November 2020 Wrap Up Pt. 1

I've read seven books this month, but then hit a wall. I haven't finished a book in over a week. Since I have no idea what reading will look like for the rest of the month, I'm going to think positive and hope that I will read 12 more books so that it was a good idea to post this now instead of waiting.

Lobizona by Romina Garber - This one was really good. A girl who came from Argentina and is now hiding from ICE with her mother in Miami. Every month her mother gives her some pills so she can sleep through her period because it's so painful and miserable. But lately she's noticed that she can hear a little better, she can see a little better, and she can smell things she doesn't think other people can smell. When her mother gets taken by ICE, she follows a suspicious guy she finds lurking around her apartment and ends up in a world full of witches and werewolves. She tries to play it cool, but she doesn't have any of the regular witchy powers. Now she's illegal in America AND this other world.

Giant Days by Non Pratt - This is another one I enjoyed. It is set during the characters' first year at university (in England, even though it says college on the cover.) The events of the novel are not the same as in the comics, so it is like a wonderful extra side story.

White Houses by Amy Bloom - This is told entirely from the perspective of Lorena Hickok, Eleanor Roosevelt's First Friend and, at least in this book, long time lover. I begins after the death of FDR as Eleanor is moving out of the White House and into a cottage she owned. Lorena meets her there. There are lots of flashbacks to the time when Lorena lived in the White House with the Roosevelts, as well as times when they weren't a thing. It's pretty good. Takes a lot of liberties.

By the Book by Amanda Sellet - This was pretty cute. Not great literature, but fun. The main character has spent her whole life at a small private school on the university campus where her parents work as professors. Just before school starts she finds out that the school has closed and she'll have to go to the public school. The first day of school, the one person she knows from the old school snubs her. Now she has no friends. After school, there are a couple of girls she recognizes from the popular group in a coffee shop. They are raving about a boy that she knows is bad news from previous interactions she's had and she warns them. They quickly welcome her into their group and want to know about all the bad boys in literature who are like the boys they know. It goes from there. It's about friendship and belonging and judging people by their covers. Like I said, it's pretty cute.

Chicken Thoughts by Sarah Wymer - The author is a sweet girl who worked for the library before she graduated Valedictorian of her massive high school and went to Stanford for college. Now she lives near Dallas and has birds which she has created a webcomic for. I mean, she has a tech job, too, but for fun she makes comics. This is a book of her comics. I'm so proud of her, I pre-ordered the book in August. I just came out this month. If you know anyone who owns birds, they might need this book.

Swamp Thing: Twin Branches by Maggie Stiefvater - This graphic novel is very much like an old time comic in illustration style. Two boys are sent to live with relatives in a small town. One is super outgoing and friendly; the other is reserved, nerdy, and obsessed with his plant laboratory. Some science fiction happens. Blah blah blah. I didn't care for it much. The ending was both very rushed and not complete. It's like it ended right when the plot picked up.

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer - FINALLY!!! I started this behemoth in September and finally decided to buckle down and read the last 200 pages last weekend. The ending was pretty meh. I enjoyed reading Twilight from Edward's perspective, but sometimes he is an unconscionable ass.

Seven books in 8 days isn't so bad. Not having read anything in the last 8 days isn't great. I mean, I'm reading, just slowly. It's fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine.