How is it already mid-November? It seems like time speeds up in the last quarter of the year with all the sports, events, and holidays that the ‘-ber’ months hold.
On the plus side, I’ve managed to get quite a bit of good reading in despite all the busyness. This is most likely owing to the fact that I try not to go outside more than necessary once the weather turns cold. In warmer months, I love to be outside hiking, gardening, etc. But I generally freeze both indoors and outside from about October through March, so curling up under a blanket with a book is a great way to pass the time until spring.
Keep scrolling to see what I’ve been reading!
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Just Finished:
This historical romance was a delight from start to finish with a spunky heroine, a swoony hero, and a unique plotline. Evelyn Maltravers arrives in London for her one shot a season and seeks out a habit-maker who will help her show herself to best effect while she rides, the only time she feels completely confident and worthy. Ahmad Malik is shocked by his near-instant attraction to the pretty bluestocking, though he does his best to fight it, since his heritage as half Indian/half English is not looked on kindly by polite English society. But events transpire, and when his feelings are returned, the couple must figure out if a life together is even possible. There is also a subplotline featuring the fashionable spiritualist trend at the time, and all the historical detail made the story feel very real and immersive.
If you’ve never read Hatchet, then first of all, please go pick up this classic survival novel and thank me later. If you have read Hatchet, you should definitely pick up Brian’s Winter next. Three of four family members read it over the course of a couple weeks, and we agreed that the author should have published the two as one story because it feels much more complete. The idea is that Brian’s Winter picks up where Hatchet left off, if Brian hadn’t been rescued at the end (sorry for the spoiler!) but instead had to stay and navigate winter in the Canadian wilderness. Loved it! In fact, I loved it so much that I got on the interstate going toward the wrong city because I was so engrossed in discussing it with my ten-year-old.
In Progress:
I’m not sure what I think about this book yet since I’m only 6% in, but I will say it pulls you in. Inspired by Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, this story is fictional but written like a memoir of a boy growing up in southern Appalachia. Having lived in East Tennessee my whole life, a lot of what’s happening in the early parts of the story feel painfully accurate. It reminds me a lot of Hillbilly Elegy, except that it’s not a person’s true story. It has a strong voice and is filled with hard things, but with a few poignant scenes that bring balance to the narrative and give you a sense of hope. I can see why this book has gotten so much attention—it is a compelling, if difficult, read.
This romantic comedy is the last in the Only Magic in the Building collection and follows Beckett, a housesitter from Ireland and his pretty new neighbor Keeley, as they both try to figure out what they want out of life. Not to spoil anything, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to end up wanting each other. And of course, the apartment building wields it’s special kind of magic to nudge them together whenever it can.
Up Next:
Another book with a setting close by me, this is a historical novel that about two women who worked at a Manhattan Project site in 1944 and 1979. It looks to be a dual-timeline mystery about a missing woman who was connected with the highly secretive project and about how the past impacts the present. I can’t wait to read it!
Courtney Walsh is an auto-read author for me. Her romantic comedies are the perfect balance of sweet, swoony, sassy, and funny! This one is a clean Christmas hockey romance about Raya, who really needs a break from being a workaholic, and Finn, the hockey player who is determined to make her doctor-prescribed month off from work the most fun it could possibly be. I’ve been looking forward to this book for almost two years ever since I finished My Phony Valentine and My Lucky Charm about Raya’s sisters.
As always, you can find more great reading recommendations in Modern Mrs. Darcy’s monthly quick lit post—including the comments section, where tons of other readers chime in!