rich boys are perfect and beautiful” trope and had them be a little more down to earth.
I could not put this book down! I wanted to keep reading to find the next clue, to figure out the puzzle along with Avery and the Hawthorne Boys. The chapters were short, which helped make the book feel shorter than it actually is. They are easy to digest and keep the puzzle and clues from being overwhelming.
The book explores many themes, like family, power, loyalty, and money. I would recommend if you like mysteries and puzzles.
The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
☕️☕️☕️☕️ / 5
I had to pick up book two immediately after finishing The Inheritance Games!
The Hawthorne Legacy picks up where The Inheritance Games left off. We meet up with Avery and crew as they work to solve the original puzzle meant for the previous generation of Hawthornes. We are still in the first year of Avery’s challenge to stay at the Hawthorne House.
Everything All at Once by Stephanie Catudal
Read by Stephanie Catudal
☕️☕️☕️☕️ / 5
Audiobook read by Steph Catudal & Allyson Ryan
☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️ / 5
A memoir written after her husband fell sick with a mysterious lung condition during covid.
Stephanie Catudal writes about all the feelings that came up when her husband, known as Rivs in the ultrarunner world, fell ill during covid with a mysterious lung disease.
She lost her father to lung cancer as a teenager, and she processes those feelings as her husband is in the ICU during covid. It’s a story of more than just Riv’s battle with cancer. It alternates between Steph’s past and present. She details her childhood, family relationships, and the men she dated before Rivs. She details her meeting Rivs and what losing him would mean.
This book isn’t for you if you are looking for a story only about Rivs and his battle. This is Steph’s battle. It’s sad, it’s hopeful, it’s compelling. I recommend it if you like reading about how other people have overcome adversity and questionable relationships.
The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber
☕️☕️☕️☕️ / 5
Audiobook read by Eliza Foss ☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️ / 5
December book club pick
I enjoyed Eliza Foss as the narrator. She had slightly different voices for each character.
Nana’s grandchildren ask her to tell them a story, and she tells the story of the Christmas best friends Pete, a pastor, and Hanf, a bar owner, who decided to switch places.
Even though the plot and characters were predictable, Macomber threw in some fun elements, including bikers and strippers! I did want to keep reading to find out what happened to each character and if I was right in guessing who Nana was in the story.
I could picture Hank’s bar and Pete’s church. I also could feel the chill in the air. Macomber did an excellent job of describing the winter weather. A few of her scenes also had me laughing out loud, picturing them in my mind.
I also enjoyed that part of the story was in the present and took natural breaks in pacing when the grandchildren interrupted her.
Overall, a quick, enjoyable Holiday read! If you want a cheesy, Hallmark-esque read, try The Christmas Spirit.
