November Wrap Up

Well, the beginning of December means it is the end of Nano for another year, it is almost the end of the academic year (southern hemisphere, folks), that the holidays are going to arrive soon, and that I will have time to READ! But since this is the November wrap up, and not a December prediction post, let me get on with the wrapping.

First off. Nano! I wrote 81,012 words. Not my usual number, but I think the days of writing over 100k are gone - at least while I am a teacher.

I was really happy to reach the 50k mark on the 15th, as it gave me the chance to balance work and nano a bit better.

My other major accomplishment for November is that I finished my Goodreads reading challenge. I put 100 books down as my goal, and I finished that on the 29th. I am going to see how many I can read in December. Ten would be nice, but, if I don't read that many, I am still going to be very happy with my total for the year.

Now onto the books I read.

Actually,  should put this one down as my next major accomplishment for the month - Stephen King's The Stand, coming in at a ginormous 1440 pages. While this wasn't a bad read, I must admit that the most impressive thing about it is the page count. I think this book would have been better for being shorter - and I am not saying that because I am a lazy reader. I think too much was happening, and that the 'how are we going to make it' part was extended beyond what was necessary. Still, it was interesting. But 1440 pages takes a heck of a commitment, and I am not sure if all of them were worth it. This was a 3 star read.

Next up was Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a JK Rowling, just in case you have missed everyone talking about that). This one was only a 3 star book in my opinion. I did not think the ending was clever and, although I enjoyed learning more about these characters, I can't say that, with the exception with one thing, that the backstory the reader learnt actually added any value to these characters. While it pains me to say this, I am finding the characters annoying because they are not showing any development.

Following on with my ever-so-slightly disappointing reading month, my next 3 star book was Reality Boy by AS King. While I thought it was written well, I just didn't enjoy this. I found the romance far too serious for their age, I found Gerard a weak and volatile character and felt that his flaws were blamed on other circumstances, and that he was not being held responsible for his own actions. I did enjoy the look at reality TV stars though, as it was something I had been thinking about for some time.

My first awesome book for the month was Sister by Rosamund Lupton. I really enjoyed this crime thriller. It was extremely well written, and I felt the explorations into grief more convincing and believable than the usual tough guy approach in these situations. I thought the multiple timeline worked really well in this. Yip! This one is a book I would recommend.

I have very mixed feelings about the next book I read. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan was brutal and cruel and didn't pull any punches. If you like war stories and you like literary fiction, then maybe this one is for you. I learnt a lot from this book, and I appreciated the language - that is, if you can say that you appreciate reading something that makes you sick to your toes. Perhaps I should say I appreciated the power in the language and acknowledged that it definitely evoked a response in me. Oh. I didn't enjoy the romance. I thought it was really over done. Clearly I must be weird for thinking, "Get over it, Dude!" I gave this 3 stars, although... it is written well.

The last book for the month was also a hit with me. Claire Fuller's Our Endless Numbered Days ended what was mostly a mediocre month with a bang. Although the pacing of this book is not comparable to many of the more popular trends at the moment, the subtle questions (and the rather blunt ones) had me turning pages to see what had happened. I had my suspicions. Sometimes I don't like being proved right. I have always enjoyed books that centre around survival too, so this one had that going in its favour as well.

Well, here is to hoping that December has more 4 or 5 star books. Although there was no book that I did not enjoy (with the exception, perhaps, of Reality Boy), very little blew me away. Maybe that was a good thing. The last thing one wants to read while writing at Nano speed (by default, that means it is not written well, it is just being written) is a masterpiece. (Actually, The Stand is probably a good model for how to approach Nano. Write everything, go on winding detours, bring in new characters just because... Ok, That sounded mean. It is not my intention. Just an observation.)