This was a month of escapist reading for me – either into fantasy, romances, or other people’s lives (memoirs). Truthfully, none of the books I read this month were absolute standouts for me! I enjoyed them, and they were solid, but none were five star loves. I did start to get into the holiday spirit with Make the Season Bright, though, and really enjoyed that. Here’s everything I read in November.

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

This is a friend’s favorite book, so I read it on her recommendation. I didn’t know much about Glennon (or her wife Abby) before starting this, so I felt like I was missing a little bit of context, but I was still able to follow and enjoy it. Some parts of this were a little bit too “woo” for me, but overall, I did enjoy the message. Untamed is really all about finding yourself – being able to let go of expectations, whether they’re ones placed on you by others or by yourself, and learning to trust your own intuition to really, truly embrace and be yourself. There are some really good pieces of wisdom in here, and I can see it being especially powerful if you’re someone struggling with an internal crisis.

Love in Bloom by Lucy Eden

(I got this as an ARC from Libro.fm, but it’s out now.) This is a cute romance, but isn’t something that will stick with me, and I feel like the plot got a little bit muddy in the middle. Emma lives in Atlanta, and in the same day she finds out she’s lost her job, been dumped by her boyfriend, and inherited a small-town farm from her grandparents. She decides to take her recent major life changes as a sign, and escape to her new farm for a bit – but she quickly learns she doesn’t really know the first thing about farming, all of the locals seem to dislike her, there’s a distractingly charming farm manager who doubts her presence, and she can’t figure out how the farm actually makes money! But once she learns the farm’s secret, she has to fight hard to keep it – and the town – protected.

All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley

This is kind of part memoir, part art history book – I listened to it on audio, but I think I might’ve enjoyed this one more if I had read it. Patrick Bringley worked at The New Yorker, but after his brother was diagnosed with a fatal cancer, he decided he needed to find an escape from his daily life, and started working as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Throughout the book, Patrick explains not only about what it’s like to work as a guard, and the intricacies of life at the museum, but also talks about each of the pieces of art he worked to keep safe.

Ice Planet Barbarians 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 by Ruby Dixon

I definitely read these books as escapism, but they ended up being more heartwarming than I expected! This is an alien romance series, so go into these knowing what you’re in for – there is smut! But they’re also really feminist, which I loved. A group of humans find themselves abducted and then abandoned on an alien planet, where they are found by the native race, the sa-khui, and must learn their ways to survive. Each book in the series is somewhat predictable, in that they follow one of the humans and one of the sa-khui who you know will end up together, but you’ll be surprised at how sweet they are. And one of the latter books even has disability representation with a cochlear implant user. I ended up liking these even more than I thought I would.

Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz

I loved watching One Tree Hill, so I was looking forward to this memoir a lot, but it was a little bit of a letdown. The memoir follows Bethany Joy Lenz’s life, starting as a young child who spent a lot of time alone until she found her place in a small Bible study group in Hollywood. That group started to morph, though – becoming a church of their own called The Big House Family and buying a tract of land to live together in a compound. She got more and more involved in the church (cult!), even marrying one of the minister’s sons, until she found she was running her professional decisions by then and largely funding their (failing businesses). She does eventually extricate herself, but not after many losses. Reading this, it felt like Lenz still had some introspection to do – it almost felt like she was still apologizing or making excuses to protect the cult. But this makes sense for someone who was so deeply involved for so long.

Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake

I enjoyed this holiday romcom, and it did help me get into the Christmas mood! Charlotte is living out her dreams in New York, where she runs an all-queer strings quartet. One of the quartet members convinces the group to go her family’s home for the holidays, where it’ll be a snowy winter wonderland and they can spend a lot of time practicing together. Charlotte mostly sticks to herself, but begrudgingly agrees. When she arrives, though, she finds out that the quartet member’s sister has also brought a friend home, and it’s none other than Brighton, Charlotte’s ex who left her at the altar five years ago. Brighton has recently been ousted from her band in Nashville, and is figuring out what to do with her life now. The two are living out Hallmark holiday movie activities together, though Charlotte is trying hard to stay away – but will she be able to? This was pretty predictable, but in the best, most comforting way. It’s exactly what I want in a holiday book.

Hardly Strangers by A. C. Robinson

This is the second novella from 831 Stories – a new imprint focusing on modern, smart romances. It wasn’t my favorite from them, but I can appreciate the concept in general, and I am excited to see what they publish next. Shera is out at a bar for a long-awaited date, but runs into Max King, lead singer of a famous band, and finds herself being swept away back to his apartment for the night. The two get close quickly – physically and emotionally! – and end up sharing kisses and secrets all night long. But is Shera willing to let him in fully once the morning light hits, or is this strictly a one-night fling? I just didn’t find that I really connected with the characters, and was never fully pulled in to their story.

The Love of Your Afterlife by Kristy Greenwood

The concept of this one was intriguing! The book opens with Delphie dying after choking (legitimately a fear of mine!) and waking up in an afterlife waiting room only to find herself face to face with one of her soulmates, who quickly disappears because he wasn’t actually dead, just sedated during dental surgery. But her afterlife counselor offers her a deal – she can return to earth and stay alive if she finds and kisses this mystery man within a week. She quickly agrees, but keeps finding her progress thwarted when she spends more and more time with her grumpy neighbor. Unfortunately, I found Delphie too quirky, to the point of being annoying, and the ending wasn’t quite worth the journey for it.

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