November 2024 TBR
If the last 2 (maybe 3) months' reading has taught me anything, it's that I am overly ambitious with my TBRs. Apparently I cannot finish 8 books in a month, anymore. With that in mind, I am only going to put 8 books on this month's TBR. I know. But I still need to read 17 books to get to 100 books. One of these next 2 months needs to have 9 books, but since I am trying to finish the behemoth that is The Luminaries, I think it is not November.
Wait. I have 6 days of vacation this month. Yes, I have plans, but I also have a lot of extra reading time. So we'll see what happens.
Okay, here we go.
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - I read the first half of this in October. I hope to finish it in November. This is the last book on my 10 Oldest Books on my Shelf challenge.
Library 2035 by Sandra Hirsh - I just read a chapter in this that likened Cultural Heritage months to a booty call. Hilarious! Anyway, I'm mostly reading this at work, but it's due on Tuesday, so I need to pick up the pace a bit.
Dagon's Lair by Sharon Kay Penman - I started this one the other day. I've only read a chapter or two, but it's already great fun. This is the third book in the Booklist Queen's challenge to read 3 books by the same author. Then I can check that off my list.
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows - I keep shifting books around for the Book Being Made Into a Movie in 2024 challenge. I have just about settled on this. It is a YA historical fantasy about Lady Jane Grey. And when I say fantasy, I mean, the guy she marries turns into a horse at night. Like an actual horse. Weird. We'll see what happens. It's almost 500 pages which seems long to tell the story of a woman who died at age 17.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross - This one is for the prompt to read a book that won a Goodreads Choice award in 2o23. This is a fantasy book. I was going to choose between this one and Poverty by America by Matthew Desmond, but then I realized I only bought the Desmond book this year, so it can't go toward my 50 books from my shelf challenge, which I am really behind on. So, Divine Rivals it is.
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett - This is the book I've officially chosen for the Reread a Favorite prompt. It's very short. I read it in one sitting the first time.
Those last 4 books will complete the Booklist Queen's Reading Challenge for 2024. Woo hoo! That means I can focus on books from my shelves for December and do some reading at Whim.
Eat Only When You're Hungry by Lindsay Hunter - I'm going to go ahead and carry this over from the October TBR. It still sounds interesting and it only has 212 pages. I am pretty well stuck with looking for short books for the last two months to try to get to all my challenges.
Unfuck Your Habitat: You're Better Than Your Mess by Rachel Hoffman - Confession, I love to watch cleaning videos. Those videos where somebody goes into someone's insanely messy or dirty house and cleans it all up. Firstly, it makes me feel better about the state of my home (hint: dog hair reigns supreme). Secondly, sometimes I get inspired to clean something. When I had Covid, I deep cleaned my bathroom. I'm hoping this book works in a similar way.
Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford - This is a memoir by a woman whose father spent most of her life in prison. Somebody's daughter is a reference to the phrase from England's wealthy society which indicated that a child was the illegitimate offspring of someone rich who didn't want their parentage known, but paid for the child's education and upbringing, etc. It's an interesting choice of title for this book. With 224 pages, I'm hoping it's a quick read.
Sixteen Scandals by Sophie Jordan - This is a YA regency tale about a girl whose parents have decided to delay her coming out, so she decides to sneak out on her 16th birthday and have an adventure. What could go wrong. This is a short book, and since it is YA, it will most likely read pretty quickly.
Okay that is 10 books. So much for my intention to keep my TBR down. I'm hoping the number of short books on the list makes up for the massive Luminaries book.