November 2022 in Books

A pretty short reading list this month.  I got caught up in a couple slow books, including One Hundred Saturdays, and then I started The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy, but just could not finish it.  I slogged my way through about a hundred pages, but there didn't seem to be any progress towards the plot/premise in the book, it was just a lot of random dialogue with characters that came and went, so I finally gave up.  Overall it was a pretty good month though, here are the recaps:

The Ways We Hide - Kristina McMorris - historical fiction - five stars - The story of Fenna Vos, an escape artist/magician whose hero is Houdini.  Fenna is recruited by British intelligence to create escape aids for the military during WWII.  Things are going well until an old friend is in trouble.  Fenna springs into action to save him, but things are much more complicated than they seem.  I liked Fenna, and while I thought the plot itself required a fair amount of suspending my disbelief, I also enjoyed it.  A really good read.

One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World - Michael Frank - memoir - four stars - This one was closer to three and a half stars for me.  Stella Levi grew up on the island of Rhodes and was deported to Auschwitz in 1944.  Frank interviews Stella over a series of Saturdays, recording their conversations and her memories of her life.  It was interesting reading about the Jewish community in Rhodes, they were originally exiles from Spain.  It was a really interesting community/culture, and Stella spoke in depth about her growing up years.  The 'chapters' are little snippets of her life, and while she doesn't care to talk about her time in the camps in the beginning, she eventually gets there.  I found this really interesting, although somewhat plodding.  Frank interjects information about articles her read, different topics, etc.  Some of that is tedious, I think it would have been better to keep the focus on Stella, but still a very different and interesting view of WWII.

Mother Daughter Traitor Spy - Susan Ella MacNeal - historical fiction - four stars - This was kind of a fascinating book.  It takes place just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Veronica Grace and her mother unexpectedly relocate to Los Angeles after she graduates.  They are befriended by some nice people who offer her a job, only to discover that they are leaders in the American Nazi party.  Horrified, they report the group, and are recruited to spy against them.  I really have never read about the American Nazi movement, and was somewhat shocked and appalled by the depth and breadth of it.  This is one of those books that opened a door into a part of history that I really wasn't familiar with and has made me want to read more on the topic.

The Vanderbeekers on the Road (The Vanderbeekers, #6) - Karina Yan Glaser - juvenile fiction - four stars - This was my 'kid' book for the month.  I enjoy the Vanderbeekers, reading about their adventures always makes me smile.  This book picks up right where the last one left off, family is on the way to surprise and pick up Papa for the roadtrip that his father never got to take him on.  Things don't start out well as the van breaks down, but they eventually get there, and then the whole family sets off for California.  Along the way they make new friends, and have all sorts of new experiences.  Cute and fun.

Other Birds - Sarah Addison Allen - fiction - five stars - I liked this one a lot.  It centers around Zoey who is moving into her deceased mother's old apartment at the Dellawisp on Mallow Island, just off the coast of South Carolina.  She's about to start college, and has moved away from a home in which she doesn't feel particularly welcome (she's really not a part of her father's second family).  At the Dellawisp she quickly becomes acquainted with the neighbors and brings them together.  There's a science fictioney component to the story as each of the characters is haunted, or rather accompanied, but a ghost who has unfinished business.  I liked how the stories of those individuals played out as part of the backdrop of the living characters, and I really liked the characters in general.  Great read.

The Winners - Fredik Backman - fiction - five stars - I'm a huge Backman fan, and have loved Beartown and all it's inhabitants from the start.  This final installment of the Beartown saga brings many beloved characters full circle.  Benji, Maya, Ana, Amat, Bobo, and of course Peter and Kira are front and center.  Beartown is on the rise, and the uneasy truce between Beartown and Hed is broken after a huge storm in which the roof of the Hed rink collapses.  The competition between the two towns comes to a head as the Council talks of shutting Hed down and merging the teams, or shutting both teams down and creating a new one.  Against this backdrop Benji and Maya return to town to mourn a beloved Beartown member and reconnect with others.  As always, there is trauma and grief, there were parts of this book that were a gut punch, but also so so good to return to Beartown.  Loved.

My favorite this month as definitely The Winners.  I'm sad that the Beartown story has come to an end!  I'm currently reading Ancestry and The Frederick Sisters are Living the Dream which couldn't be more different.  I'm not too far into either of those, so withholding any judgement just yet.  Would love to know what you guys have been reading!