Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby. I 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, 2019…

Plague Land (Somershill Manor Mystery #1), by S.D. Sykes – Murder mysteries set in historical times are very much my jam, so I was intrigued to check out this new-to-me series featuring an English Lord in a Kentish village just after the Plague.  I liked, but didn’t love it – Sykes doesn’t shy away from picturing the brutality of medieval life, which I mostly tolerate, but lately I’ve been craving gentler fiction.  The mystery also felt like a convenient device more than a plot driver.  I will probably continue with the series, but need a break first.

Slightly Foxed No. 8: Cooking with a Poet, ed. Gail Pirkis and Hazel Wood – At least to a certain extent, I can measure the success of an issue of Slightly Foxed by how many of the featured titles end up either on my Amazon wishlist or in my Abebooks cart.  In the case of issue number 8, there were a few, and there would have been more except for the fact that I already owned a few of the books the contributors profiled (like Another Self and Period Piece).  There’s not much that’s as comforting as curling up with a cup of tea and an issue of Slightly Foxed, and it was just what I needed.

Wives and Daughters, by Elizabeth Gaskell – It took me awhile, mainly because I was reluctant to lug the giant doorstopper volume I have (it’s a beautiful Folio Society hardcover) on the Metro – but Wives and Daughters was wonderful and worth every minute spent with it.  It’s a testament to how marvelous Gaskell’s storytelling is that I closed the book reluctantly, wishing it wasn’t over – after more than 650 pages.  My new favorite Gaskell!  Fully reviewed here.

The Shadow King, by Maaza Mengiste – I’d heard good things about this historical novel of Ethiopia in World War II, but try as I did, I couldn’t get into it.  Part of it was the author’s decision not to use quotation marks, which made it hard to follow the dialogue – but mostly, this was just the wrong time for me to read this book.  After months on end of extreme work stress, I am craving something gentler and calmer, and a book about a brutal war was never going to work for me at this time.  It was beautifully written but not for me, at least not for me right now.

The Stationery Shop, by Marjan Kamali– After feeling like my previous read was just too much, I approached The Stationery Shop with trepidation, but ended up really enjoying it.  There was a little violence, but most of the book focused on family interactions and cultural traditions – interspersed with luscious descriptions of Persian food – and it was wonderful.

The Testaments (The Handmaid’s Tale #2), by Margaret Atwood – This is an unpopular opinion, but I preferred The Testaments to The Handmaid’s Tale.  There is no question that The Handmaid’s Tale is the better book of the two, but The Testaments had a more hopeful feel and a pacier plot.  I found The Handmaid’s Tale deeply distressing – which was the intent, of course, so it did its job – and have never felt compelled to re-read it.  But for a gripping, plotty reading experience… I actually really liked The Testaments.

Magic Flutes, by Eva Ibbotson – Having heard that Magic Flutes is not one of Ibbotson’s strongest offerings, I had low expectations, and they were mostly met.  The story was fine, if formulaic, and the characters mostly the same.  Ibbotson clearly drew her hero in the Bronte mold (there’s even a reference to him being in “one of his Mr. Rochester moods”) and the older I get, the less alluring I find Bronte-style heroes.  What I really disliked about this book was its portrayal of a Jewish character.  I tried to remind myself that the book was a product of its times, but it left a very sour taste in my mouth.  If I didn’t know that Ibbotson’s other books are better, I’d probably be turned off the author completely.  As it is, I’ll definitely read more Ibbotson (if only because I love her settings – like Vienna and an Austrian castle, here), but won’t re-read Magic Flutes.

Wait for Me!, by Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire – I can’t get enough details and gossip about the Mitford family, and have had Debo’s memoirs on my list to read for years.  The youngest of the six Mitford sisters (and Tom, can’t forget about Tom – everyone does), Deborah Mitford married the younger son of the Duke of Devonshire, only to become a Duchess-in-waiting when her brother-in-law was killed in World War II.  Debo’s memories of growing up in one of the most famous families of the day, and of her years as a Duchess, are fascinating reading – even if she’s not as good of a writer as her elder sister Nancy.  (Debo also professes not to be a reader, but I think she should give herself more credit – in addition to Nancy and Jessica, her memoirs mention Anthony Trollope, E.F. Benson, Evelyn Waugh – who did not enjoy his stay with the Devonshires – and Patrick Leigh Fermor, to name just a few of the literary lights with whom Debo mixed.)

Poems of Gratitude, ed. Emily Fragas – I really enjoy making my way through the slim poetry collections in the Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets series, but I think Poems of Gratitude has been my favorite thus far.  Fragas’ editorial decisions – for instance, to mix up the time periods instead of progressing chronologically in each section, and to include more works by women, non-native English speakers, people of color, and First Nations people – were really inspired.  Poems of Gratitude was wonderful reading on Thanksgiving.

Nine books seems like a relatively small achievement for November, which is a longer month.  But it was a busy month – lots of work and preparation for traveling over Thanksgiving and one Victorian doorstopper (also the highlight of the month) – made for slow going for a while there.  But I made up for it with a luxurious weekend of reading four books over Thanksgiving, which was wonderful.  Now on to the holiday season; I suspect my December list will look a little paltry as well, since I have a lot on my plate at work and at home.  But I’ll be turning to holiday books all month and I can’t wait.