Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby.  I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book.  Here are my reads for November, 2011…

The Lantern, by Deborah Lawrenson – This Daphne du Maurier-inspired tale of two “hauntings” in a Provencal farmhouse was a light, quick, and reasonably fun read.  I would have preferred it if the narrators didn’t switch off constantly – made it hard to follow either narrative – and I didn’t enjoy being repeatedly banged over the head with references to du Maurier (I’m smart enough to pick up on them without being told, thanks).  But I really liked the lush descriptions of the Provencal landscape and the depiction of the farming life in the 1940s.

As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto – I’d been wanting to read this one for a long time and it did not disappoint.  I loved getting this sneak peak into a truly remarkable friendship.  Would recommend this to anyone!

The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton – What took me so long to read this book?  I’d been meaning to for years without quite getting around to it and was I ever missing out!  It was wonderful from the first page to the last.

The Girl in the Garden, by Kamala Nair – Another really enjoyable read.  The story was exciting, though sad, and the writing was vivid and evocative.  Really liked it.

The Magician King, by Lev Grossman – This was the second book in the Magicians trilogy, and while I liked the first book (The Magicians) just fine, I loved this one.  Quentin Coldwater grows up and learns what it really means to be a hero.  Great read.

The Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell – Picked this out for Thanksgiving and I wasn’t disappointed!  Who knew that reading the history of the Puritan settlement in Boston in 1630 could be so much fun?

The Sweet Life in Paris, by David Lebovitz – I love Paris, and so does David Lebovitz.  His memoir of adjusting to life as an expat in the most delicious city on Earth was absorbing, witty and hilarious.  And it made me want to buy a plane ticket back to Paris.  Yum.

Baker Towers, by Jennifer Haigh – I loved Faith, which I read over the summer, and my second Jennifer Haigh book lived right up to the promise of its sibling.  I really enjoyed this story of a family struggling and growing together in a Pennsylvania mining community in the years following World War II.  My labor relations background certainly helped deepen my understanding of some of the references to the union activity in town, but it wasn’t necessary to enjoy the book.  Anyone with a taste for family sagas and great writing would love this!  Jennifer Haigh, you are just. plain. awesome.

The Heroine’s Bookshelf, by Erin Blakemore – I really enjoyed this quick, fun tour of a group of strong, spunky literary heroines and the equally strong female authors behind them.  The book was a good mix of heroines from children’s lit (Anne Shirley, Laura Ingalls, Mary Lennox) and more adult books (Lizzy Bennet, Jane Eyre).  I’d read most of the books that were featured, so the heroines were familiar to me, but I learned a great deal about the authors even of the books I have read many times and loved.  Great, empowering read.

Great November in books!  I started out a little bit slow, but hit my stride mid-month and had a wonderful weekend of reading over Thanksgiving.  And now I have a new stack of library books to carry me into December.  I’m especially looking forward to curling up on my inlaws’ couch with a book and a cup of tea later in the month.  There’s nothing like the promise of a weekend full of reading time amongst people I love… I’m smiling just thinking about it.  Happy December, friends!

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