M. Suzanne Terry

There’s no way the whole list would fit in one picture. This is one of several stacks. I’m not sad about it.

This November feels weird. There are a lot of changes afoot in my life – some potential, some already in motion. So that’s a big part of it. But it feels like the year should be over already. And also that it just started. I feel like I’m in a weird loop. Time is a construct.

I’m also in the unique position of actually having already completed most of my resolutions for the year. My brain is ready to move on, but there are still two months to go and other resolutions to, well, resolve.

To that end, the November TBR is mostly a continuation of the October theme – a list of books to finish out my reading challenges. I recognize that it’s a bit unhinged in length. However, I have finished a few on the list already (on account-a already having met with two book clubs and also some of these were started as part of the TBR for previous months and I’m just now finishing them up). And my car book is not on this list at all because I’ve been waiting patiently for the audio of Cackle by Rachel Harrison to become available at the library and it finally did. Plus I’m starting off the month re-reading Legends and Lattes and Bookshops and Bonedust because I’m going to a book signing and getting Travis Baldree’s third book in the series – Brigands and Breadknives – this month!

I’m a bit all over the place. And I kinda love it. If my reading life isn’t bursting at the seams, am I even really alive?

Book Clubs

• Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
• When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole
• The Bad Weather Friend by Dean Koontz
• Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake (first time meeting with the Ladies Who Lit book club!)
• The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes

Bad Bitch Book Club Challenge

• Three Days in June by Anne Tyler – A book that takes place over the course of one week or less
• The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean – A book that you meant to read in 2022 (speaking of past TBRs…)
• What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci – A book about food that isn’t a cookbook
• Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez – A young adult novel translated from Spanish
• A book published by an academic press
• Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake – A queer romance with a clinch cover
• Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan – A book that takes place in Southeast Asia (written by an SEA author)
• Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith – A collection of poetry written by a BIPOC poet
• The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava – A BBBC BOTM you never got around to
• The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer – A nonfiction book by an indigenous author
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig – Give an author a second chance at winning you over

Overeducated Women With Cats Challenge

• The Woman Who Watches Over the World by Linda Hogan – A memoir by an indigenous author
• Lucky Dogs by Helen Schulman – A book reviewed by OWC
• Dear Writer by Maggie Smith – A book published in 2025
• Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami – A book that’s been on your TBR for more than 5 years
• The Reformatory by Tananarive Due – A book tagged as horror, cosmic horror, or speculative fiction

52 Book Club

Okay. This is the big one. Buckle up. This will definitely bleed into December.

• Murder in Williamstown by Kerry Greenwood – Title starts with “M”
• Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliver – Title starts with “N”
• Still Life by Louise Penny – Genre three: set in autumn
• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley – Author’s last name is also a first name
• Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao – Has a moon on the cover
• The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas – Includes Latin American History
• Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto – Author has won an Edgar Award
• Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor – A sprayed edge
• Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack – Title is a spoiler
• Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson – Breaks the fourth wall
• Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore – Features a magician
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – In the public domain
• The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman – Includes a diary entry (I think…if it’s like the other Thursday Murder Club books)
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck – Direction in the title
• The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón  – Written in third person
• Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig – Final sentence is less than 6 words long
• The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty – An adventure story
• Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf – Stream of consciousness narrative
• Massacre and Margins by ACF Bookens – author releases more than one book a year
• The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler – Related to the word “puzzle”
• Tales From the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi – Set in a country with an active volcano
• Peony in Love by Lisa See – Lunar New Year Mini: Set in a country that celebrates Lunar New Year
• The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li – Lunar New Year Mini: By an Asian author
• Happy People Don’t Live Here by Amber Sparks – March Mini-Challenge: The last book you acquired but haven’t read
• The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch – March Mini-Challenge: Prettiest cover on your TBR
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer – May Mini: Set in Alaska
• My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante – May Mini: Set in Italy
• The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton – May Mini: Set in New Zealand
• A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson – November Mini: In the 500s of the Dewey Decimal System
• I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue – November Mini: Set in an office

Whew. That’s a lot.

The good news is that, if I manage to even read half of this list before the end of the year, I will still achieve my overall reading goal of 180 books (and then some). Yippee!

I hope you get to read as many books as you want this month.