November reading Round-Up

Here it is, the end of November and less than a month til Christmas. We are now into the red zone with further limits to how many can gather (5). Scary times. My hubby is still in recovery mode, but at least he is able to walk a few steps without the walker now and is exercising every day.

Reading is a necessary stress-reliever and I still usually turn to fantasy or romance. In fact, I returned to a favourite series this month – The Others series by Anne Bishop (which is a definite comfort read, although I did not include it in my totals). Once again, there have been many excellent books this month to escape the stress.

It’s time to share what I have been reading this past month.
The total read for October was 34 books, with the following breakdown:
Fantasy /Paranormal – 2
Romance – 11
Women’s Fiction – 1                             

Historical romance – 2
Non-fiction – 3
Pix books – 15       

MG – 1

YA – 1                       

Thriller – 1

I continue to record in more detail where the books originated – from the library, on my TBR shelves (bought/gifted or won), an e-book, or a charity read (Bought from a charity store). Here’s the breakdown

Library reads –29                                   TBR/owned books –3
E-books – 6                                                            Charity reads – 0

Here are the books read for my favourite challenges:

Popsugar Ultimate Reading Challenge (Through Goodreads)
I read 1 book for this challenge, so I have 4 more books to complete this challenge.

#6- Q bildungsroman (coming of age) – The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

52 Books in 52 Weeks
I read 1 book for this challenge so have 5 books to go.

#16 – Borrowed from a friend – The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Beyond the Bookends
The theme this month was “Immigration”.

The Finnish Way by Katja Pantzer

 

Monthly Key Word Challenge
The key word I used this month was NOW:

Now a Major Motion Picture by Cory McCarthy

Monthly Motif
The theme this month was “Dynamic Duos” 

2 series had 2 of my favourite duos:

Elena and Raphael of the Guild Hunter series by Nalina Singh

(I read Archangel’s Prophecy and Archangel’s War)

Meg and Simon of The Others Series by Anne Bishop

 

Blogger’s Bookshelf
The theme was “Food on the cover”

Sugar Detox by Lance Levan

Diversify Your Reading

The theme was “autobiography”:

Dear Occupant by Chelene Knight

My Kitchen Year

I’m continuing my read and cooking through Ruth Reichl’s cookbook “My Kitchen Year”.

This month I made 2 recipes:

Turkey Stock – which I then used to make my own Turkey soup

Butternut Squash Soup – which was delicious and I will make it again

Novellas in November

This month was #NovinNov – we were encouraged to read novellas this month. I read 11, most of them sweet holiday stories:

Christmas Sisters by Tess Thompson

A Christmas Bride by Susan Mallery

It Started One Christmas by Susan Mallery

A Slow Dance Holiday by Carolyn Brown

Mistletoe Kisses by Anne Gracie

Miss Finch and the Angel by Jo Beverley

Holiday Haven by Vicki Lewis

The Christmas Fountain by Kait Nolan

Home for Christmas by Catherine Mann

A Puppy for Will by Kathie De Nosky

Sugar Detox by Lance Levan

Favourite Reads
Here are my top 10 reads (besides the first 4 books of The Others series by Anne Bishop

Archangel’s books by Nalini Singh (2 of them but will count as one: Prophecy, War))

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh  (My favourite)

Now a Major Motion Picture by Cory McCarthy

The Finnish Way by Katja Pantzer

The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jiminez

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart by Sarah MacLean

The Trouble With Christmas by Amy Andrews

500 Miles From You by Jenny Colgan

The Irish Cottage by Juliet Gauvin

The Silver Box by Margi Preus

Looking Ahead to December
I must finish up my reading challenges for sure.

I am linking with the following:

Monthly Wrap-up (At Feed Your Fiction Addiction)

 Best of the Bunch (at A Cocoon of Books)

Inspire Me Monday (at Create with Joy)

It’s Monday! What are You Reading?

It’s time once again for Kathryn’s weekly meme, “It’s Monday! What are You Reading?” at Book Date, where we share what we’re reading and have read over the past week.

 

 What I Read Last Week

I read 8 books, 5 were picture books. The other reads were 2 non-fiction books and 1 historical romance.

The past two weeks I have been also bingeing on The Others series by Anne Bishop and am reading the final, fifth book, Etched in Bone. As these are a reread I have not included them. They are emotional reads, comfort books, as this series always draws me in so much, I can temporarily forget the world around me.

 

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart by Sarah MacLean. I have read most of MacLean’s books and always enjoy them. This was no exception.

Dear Current Occupant by Chelene Knight. A Memoir in both prose and poetry, it was an intriguing read. It has also inspired my memoir writing.

The Finnish Way by Katja Pantzer. Thoroughly enjoyed this NF book, with a focus on highlighting how to live the sisu way.

 

 5 PBS

The 12 Sleighs of Christmas by Sherri Duskey Rinker , illus. Jake Parker

I Don’t Draw, I Color by Adam Lehrhaupt, illus. Felicita Sala

The Color Monster by Anna Llenas

The Last Christmas Tree by Stephen Krensky, illus. by Pascal Campion

Moomin and the Little Ghost by Tove Jonsson

 

What I’m Reading Now 

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

 

What’s Up Next

The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman

Wired for Story by Lisa Cron – this is for a writer’s book club; reading 2 chapters a week

The Deadly Hours by Susanna Kearsley -planning for November as part of Novella November

 

 

Connect 5 Friday and Non-Fiction November – Now on My TBR List

This week I am once again  joining both Nonfiction November and Connect Five Friday with 5 non-fiction books that have piqued my interest from other bloggers participating in NF November..

It’s Friday once again and that means it’s time for Connect Five Friday,  hosted at Book Date by Kathryn – the meme where we share five book/reading things that connect in some way.

Nonfiction November is an opportunity to share and celebrate nonfiction works. This is Week 4, hosted by Katie @DoingDewey. There were so many non-fiction books highlighted this month. on so many different blogs. It was a challenge to just choose five.

Here are 5 I hope to read and are now on my TBR list:

Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff. I had seen this book numerous times but the post at the Reading Ladies pushed me to add this book (as well as many others) onto my TBR. So many great books listed in their pairings post.

Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul by Taran N. Khan. This book intrigued me and was part of a number of other pairings I have added to my TBR on Book’d Out.

Paris Without End: The True Story of Hemingway’s First Wife by Gioia Diliberto. THis looks like a fascinating read, highlighted at JulzReads, along with other great pairings of books.

The next two books were both highlighted by Nicki at Secret Library Book blog. As she said ” This week I’m highlighting books that came along at just the right moment, they bought me clarity, hope, laughter and calm in an otherwise frazzled world.“

9 Secrets to Thriving by Emma J. Bell

Older and Wider: Menopausal musings from the midlife by Jenny Eclair

It’s Monday! What are You Reading?

It’s time once again for Kathryn’s weekly meme, “It’s Monday! What are You Reading?” at Book Date, where we share what we’re reading and have read over the past week.

What I Read Last Week

I read 10 books, 3 of these were romance novellas and 4 were picture books. The other reads were 2 contemporary romances. 1 mystery/thriller and 1 YA.

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh. This was quite a departure for Singh from her usual fantasies but what a powerful book. Both a thriller and a mystery, set in New Zealand. Loved it.

The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jiminez. Such an enjoyable romance. An unusual first meeting and a challenging relationship.

 

Now a Major Motion Picture by Cory McCarthy. I so enjoyed this YA novel that takes place in Ireland. If not for the first word of the title which I needed for a challenge, I probably wouldn’t have read it. So glad I did.

 

Christmas Baby for the Billionaire by Donna Alward. An enjoyable romance.

 

3 romance novella ebooks – all sweet reads

A Home for Christmas by Catherine Mann

A Puppy for Will by Kathy De Nosky

It Started one Christmas by Susan Mallery

 

4 PBS (ALL 5 * READS)

Alice and Gert by Helaine Becker, illus. Dena Seiferling

The Song for Everyone by Lucy Morris

Emmy Noether by Helaine Becker, illus. Kari Rust

Little Owl’s Bedtime by Debi Gliori,  illus by Alison Brown

 

What I’m Reading Now 

The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman (still trying to finish it – but get drawn to other books, especially when I pick up ones I’ve been waiting for a while from the library

 Kiss My Cupcake by Helena Hunting

 

What’s Up Next

Wired for Story by Lisa Cron – this is for a writer’s book club; reading 2 chapters a week

The Deadly Hours by Susanna Kearsley -planning for November as part of Novella November

 

Connect 5 Friday and NF Nov. – Teaching Books

             

This week I am joining both Nonfiction November and Connect Five Friday with 5 teaching/education books that informed and ultimately improved my teaching.

It’s Friday once again and that means it’s time for Connect Five Friday,  hosted at Book Date by Kathryn – the meme where we share five book/reading things that connect in some way.

Nonfiction November is an opportunity to share and celebrate nonfiction works. For Week 3, hosted by Rennie @ What’s Nonfiction, I am choosing to Play The Expert.

5 Books About Teaching

I taught for over 30 years, mostly from Kindergarten to grade 3. I always wanted to be a teacher and now that I am retired, I still miss it. I own all these books, read them and referred to them repeatedly.  

The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller. This book had the greatest impact on my teaching of reading. Although I did many of the activities Miller detailed in her book, there were many that I needed to enhance and practice. As the Library Journal described her work: “Her approach is simple yet provocative: affirm the reader in every student, allow students to choose their own books, carve out extra reading time, model authentic reading behaviors, discard timeworn reading assignments…, and develop a classroom filled with high-interest books.”

I saw the improvement in my Grade 3 students and the increase in their enjoyment of reading.

 

The Daily Five by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. This is a well-rounded literacy programme that I used extensively. “The Daily 5 is a structure for learning. It has 5 components that can be taught daily: 1) read to self, 2) read to someone, 3) listen to reading, 4) word work, and 5) writing.”

 

Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 by Rafe Esquith. I so loved the passion for teaching that Esquith has. It helped rekindle my passion as well.

 

     

Reading Essentials by Regie Routman. Another excellent resource – “The Specifics you need to teach reading well.” She also wrote Conversations, full of wonderful insights into teaching, learning and evaluating.

 

Guiding Readers and Writers by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. This was the first book I used of this group of 5 and it remained a necessary piece of my literacy classroom until I retired.

 

There are so many wonderful books that support teaching, especially in teaching reading and writing. These are just the tip of the iceberg.

 

It’s Monday! What are You Reading?

It’s time once again for Kathryn’s weekly meme, “It’s Monday! What are You Reading?” at Book Date, where we share what we’re reading and have read over the past week.

What I Read Last Week

I read 7 books, 4 of these were novellas – 4 romances. 1 women’s fiction and 2 historical romances.

 500 Miles from You by Jenny Colgan. I really enjoyed this epistolary novel, with dual POV, about nurses who exchange jobs and how they deal with the changes.

The Irish Cottage by Juliet Gauvin. I so enjoyed this romance that takes placer in Ireland (which I got as a free ebook, that I bought the other 2 of the trilogy. I don’t often do this, but sometimes I get so involved in the story and the characters, that I will buy the other books. (Great way to find new authors when you can get a free ebook.)

Honky Tonk Christmas by Carolyn Brown, this was a sweet romance, although a bit too much head bobbing.

4 novellas, all short and sweet and Christmassy:

A Slow Dance Holiday by Carolyn Brown  

The Christmas Fountain by Kait Nolan    

 

Miss Finch and the Angel by Jo Beverley Mistletoe Kisses by Anne Gracie (both part of an anthology)

What I’m Reading Now – (still working on finishing the Nalini Singh series)

The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman

The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jiminez

What’s Up Next

Wired for Story by Lisa Cron – this is for a writer’s book club; reading 2 chapters a week

The Deadly Hours by Susanna Kearsley -planning for November as part of Novella November

Connect Five Friday – Goodreads Romance Choice Awards

It’s Friday once again and that means it’s time for Connect Five Friday,  hosted at Book Date by Kathryn – the meme where we share five book/reading things that connect in some way.

Kathryn focused on the Goodreads 2020 choice awards and so I thought I would join her. I voted in the first two rounds and was amazed at just how few of the books in all categories I had actually read. I read the most from the Romance category – four. But there are several more I want and plan to read.

Here are 5 I plan to read first:

The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez. I am reading it right now and so enjoying this.

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren. I’ve seen some lacklustre reviews for this one, but I do enjoy the authors and I like the premise of the book.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert. I so enjoyed her previous book so have to read this one.

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory. Again, an author I enjoy, so must read this one.

Beach Read by Emily Henry. Good reviews have made me want to read this one.

What books do you plan to read from the Goodreads choice awards?

Nonfiction November: Week 2

It is Week 2 of Nonfiction November and is hosted at Julz of JulzReads.

This week we are to pair a fiction and nonfiction book:

“It can be a “If you loved this book, read this!” or just two titles that you think would go well together. Maybe it’s a historical novel and you’d like to get the real history by reading a nonfiction version of the story.”

I have chosen 4 fiction books I own and have read and have paired them with a nonfiction book I would like to read to gain more insight into the novels I read.

1. Fiction: Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Nonfiction: My Stroke of Insight by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

         

Both books deal with brain trauma ( the first with alzheimers, the second with stroke)and how each cope with the changes to their brain.

2. Fiction: The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

Nonfiction: 1715: The Great Jacobite Rebellion by Daniel Szechi

         

Kearsley’s book is a dual timeline novel, that takes us back to 1715 Wales, where Jacobite loyalty is considered treason. I’d love to learn more about the 1715 rebellion.

• 3. Fiction: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Cline

Nonfiction: Orphan Trains by Rebecca Langston-George.

       

The idea of orphaned children loaded onto trains and taken across the US to new homes in the Midwest is a disturbing one. Yet it happened for many years, often with tragic results. It happened in Nazi Germany as well and even with the children at the border in recent years.

4. Fiction: How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee

Nonfiction: The Comfort Women by C. Sarah Soh

       

The history of the comfort women is such a horrific one and it took too long for the truth, and compensation, to be given to the women who suffered such horror from Japanese soldiers.

It’s Monday! What are You Reading?

It’s time once again for Kathryn’s weekly meme, “It’s Monday, What are You Reading”, at Book Date, where we share what we’re reading and have read over the past week.

What I Read Last Week

I read 6 books plus 6 picture books this past week –2 contemporary romances, 1 woman’s fiction and 2 fantasies

2 fantasies by Nalini Singh

Archangel’s Prophecy           Archangel’s War  (so loving this fantasy series. Thought this was the last and now the next comes out this month!)

The Trouble with Christmas by Amy Andrews. Really enjoyed this second romance in her series.

2 novellas, both short and sweet:

     

Christmas Sisters by Tess Thompson A Christmas Bride by Susan Mallery

 

The Silver Box by Marji Preus A MG mystery, the third in the trilogy which I quite enjoyed (and reviewed here)

6 pbs – which had varying ratings – from 2 -5

Snowflakes Fall by Patricia MacLauchlan, illus by Steven Kellogg (5*)

Alphab”Art by Anne Guery and Oliver Dussutour (6*)

Bo the Bat by Alma Hammond . illus. Zuzana Svobodova (4*)

Amelia Earhart by Mary Nhin (4*)

Who Wants to Play with Little Mouse? By Jana Buchmann, illus Rachel Batislaong (3*)

All in the Same Boat by Wilkie J. Marin, illus. Tanja Russita (2*)

What I’m Reading Now – (still working on finishing the Nalini Singh series)

The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman

What’s Up Next

Wired for Story by Lisa Cron – this is for a writer’s book club; reading 2 chapters a week

The Deadly Hours by Susanna Kearsley -planning for November as part of Novella November

Six Degrees of Separation – From Still Life to Bellewether

This is the first Saturday of the month which means that it is time for Six Degrees of Separation, the book challenge, hosted by Kate at Kate from Books are My Favourite and Best

The starting point for us this round is to begin with a book we have previously finished a chain with. Since I have only been participating for a few months, I have fewer choices. I decided to return to my first entry, on July 4^th – Louise Penny’s Still Life. She is a favourite author, as well as being Canadian,  and this was the first book in her mystery series, starring Inspector Gamache.

 

1. This led to another novel with the same title – Still Life by Val McDermid. It too is a mystery, has an investigation involving art forgery and murder.

“In Still Life, McDermid returns to her propulsive series featuring DCI Karen Pirie, who finds herself investigating the shadowy world of forgery, where things are never what they seem.”

 

2. Art forgery led to In the Full Light of the Sun by Clare Clark, a novel, based on a true story involving forged Van Gogh’s.

“Based on a true story, this new novel follows the fortunes of three Berliners caught up in an art scandal—involving newly discovered van Goghs—that rocks Germany amidst the Nazis’ rise to power.”

 

3. The Forger’s Spell by Edward Dolnick, also involves a forgery, but is a non-fiction book – the true story of Vermeer, Nazis and a hoax.

“As riveting as a World War II thriller, The Forger’s Spell is the true story of Johannes Vermeer and the small-time Dutch painter who dared to impersonate him centuries later. The con man’s mark was Hermann Goering, one of the most reviled leaders of Nazi Germany and a fanatic collector of art.”

 

4. This focus on Vermeer, led me to Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, a novel that imagines the life of the young subject of Vermeer’s famous painting.

“With precisely 35 canvases to his credit, the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer represents one of the great enigmas of 17th-century art. The meager facts of his biography have been gleaned from a handful of legal documents. Yet Vermeer’s extraordinary paintings of domestic life, with their subtle play of light and texture, have come to define the Dutch golden age. His portrait of the anonymous Girl with a Pearl Earring has exerted a particular fascination for centuries—and it is this magnetic painting that lies at the heart of Tracy Chevalier’s second novel of the same title.”

 

5. This book led to The Virgin Blue, another historical novel by Tracy Chevalier, about two women who are linked through a common thread, 400 years apart.

 “Meet Ella Turner and Isabelle du Moulin—two women born centuries apart, yet bound by a fateful family legacy…. A peculiar dream of the color blue propels (Ella) on a quest to uncover her family’s French ancestry. As the novel unfolds—alternating between Ella’s story and that of Isabelle du Moulin four hundred years earlier—a common thread emerges that unexpectedly links the two women. Part detective story, part historical fiction, The Virgin Blue is a novel of passion and intrigue that compels readers to the very last page.”

 

6. The dual timeline led me to Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley, an intriguing novel – both historical fiction and detective story, again with two women who are connected through time.

“Some houses seem to want to hold their secrets.   
It’s 1759 and the world is at war, pulling the North American colonies of Britain and France into the conflict.
When captured French officers are brought to Long Island to be billeted in private homes on their parole of honour, it upends the lives of the Wilde family—deeply involved in the treasonous trade and already divided by war.
(Lydia Wilde, and French-Canadian lieutenant Jean-Philippe de Sabran)-
Their doomed romance becomes a local legend, told and re-told through the years until the present day, when conflict of a different kind brings Charley Van Hoek to Long Island to be the new curator of the Wilde House Museum.”

And so, from Still Life by Louise Penny, a mystery by a Canadian author, I have wound my way through 6 books to end with Bellewether, another mystery by a Canadian author.

 

Next month (December 5, 2020), we’ll begin with a book that is celebrating its 50th birthday this year – Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume.