November Wrap Up

 Well hey, hi, hello there readers.

November has ended, there is a distinct chill in the air, and I've finished the last of my final projects. I'll be officially graduated this Friday. 🥳

Needless to say it's been a busy November. I did not get to everything on my original TBR, but that's alright, reader. I can just read those books in December. It's not like they disappear after the month is over. That would be truly unfortunate, reader.

Let's get right to it, shall we?

(From left to right: Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw, Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde, Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis, The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth, Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Rosanne A. Brown)

First on the list is Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw, a book that has been on my tbr shelf for an embarrassingly long time. Since it came out in 2017, in fact. I actually follow the author on tumblr which is how I heard about it in the first place. It's the first book in the Greta Helsing series, which has so far been an absolute delight, reader. Vivian Shaw has counted Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman among the authors who inspired her to write and it shows, both in content and in style. As I said, it's a delight. The first book, Strange Practice, follows our intrepid gang as they deal with a group of sewer monks bent on killing every supernatural being the come across. I 'live' blogged the latter half of the book. Not sure I liked how that particular experiment turned out, but the book was great.

The universe is excellent, the characters are wonderful to read (I have a particular soft spot for Lord Ruthven), and the plot is highly exciting. I'm not usually a plot person, I tend to read for characters, but boy did I not want to put this down. It's part murder mystery part modern penny dreadful. But good. No shade to the originators of the genre but some of the writing is, how do you say, not great. 

I'm waiting for the third book from the library to get in, reader.

4/5 pumpkins.

Three of the books on this list are recommendations by blog staple, Paperbackdreams. Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde is one of them. It's a fluffy story about cosplay conventions, an event I have not been able to go to for pandemical reasons. Sigh. If there's one thing that certainly can't happen during a pandemic, it's a con. But I digress, reader. It's a short book, but a nice one. One of the characters is bi, another is autistic and a into cosplay. I love it very much and the author is also on the spectrum. Much love. I agree with Kat that the book makes less sense if you think about it too hard. It's very fun, however, and it's nice to read about a con since I cannot go to them right now. Honestly, I think this would be a great book for young readers, I know I would have loved this when I was high school age or so.

3/5 pumpkins.

It's official, reader. I finally read Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. This is a book Kat has been plugging for years and I can see why. This is a great book, reader. Just fantastic. It's set in the UK and follows Francis, a gal who's in her final year of secondary school and is confronted with the fact that she will have to go to college. Francis is also struggling with self identity, since she's been living to distinct lives: School Francis and Home Francis. School Francis is all about grades and homework. Home Francis is a fan artist who loves a podcast called Universe City. It's so very good, reader. I couldn't even write coherent notes as I was reading this. I just wrote: 'ouch that shit hurt' and 'uh, the universe is vast and I care about you.' I stick by those sentiments, reader. 

5/5 pumpkins.

Our next book recc'd by Kat is Get a Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. This is a contemporary romance which is not my usual genre of choice, but I enjoyed this book. It follows the titular Chloe Brown, a woman of color dealing with chronic pain, who is trying to 'get a life' by which she means try to get out more and stop being afraid of living her life. Essentially. Anyway, she meets Redford Morgan, a very hot man who is an artist and who is trying to recover from an abusive relationship. I'll be honest? The sex scenes weren't for me, but if you want a steamy read then this book will fulfill that desire. Redford and Chloe are very cute together, reader. Oh, and Redford also starts going to therapy. King. There's something about the writing and characters that reminded me very strongly of Jane Austen. I can't put my finger on why, since Jane Austen was not known for her detailed sex scenes. Unless I missed that part of Pride and Prejudice.... It's very good, though. If you enjoy romance, or are looking for a way to get into the genre, this would be a good starting place.

4/5 pumpkins.

Next, reader, is my continuing journey into Narnia with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis. For whatever reason, this was the book I liked best when I was a kid. I thought the cover was very cool, though I could not tell you a single thing that happened beyond the cover. I have vague memories of Eustace getting turned into a dragon, reader, but nothing else. It's an alright book. I didn't like it as much as Prince Caspian, but it's a solid little sailing trip story. Lucy and Edmund are staying with their terrible relatives and they and their cousin Eustace get sucked into a painting and end up in the ocean next to Prince Caspian's ship. Adventure ensues, slaves are freed, Eustice is indeed turned into a dragon, and the loyal advisors mentioned in Prince Caspian's book are found. One way or another. It's bittersweet since we learn that Lucy and Edmund won't be able to come back to Narnia; their getting too old for it. I still maintain that any place that makes you go through puberty twice should let you back in, but I don't make the rules around here, reader. 

3/5 pumpkins.

This next book was not on my tbr list, but my hold for it at the library came in so I had to read it. It's The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth and goodness what a treat this was to read. You know how us gays don't often get silly romantic comedies? Ciara Smyth knows it too and is here to gift us one. The book is about Saoirse, a disaster lesbian who is dealing with many a thing including a bad break up with her long time high school friend, her mother's dementia, and the creeping realization that she will have to go to college after summer ends, meeting Ruby. Saoirse is very sure she doesn't want anything more than a casual summer fling so Ruby suggests they just do the falling in love montage present in every rom com ever made. Ruby is a big fan of rom coms, see. It's a delightful love story that also deals with Saoirse's anxieties about her future, or potential lack thereof. I loved it very much, reader. I have demands and those demands are more happy lesbian love stories. The Hayes Code is dead and I demand more gay romantic comedies! They don't have to be good they just have to be there!

4/5 pumpkins.

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire took a very long time to get from the library, hence why it is a month late in my wrap up. This book has a very different style than the other books I've read by Seanan McGuire, which makes sense because this is an urban fantasy detective story. Think Dresden Files, but with much less weird 'chivalry' thoughts. They are very similar, reader, although I think I like the setting of Rosemary and Rue better. I am biased. I've never seen Chicago but I have spent the better part of a week walking around San Francisco. Honestly that's the only thing that gave me pause: our hero Toby (full name October) drives a beat-up Bug around SF. I have no idea why should would subject herself to that, but I do find it funny that she also owns a decrepit VW Beetle. Is that the car of choice amongst gritty magical detectives? That aside, it was a solid mystery. The world was interesting, I liked the characters, the stakes were high, and Toby's an interesting character to follow around. She gets turned into a fish in the prologue, reader. This particular book didn't have that lyrical quality that I've come to associate with Seanan McGuire's other work, but that didn't detract from the story. It just has a different tone. There are also two very good cats.

3/5 pumpkins.

Last and certainly not least is A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown. This was another book I picked up at the library (they do no contact delivery which is very handy) at the recommendation of the other favorite Booktuber of this blog Nayareadsandsmiles. I knew I was going to like this book from the word go. First of all it has a content warning in the front. That's the fastest way to make me fall in love with your book: bothering to warn me of potential triggers. It's a newer practice and one that I like very much. I love being able to give informed consent during my reading experience, reader. It's just great. The book itself is also very good. Spoilers for the end of my review, but this is one of only two books I gave full pumpkins too this month. This is a dual perspective book set in a fantasy world based on West African folklore. There's magic, political intrigue, a refugee crisis, and a hot snake man. He's technically the villain, but who am I to judge? One of the characters has anxiety and I relate. His anxiety is also integral to the plot, a scene I shan't spoil you for, reader. It was very good though, take my word for it. Wraiths is one of a growing number of fantasy books that are not based in European myth and history and I could not be happier about that. The world of this book is so beautiful, I wish Roseanne Brown had spent more time talking about it. As it stands, the book is well paced and clocks in at about 480 pages. And I would happily have read double that just to spend more time in the world. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book, reader.

5/5 pumpkins.

That wraps up the month of November, reader. I hope your winter holiday of choice goes well and that you all have a safe and happy time with a book you love.

Until next time, dear reader 🎃