November was a good month of reading for me -- largely thanks to some down time over Thanksgiving when I tore through some of the books lingering on my "to read" pile.



I also made a strong push to knock out some of the remaining categories in Book Riot's Read Harder challenge so that I could finish the challenge before the new year. I made some good progress there, and like any good reading challenge, some of the prompts definitely pushed me outside my normal reading comfort zone this month. I'll do a full blog post on the challenge later this month once I finish the last couple of books.

I'll also have my annual favorite books of the year post coming up later this month. I've been reading a ton of best of 2018 book lists (from places like the NY Times and NPR) and I'm glad to see a lot of the books I loved this year other people loved too.

Anyway, I'm getting too far ahead of myself. Here's a look at the books I read in November.

The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood
As a lover of books, I enjoyed that this book centered around a woman in a book club and her family. I loved how the author wove parts of the plots of the book club's selected books in to the larger overall plot of this specific story. It was creative and smart.

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole
I don't really read romance novels ever, but this satisfied one of the categories in my reading challenge, and I found myself enjoying the book more than I expected. The steamy stuff was kept to a minimum and the main character was kind of a badass STEM researcher.

Charlotte Walsh Likes To Win by Jo Piazza
I tore through this book, and found that the storyline was gripping and at the same time a very depressing commentary on the state of politics and women in politics today. I also equally loved and hated the ending. I don't want to spoil it here, but I need to discuss this with others!

Tall Tail by Rita Mae Brown
I read this as part of Book Riot's Read Harder challenge, and while I overall enjoyed the book, I thought it was a little slow to get moving. For a murder mystery, I was expecting something a little more face-paced. I did enjoy the story lines featuring present day characters and those from the 1800s and how history impacted the present.

Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
I always tear through Elin Hilderbrand's books. They are some of my favorite reads, and this one didn't disappoint. It's the first of her books set outside of Nantucket, and it was fun to dive into characters lives on the island of St. John. I believe this book is the first in a trilogy, and I'm already looking forward to book 2.

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
part of my reading challenge, I was dreading it and put it off for a long time. I stumbled upon this option, and I'm glad I did because the story was compelling and interesting enough that I didn't hate that I was reading about cowboys and outlaws and the Wild West. It featured a young girl out to get revenge for her father's murder. It was kind of cool to read a Western featuring a female lead.