Last Month in Review: November 2014

My reading tends to dwindle toward the end of the year, but a mini vacation in November, paired with some good audio books, kept my reading stats from looking bad. I'm pretty close to achieving my Goodreads goal for the year, which is just as well since working a retail job in December doesn't lead to lots of quiet reading moments!

In chronological order, here are the books I read last month:

1. The Jaguar's Children by John Vaillant.  Since I actually started this book in September and read it bit-by-bit through all of October, it hardly seems fair that it counts toward my November stats.  But I finished it on the first day of the month, so I'm counting it!  Good book, coming out in February.

2. Black River by S. M. Hulse.  This may be the best book I read in November. Mostly quiet with some sinister undertones.  The story reminded me quite a bit of the works of both Kent Haruf (RIP) and Larry Watson.

3. God Loves Haiti by Dimity Elias Leger.  Debut novel, well done, about the terrible earthquake in Haiti.  The author is a Haitian writer-turned-hipster-editor of a major NYC literary magazine.

4. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, read by Dan O'Grady.  Though I've read the book quite a few times by now, I'd never listened to it.  When the audio version became available for only $14.99, I decided to pick it up to add to my collection.  The reader is Australian and he does a good job, but I was very curious to note that, unlike my reading experiences, I didn't laugh out loud while listening.  Here's my original review.

5. Almost Famous Women by Megan Mayhew Bergman.  I enjoyed this short story collection, where the author tells a story of real women from history who were well known in their day but mostly forgotten about now.  Like most collections, this one was a bit uneven, but I really enjoyed it.  She's a good writer, and I kept smiling to read about the real-life Dolly Wilde after participating in the Caitlin Moran readalong this summer, where the main character assumed the name of Dolly Wilde for her alter ego.

6. The Martian by Andy Weir.  I probably never would have read this book, if it weren't for Sarah and Ally.  But they convinced me to try it, and though I did a good bit of skimming over the science bits, it made for a good story.  I'm glad I read it, and I have moderate hopes that the movie will capture the essence of the book.

7. The Half Brother by Holly LeCraw. This book is my jam, y'all.  I'm a total sucker for the prep school setting, and the writing is quite good.  Our narrator isn't 100% reliable here, and the author lays down  wallop in the middle and again at the end. I won't put any spoilers here, but I will say that I'm a disturbed enough reader that I would have preferred a different ending.

8. The Tusk That Did the Damage by Tania James.  Hmmm...okay, this book is ALSO my jam, y'all.  Tania James convincingly writes a close third person from an elephant's POV.  She also managed to humanize a character I never would have believed possible: an elephant poacher.  Not saying I sympathized with his choices -- not one whit -- but to humanize him at all was almost miraculous.

9. There's Something I Want You To Do by Charles Baxter.  There's some pretty amazing writing happening in this short story collection, but I'm afraid that the content didn't do much for me.  Me, I prefer my short stories to feel complete and not to feel, when I come to the last page, that some pages have fallen out of my book.  If you're a fan of the "snapshot"style of short story, these could be right up your alley.

10. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Read by Barbara Rosenblatt and Cassandra Morris.  Despite having read this book several years ago and loved it, and despite having two good readers, this reading experience somewhat disappointed me.  Just goes to show that timing can be everything when it comes to reading. Ms Rosenblatt in particular was quite good, with an excellent French accent and a voice that reminded me of a cross between Colleeen Dewhurst and one of the Redgrave ladies.

My stats rather interest me this month.  I think it's the first time all year that I've read equal numbers of male and female authors (I usually skew pretty heavily female).  And though there is only one writer of color on my list, 40% of the books qualify for the "diversify your life" shelf I've created on Goodreads.  This can be writers *or* primary characters who are non white, or LGBT, or differently abled, etc.

What about y'all?  What was good for you in November?  What was a dud?