Favorite Reads of October & November

Hello again! It’s been two months since my last post and even though I haven’t been updating this blog as much as usual, I’ve definitely missed reading everyone’s posts and adding endlessly more books to my TBR. I had quite a busy month of October with work and November went by in a flash, so finally here I am in December with some bookish updates. I hope you, dear reader, had a lovely couple of months.

I read several books in October and November, but there are only a few that I actually enjoyed enough to talk about. Dune, was one of them. After several years of saying to myself that I probably wouldn’t get around to reading it because I didn’t think I would like it, I was finally sucked in by the nagging feeling that I just had to read before watching the film. I am glad that I did because I enjoyed it immensely. Since it was quite a long book, I did start hitting a bit of a slump halfway through and switched to the audiobook, which helped me get through it relatively quickly.

I enjoyed the political intrigue and commentary on religion and environmentalism, along with the intricate world that was created. I still can’t stop thinking about it a month later. However, I completely understand why it is such a polarizing book. The movie did a great job explaining everything, so it isn’t completely necessary to read if you can’t bring yourself to even deal with such a hefty book (which is 100% understandable).

XOXO by Axie Oh was another favorite from October. It was super cute, a lot of fun, and just what I needed to get through a busy month. Books like XOXO are what I call ‘books like candy’. Easy reads that don’t require ton of energy, but are perfect for when I need something happy and sweet. The friendships, the music, the romance! Perfect. I need more books like this in my life (let me know if you have any recommendations)!

Gordo by Jaime Cortez is a short story collection about families living in a migrant workers camp in 1970s California. It was a bit all over the place with various perspectives, but I enjoyed how Cortez examined the characters, without shying away from their flaws. Although I did not identify with everything in this collection, reading stories written by a fellow Chicano made me feel at home in a very particular way. It also encouraged me to ask my mom questions about my own family and their time working on farms in California, which was a nice bonus.

I want to take this moment to address the one absolutely horrible novel that I read in October. To The Exorcist, I want to give a big WTF…because really…was ANY of that necessary? Was it? No. The answer is no and I don’t understand why this was ever given the moniker of “Most Terrifying Novel Every Written”. No. Absolutely not. I don’t think exorcism-related horror is for me.

Thanks so much to all those that have left comments that I have yet to answer as of writing this post and who have mentioned me in any tags etc while I’ve been gone! It is so very very appreciated. I set out to create this blog as a record for myself and ended up talking about a mutual love of books with so many wonderful people all over the world. So thanks, thanks, thanks if you are reading this!

♡ Alsooooo, thanks to Morgan at Morgan is Reading Again for being all around amazing. I love they’re blog and am looking forward to catching up on all the posts she has written that I’ve missed!

♡ Thanks to Cherelle at A Bolt out of the Book for always being so supportive and spreading the book blog love. Happy one year blogiversary!!

♡ Thank you Maria at The Character Study for the shout out, I truly enjoy your blog and seeing the many different books that you are reading and creative posts you write!

Thanks for coming back and reading! I am looking forward to getting new recommendation lists and TBRs up to the blog soon. For now, I’m reading Northanger Abbey and trying to get to my goal of 100 books read in 2021. Six more to go, I think I can do it…what are you reading or looking forward to reading before the new year?