What I read in November 2024
November seemed really long to me. There were more (excellent) Colchester Fringe shows at the beginning of the month, then the awfulness that was waking up on the 6th, and then an uncommon number of other engagements of varying interest that kept me from reading as much as usual.
I read ten books, and wrote a short story that people seem to like, but I think I’ve missed the window for submitting anywhere this year, as it’s Christmas-themed.
The Gracekeepers, by Kirsty Logan - 4*
The Party, by Tessa Hadley - 4.5*
Pretty Marys All in a Row, by Gwendolyn Kiste - 4*
Falling, by Elizabeth Jane Howard - great book, but gods, I hate that cover more every time I see it. Those are so not the characters! 4.5*
Accidents in the Home, by Tessa Hadley - this is well-written, and I can see why it was popular when it first came out, but it’s not aged well. As a millennial I got frustrated with, and couldn’t relate to the characters, who have it better than they’ll ever know, yet blithely burn down their lives just because they’re a bit bored. 3*
Intervention, by Harrison Murphy - 3.5*
Hunting by the River, by Daniel Carpenter - 4*
The Rings of Saturn, by W. G. Sebald - read ahead of a trip to Orford Ness that then got postponed due to inclement weather conditions. 4*
Death Deserved, by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger, translated by Anne Bruce - 4*
When the Body Says No, by Gabor Maté - very interesting, but outdated, and made me feel kind of hopeless. 3*
Looking ahead…
I know I said I’d read Homecoming, by Kate Morton, a few months ago, but I really am going to do it this time. I’ve added it to my ‘currently reading’ shelf on Goodreads and everything.
Every Light in the House Burnin’, by Andrea Levy, In the Dream House, by Carmen Maria Machado, and Frenchman’s Creek, by Daphne du Maurier, are the last unread spoils from my London bookshop blowout in September. I’m looking forward to reading them because they look brilliant, but also because that way, I can free up a bit of space for my post-Christmas sales haul…