November 2024 - Reading Recap

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nikolette and I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with family, friends, and delicious food! She loves eating turkey, and this year we learned how to bake pumpkin for homemade puree. Nikolette has a new favorite food — she devoured the freshly baked pumpkin and continues to enjoy puree in her dog food.

This Thanksgiving was one of the best we’ve had celebrating with my in-laws. (We’ve never experienced a bad Thanksgiving.) There was just something unidentifiablely different this year that made it special. The location was new and spacious, which gave the kids plenty of room to play and the adults space to converse. The food was delicious, and I ate way too much. I most enjoyed the time spent connecting with people I don’t see very often. I was thrilled to have made a bookish connection with a woman I haven’t seen in years!

Kentucky Book Festival

Every fall, I can’t wait for the Kentucky Book Festival! It’s organized by Kentucky Humanities and hosted by the awesome independent bookstore, Joseph-Beth Booksellers. The bookstore was buzzing with readers when I arrived. There were authors from all sorts of genres and a nice event tent outside for children’s authors. This year, food trucks were available for additional food options. It was nice to see readers interacting with authors and browsing the regular bookstore.

Despite the many authors and programs, I only had an interest in meeting two: Jessica Strawser and Ann Gabhart. I’ve been a fan of Jessica’s books for years and even met her at a book festival before. Ann Gabhart is a local author who weaves enchanting tales. Her books are set in the beautiful landscapes of Kentucky and explore various genres, including historical fiction, mystery, and Christian fiction. While browsing the bookstore, I found a signed copy of Paula Hawkins’ latest thriller, The Blue Hour. She’s one of my favorite authors, so I’m super excited to read this one!

The Back Room - Twisty Suspense

This was The Back Room event I have been looking forward to! Jessica Strawser, the author of the new book Catch You Later, caught my attention when she posted on social media about being a participating author. For anyone unfamiliar, The Back Room: Cocktails and Conversations with Your Favorite Authors, is hosted by Hank Phillippi Ryan and Karen Dionne, and it’s a fun event where four authors chat about their books. This week’s authors were Tracy Clark, J.T. Ellison, Jessica Strawser, and Stephanie Wrobel.

Nikolette’s Birthday!

Nikolette celebrated her birthday in style! She indulged in all her favorite treats and snuggled up with me while I read books. It was the perfect birthday celebration!

Constant Reader Book Club

We experienced our first snowfall of the season in the Lexington area on the same day as the Constant Reader book club meeting. The light, wet snow made for a magical backdrop to discuss Stephen King’s Night Shift. This month, we had an amazing group of 15 King fans join us. The conversations were hilarious, insightful, and stimulating. I had a blast hanging out with everyone, and I really appreciate the structure provided by the hosts. Like last time, we ended up talking about all things King until the library announced its closing. I’m super excited for next month’s selection - The Shining! It’s my favorite King novel, and I am thrilled to read it again!

November’s Book Purchases

I’ve decided to add a little something to my monthly reading recap blog - a section where I share the books I buy each month. Even though I have an insane TBR list, I somehow manage to buy more books than I can finish in a month. So, here are the books I recently got my hands on and can’t wait to dive into!

I bought a stack of books at the Kentucky Book Festival, so I will refer you to that blog post here. I get a free ebook for my Kindle every month as part of my Amazon Prime membership. This month, I selected The Silent Watcher by Victor Methos. There was a bonus free short story called The Answer is No by Fredrik Backman. I’ve been intrigued by the Wright Brothers after our Outer Banks, North Carolina, and Dayton, Ohio, trips. David McCullough’s book, The Wright Brothers, caught my eye in an email, so I bought a copy. Audible teamed up with Goodreads for an amazing BOGO sale. I picked up two audiobooks: The Art Thief by Michael Finkle and All About Love by bell hooks. This is my first time reading bell hooks, and I think this book is exactly what we need right now.

Books I’m thankful for in November..

In November, I read eight books in total: six audiobooks, one e-book, and one physical book. I finally read my first historical fiction novel by Madeline Martin. It was an incredible literary adventure set during the tough times of WWII in London. Next, I read a few suspenseful thrillers by Riley Sager, Darcy Coates, Stephen King, and Freida McFadden. Night Shift was an awesome re-read for the Constant Reader book club. I couldn’t get enough of the second installment in The Housemaid series! I also spent some time with Nikolette’s namesake by reading Nikola Tesla’s autobiography. Rebecca Makkai’s The Great Believers was a heart-wrenching yet hopeful literary work of art. And to wrap up the month, I indulged in a holiday-themed murder mystery with The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson.

I’m still enjoying the Sherlock Holmes collection on Audible. I’m currently reading The Five Orange Pips from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. These stories are so much fun to read! I hope you enjoy the books I included in this month’s reading recap blog post. Have a great month of reading! 

Reaching for my next book,
-Natalie 📚