My November Reading

All this year, I've bemoaned the lack of time in my reading schedule to include nonfiction. So this month, I decided to choose a small stack of them and read a little bit through each book every night. And I've been making leisurely progress through the books and enjoying my time with them immensely.

The brief romance reviews are first, followed by the nonfiction and poetry. Alas, there were no noteworthy children's picture books this month.

Stranger Within the Gates by Mira Stables
The Counterfeit Betrothal by April Kihlstrom
Category: Traditional Regency Romances
Comments: The Stranger was interesting in that it was a much slower-paced romance than I'm used to with parts of the story devoted to relationships of the protagonists with other people. However, despite the characters not being together in those moments, their thoughts about each other allow their awareness of the other to simmer. I liked how close they become as friends before attraction overwhelms them. It's stories like these where they "like" each other first and temper each other's excesses and assumptions that convince me of the solidity of their HEA.

The Betrothal was a delight from beginning to the end and laugh-out-loud funny in parts. It's a Heyer-esque complex plot where the main characters and supporting cast are earnestly involved in hoodwinking the other characters and bending over backwards to support each other but creating more complications with their underlying assumption that makes for a pretzel-like hilarious plot. My reviews are here.

An Affair of the Heart by Joan Smith
Category: Traditional Regency Romance
Comments: The Marquis of Claymore has been rejected by the Diamond of the First Water and with rumors circulating of his ignominy, he hies off to the country to marry the younger of the Wanderley twins. Turns out, the younger one is promised elsewhere, so he turns to the older one. Pragmatic and a tiny bit flattered, she accepts him. A few days in each other's company, and both are convinced they love the other, but do not want to admit it. At one point, I put the book down as a DNF, but curiosity made me pick it up to the finish line. I was annoyed not by the heroine's insecurity but by her impetuous actions stemming from this. The long-suffering hero's patience through it all made me think well of him, but his denseness in recognizing the cause of her insecurity was tiresome. In general, a frank conversation before sealing their marriage of convenience would've gone a long way to shortening their agony, but then that would've made for a very short story.

A Scandalous Winter Evening by Marguerite Kaye
Category: Regency Romance
Comments: This was an 'A' read for me as has been the entire Matches in Scandal series. This is the last book and reveals the mysterious figure who is the driving force behind all the other books in the series. The protagonists had met more than six years ago and had shared a passionate night before departing. Little did they know their paths would cross again. When they meet, they are just as fascinated with each other, almost against their will. They are both harboring secrets that they're at pains to keep from the other, but developing emotional ties in relationships have a way of sundering restrictions keeping them apart. What is more natural than to trust the other person a little at a time? Kaye's strength as a writer: setting up a plot and characters shrouded in mystery, and then revealing them with increasing complexity as the story moves on. This sounds like a case of "water is wet," but not every author does this as successfully as Kaye. My review is here.

Cadenza by Stella Riley
Category: Georgian Romance
Comments: It's a two-relationship book but one thread of the story didn't work for me, because the heroine is so impulsive and entitled and self-absorbed, I felt sorry for her hero. However, the other thread of the story is wonderful, and the heroine is wonderful—caring, compassionate, mature—I would've liked her for both the sensitive heroes who're vulnerable and feel that society cannot accept them the way they are. The heroes' story arc is how they gain confidence in taking their rightful place in the ton. The writing is very good and the period details (aside from certain eye-roll things) are good. The first heroine, however, sank the book for me. I'm in the minority though. Read the comments below my review to view others' comments. My review is here.

My One and Only Duke by Grace Burrowes
The Other Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
Category: Regency Romances
Comments: The Quinn story is in its signature Bridgertons style: witty, light-hearted, tender, and romantic. Their relationship develops through forced proximity aboard a ship through neither of their faults. But despite this, they do not live for the week in simmering resentment. They're mature and decide that constant angst is not going to get them to their destination faster but only make it unpleasant. So they set the negative feelings aside and realize how much they have in common with each other. The story has a tightly-knit plot and the developing relationship is well done.

The Burrowes story was fabulous. It made me cry and cheer and read the story with bated breath. Excellently plotted with characters that are multi-layered and real. That latter was the selling point of the book. Their marriage of convenience begins at the very bottom of the relationship and through a commitment to marriage no matter the hurdles life throws at them, they show how rewarding loyalty and trust are in bettering their current circumstances. My reviews are here.

Becoming by Michelle Obama
Category: Memoir
Comments: I have adored Michelle Obama since she came on my radar during Barack Obama's presidential campaign. As her memoir shows, she's a remarkable woman: driven, humble, brilliant, and compassionate. Coming from an under-privileged background, her successes are a testament to her hard work and singular focus. She's a role model for our teens and young women.

West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House edited by Gautam Raghavan
Category: Narrative Nonfiction
Comments: A book about real stories of events inside Obama's White House told by his staffers? Sign me up. What a great book! And I'm thoroughly indulging my nosy self in knowing what really went on behind doors.

You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
Category: Spiritual Nonfiction
Comments: This is an easy-to-read book that nevertheless delivers a series of messages that I am in the right frame of mind to receive. I continued reading this from last month.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, foreword Harold S. Kushner, afterword William J. Winslade
Category: Spiritual Nonfiction
Comments: This is another book whose message in my life is timely. While on the surface, I seem to have received its teachings, I believe I will be served best by delving further into it. Frankl's experiences in the Nazi death camps led him to developing his theory that the essential drive for life is finding meaning in doing something. There were parts of the book where he failed to convince me, but I kept going back to the first part about his horrific experiences that led him to his conclusions. I need to read this dense book a few times.

Medieval Illumination: Medieval Art in England and France 700-1200 by Kathleen Doyle and Charlotte Denoël
Category: Illustrated Nonfiction
Comments: One of the best things about Twitter are all the medieval historians I follow. Every day, they tweet some funny tidbit or a snippet of an illuminated manuscript. I am utterly fascinated by the talent, expertise, and exactitude of the scribes' renditions. In front of those beautiful uniform lettering, my handwriting looks like chicken scratch. This book by the British Library has one illustration on a facing page and a description on the other page. It is a fascinating look at some of the English and French manuscripts.

The World Will Follow Joy: Turning Madness into Flowers by Alice Walker
Category: Poetry
Comments: I continued on my journey through this book from last month.