November 2023 TBR
Here we are. It's the last day of October, so it's time to decide what we're reading in November. I think I may go with a list of possibilities instead of definites. I have some NetGalley advanced reading books that are coming out this month. I need to read 5 books from my own shelves to meet that reading goal by the end of the year. So let's just make a list and see what happens.
Jane and the Final Mystery by Stephanie Barron - I read the prologue of this one today. I think it's going to be difficult. I mean, I'm sad that it's the last Jane Austen mystery. I love this series. But also it depicts her in her last days when her health was failing and she was very sick. That will be very sad. This is one of those NetGalley books.
Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree - This is the sequel to Legends and Lattes that I read on my Denver trip. It comes out November 7 and I have a NetGalley early copy. Those critters on the cover look super cute, even if I can't tell what the owl/dog is supposed to be.
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally - I kind of really hate the title of this one. I'm not sure why. And if it was a romance, I would probably not bother. But it is a mystery set in Regency-era England in which a woman of some consequence in society thinks that her friend who has been reported dead, has actually been committed to an asylum where men send their inconvenient wives. This is also a NetGalley early copy and comes out November 14.
Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich - It may be wishful thinking on my part that I will get to read this this month. It just published today, so our copies should be moving soon. I love this series, but it takes so little time to read them, I don't feel like the return on investment makes it worth purchasing them. I am keeping my eye out for a Quck Pick copy to show up at my branch.
The First-Time Manager by Loren B. Belker, et. al. - I really need to read 2 more leadership books to meet my work goal to read 3 leadership books this year. Oy. I own this book. It's not super long. Guess I'll put this on the list.
Okay. I need 4 more books from my shelves to make sure I can meet the challenge to read 50 books from my shelves this year. I literally could not decide, so I am employing the use of a random number generator to help me. I have 385 books on my shelves right now. I am setting the generator to pick a number from 1-385. Here we go.
#219
Belgravia by Julian Fellowes - Fantastic! This feels like a book I would be interested in this month. Fellowes created Downton Abbey. The synopsis makes this sound a lot like a Victorian soap opera. Something happens during the Battle of Waterloo that a whole lot of people don't want getting out. Yes, I know Waterloo was in 1815, but the main events of this book come about 25 years later. This 402 pages and has been sitting on my shelves for far too long.
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows - I actually started reading this several years ago and had to give it up for some reason. This is a YA reimagining of the story of Lady Jane Grey. And by reimagining, I mean serious mucking about with history. Like the king turns into a horse at night. There are three Jane books including one about Jane Eyre and one about Calamity Jane. Then the authors moved on to Marys: Mary Queen of Scots, Mary Shelley, and the one that comes out next year is about a pirate princess named Mary... Mary Read, maybe?
#45
The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova - Oooh! What a great Fall time read! Well done Random Number Generator. This is kind of a chonker at 478 pages, but it is time to take this off my mashed-potato list and read it.
#337
Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy by Anne Sebba - Honestly, I forgot I owned this book. It's kind of a new book; it was only published in 2021. Also, it's pretty short for a true crime biography at 320 pages. I don't really know a lot about the Rosenbergs so I'm interested to read this one.
And that makes 5 total books from my shelves to add to the list. Nine total books. That's doable. Why did I think this would be so daunting? Also, it will be interesting to see which ones actually get read. Ha!
Tell me your thoughts.