November Wrap Up

Hi guys, I hope you are all well. It’s the end of another month which means it’s time for another monthly wrap up of all the books I’ve read. I thought I hadn’t read much this month but I actually still read 5 books. I’m pretty pleased with that, considering I wasn’t reading a whole lot in November. I’m excited we are now almost in December and I can start getting ready for Christmas. It’s my favourite time of the year but I don’t start getting excited until it’s December. What about you guys? I’d love to know whether you start early or don’t start getting ready/excited until December. Anyway, let’s get started with my wrap up.

 

The Silence of the Girls / Pat Barker / ★★★.5

This book is inspired by Homer’s The Illiad, but from the perspective of the women, in particular a young woman called Briseis. The first thing I want to mention is that this book is brutal – it does not pull any punches, so trigger warnings for rape, slavery and violence. Barker has done a fantastic job at portraying this gritty and dark world these women have to survive in. As I mentioned, this book is quite brutal at times, so it’s not an easy read in that sense. I liked the writing style and although quite slow at times the pacing worked well with the story. Overall I thought this book was great and I would highly recommend checking it out, especially if you are interested in Greek mythology.

 

Skyward / Brandon Sanderson / ★★★.5

*I received a digital copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

This is the first book in a YA science fiction trilogy. I’ve enjoyed a lot of Sanderson’s other books so I was interested to check out this new release. For the most part I really enjoyed this book, but I did have a few issues with the characters. I found Spensa, the main character, to be a pretty frustrating character. I get that she’s young but she is just so immature, aggressive, very quick to anger and doesn’t really seem to think things through. She did get a better towards the end of the book though. Other than that, I thought a few of the secondary characters were a little underdeveloped. I loved the setting of the flight school and I thought the battle scenes were well done. Overall I enjoyed this book but I’m currently undecided whether I’ll continue on with this trilogy. I will have a full review up soon.

 

The Consuming Fire / John Scalzi / ★★★.5

This is the second book in the Interdependency series. I thought this was a great instalment, although it did take me a couple of chapters to get back into the flow of the story. I think I probably should have reread the first book before reading this one, but I didn’t. Like book 1, this sequel was super enjoyable to read with well written characters and an interesting world. If you enjoy Scalzi’s books, then you will like this one too. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next book in this series. 

 

Tombland / C. J. Sansom / ★★★★★

This is the seventh book in the Shardlake series. I will have a full review of this book next week, so I’m going to keep this short. I thought this was a fantastic instalment to this series and it was great to be back with these characters. If you enjoy historical fiction mixed with mysteries then you should definitely check these books out.

 

 

I am currently reading The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden, which is the third book in the Winternight trilogy. I loved the first two books so I have high hopes for this conclusion. After finishing that, I would love to start The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Other books I’d like to get to include The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Monstress: Vol 2 by Marjorie M. Liu, Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault and Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames. 

 

That’s it for today. Have you guys read any of these books? I’d love to know what you thought. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

 

Pippa