What I Read in November 2024
Happy December fellow readers!
I thought I would pop in today and share with you some books I read in November, whether that helps you decide whether to put some books on your TBR or not, or if you've also read these books and we can chat about them!
The first book I finished in November was Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman. This story is told from 8 year old Bella's perspective, and from the very beginning of the story we, the reader, knows that there is a malevolent entity that comes from her closet that she calls "other mommy," and this entity asks her every day "can I go into your heart?" I got this in print form from Book of the Month, and had been seeing this on Instagram indicating this was one of the scariest and creepiest book that many have read. I'm sad to say, I disagree!
Now, I do think it was an interesting premise, and the structure in which Malerman wrote this was interesting. I did think parts of it were creepy, and I think a lot of it was due to not really knowing what this entity was or what was really going to happen, if Bella ever did let her "into her heart." However, I think it fell short, and by the end I was just underwhelmed, and was not really invested in the characters.
On the bright side, Josh Malerman wrote the book Birdbox, which was made into a Netflix movie starring Sandra Bullock. I never did watch the movie, but I did read Birdbox and really loved that and do recommend that - so if you haven't read anything yet by Josh Malerman, definitely pick up Birdbox rather than Incidents Around the House.
Next, I listened to From Potter’s Field by Patricia Cornwell. This is the sixth book in the Kay Scarpetta series, and this is an ongoing series that Cornwell continues to write. Dr. Kay Scarpetta is a medical examiner in the Washington DC area, and often helps the police and FBI solve mysterious murders. These stories are starting to build on each other, and while I think at this point you could still read them out of order, I would recommend doing it in order to get the full character development, and story details. If you like the television show Bones, which are based on books by Kathy Reichs, I think you might also like these books. There is also word that the Kay Scarpetta series is being made into an Amazon Prime series!
Last but not least in the month of November, I finished The Stand by Stephen King, and this was my favorite read of the month. I am so glad I finally read this - and I really wish I would have read this before 2020, and then be able to reread it now, just to see how different my response to this book would have been. However, that’s not the case, and I only have my experience of reading this book about a deadly virus after our own experience with a global pandemic. I think I expected this to be scarier, more horror, but I don’t know that I would classify this as a horror novel. It is a classic story of good versus evil, and the ways humanity can surprise you (both for good and for bad), and the choices we make, and who we choose to follow and listen to and what we choose to believe. While this was not horror, per se, it did have some supernatural elements, which were interesting. Again this was my favorite read of the month!
What did you read this month? Let me know in the comments or by connecting with me on Instagram or over in our Facebook group.
Until next time, fellow book dragons, keep those pages turning.
