A Year in Books - November

This month the pace of my reading has picked up a little and I did manage to get through the three books that I set myself the task of reading at the beginning of the month. 

 

The first of the three I read was by Barbara Pym and called A Quartet in Autumn.  The title refers to the subject of the book, namely a quartet of people who worked alongside one another in the autumn of their lives, as they neared and reached retirement age.  It was a well written read, but quite a slow read for me and took a while to finish, as it wasn't a book I found particularly difficult to put down or wanted to dive into at any given opportunity.

The second book was altogether different.  It was Sophie Kinsella's 'Remember Me?'.  It had taken me three months to finally get around to reading this book and when I did I really enjoyed it.  With her usual wit she tells they story of a girl who wakes up in hospital, to find that she is married to a gorgeous looking guy, has lovely straight teeth where previously hers were crooked, a high powered job and a fantastic penthouse apartment.  Trouble is, she can't remember a thing about how she actually managed to acquire all these things.  Although her new life sounds perfect, she soon discovers that all is not what it at first seems and she is determined to get to the bottom of it, which she eventually does.  This was a really good read.  I  whizzed through it as I couldn't wait to pick it up in a morning before getting out of bed.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Finally, I also managed to read 'Up All Night' by Carmen Reid this month.  I've read one of her books before, so was expecting this to be similar.   I enjoyed this book more than the previous one.  I did find myself a bit ambivalent towards the main character at several points whilst reading this book, but eventually I did warm to her and enjoyed the book better for it.

For November I'm going to try to read another 3 books.  I was going to start reading books with a Christmas theme, but have since decided that it's too early.  I'll save them for December instead.  These are the three books I'll be reading this month. As we're nearly halfway through this month and I'm late posting, I've already read the first of the three, namely, Part of the Spell by Rachel Heath.  I really enjoyed this book.  It is set in the town of Saffron Walden and centres around the life of several of it's residents.  Some who have lived there all their lives, and some incomers from London or other places.  One of the main plot lines concerns itself with the sudden disappearance of a woman(a mother and grandmother) and explores the ramifications of this for her family.  It's an intriguing read.  Very well written and enjoyable to read.  I believe it is the second by this author so I'll be looking out for her first novel which was nominated for an award and see if I like that too.

My current read is a return to another favourite author, India Knight as I am reading her book 'My Life on a Plate'.  I've now started this book and some of the characters are familiar from a previous book of hers I read last Christmas.  I've not got very far so far, but am enjoying it to date.

Finally, I'm hoping to read 'The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie' by Alan Bradley, which from the book cover sounds interesting.  I'll let you know if it is, to me anyway.

Joining in with Laura at A Circle of Pine Trees, in trying to read at least a book a month for a year.