Books Read in November 2021

Well, this was a disappointing reading month for me. Only 8 books. Two hard copies, two audiobooks and four Kindle books. One five-star read, two four and a half-stars, and five that ranked from pretty good to ick. My reviews in order of preference below:

Raft of Stars by Andrew J. Graff. This book was so good. The lives of two 10-year-old boys (Fischer ("Fish") Branson and Dale ("Bread") Breadwin) change irrevocably when one of them fires a gun to stop the other boy's father from abusing him. They think they have murdered the man, and decide to run away into the Wisconsin woods. Here's part of the plot description from Amazon: "Four adults track them into the forest, each one on a journey of his or her own. Fish’s mother Miranda, a wise woman full of fierce faith; his granddad, Teddy, who knows the woods like the back of his hand; Tiffany, a purple-haired gas station attendant and poet looking for connection; and Sheriff Cal, who’s having doubts about a life in law enforcement." Fabulous character development and a fast-paced plot will have the pages practically turning themselves. I cried buckets at the end. 5 stars

The Guide by Peter Heller. This was a month for books set in the woods. Peter Heller wrote a previous book I loved called The River. This book follows Jack, one of the characters from that book, who has taken a summer job as a fishing guide at an exclusive fishing resort in an isolated area of Colorado. The resort "Kingfisher Lodge" caters to the privacy-seeking, super-wealthy and famous and sits behind locked gates and an elaborate security system. Jack is assigned as a fly fishing guide to a well-known popular singer, but from the get-go, things don't feel right at this extremely restricted lodge. When he and his client hear screams in the night, he suspects something sinister is going on behind the locked gates and decides to look into matters. What follows is a very fast-paced and suspenseful adventure thriller. Great descriptions of fishing and the beauty of the scenery. The atmosphere of dread that hangs over the plot is so good. 4.5 stars

These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant. Don't laugh, another book set in the woods. This one was so good too, though! For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter Finch have lived an isolated life in the wilderness with no family, no electricity, and practically no connection to the outside world. The only people who know of their existence are a hermit-like neighbor named Scotland and Cooper's military buddy Jake, who owns the cabin in which they live. Each Dec. 14, Jake comes by to deliver their supplies for the year. Then one year, Jake doesn't come. Will Cooper have to risk everything and venture out into the world to get what they need to survive? What are they hiding from? Then some strangers enter into their woods and turn everything upside down. I was entranced by the depictions of Cooper and Finch's life in the woods, and even though I suspected the reason for them hiding from the world was bad, I was completely rooting for them all through the book. 4.5 stars

Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent.  This book is by an Irish author whose work is new to me, but she is very popular in Ireland. From the opening sentence, "I expected more of a reaction from her the first time I hit her" until the final chapter of this psychological thriller, my interest was held. This book has been described not as a "who done it" but a "why done it". We know Oliver has beaten his wife Alice into a coma, but have no idea what caused him to snap. This is a short book, under 300 pages, but it is tightly crafted with a plot that moves fast. I will definitely read more by this author. 3.5 stars

What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan. This book revolves around Lina and Wei Zhen and their adolescent daughter Karen. They have returned to Shanghai after living for 20 years in the United States. Wei is an important executive for a marketing company and the family lives in a luxury "serviced" high rise in the city. That means their meals are made for them if they like, they have daily housekeeping services, and live a high-end life of privilege. The other occupants of the apartment building are wealthy Chinese born, educated in the US, ex-pats who have returned to China to conduct business. The family has a maid named "Sunny" who they promote to be a companion for their daughter during the summer when Wei's long-lost black sheep gang member brother resurfaces and comes to visit. The book was an interesting glimpse into a very particular sort of Chinese life, and showed the dramatic contrast in the lives of the very wealthy, the poor servant class, and someone who lived most of his life on the fringes of criminal activity. Each chapter is from the point of view of a different character. It was an interesting family drama, but I didn't love it. 2.5 stars

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. I gave this family drama 2.5 stars because I was hoping for so much more from Liane Moriarty. What on earth has happened to her writing? She used to be so good. Instead of insights into human nature, what we get is brain candy. The characters are shallow, the meandering plot is implausible in the extreme, and the ending makes no sense (but the reader can see it coming miles away). The setup: The Delaneys are a family that is obsessed with tennis. The parents (Stan and Joy) owned a tennis school and their four now-adult children were all excellent tennis players. One day a strange young woman comes to their door, bleeding and saying her boyfriend beat her. Stan and Joy invite her in and she ends up more or less moving in with the Delaneys. She ingratiates herself with Joy, who then disappears under mysterious circumstances. Who is the young woman, really? What happened to Joy? Who cares? 2.5 stars

Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner. I read That Summer and Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner and enjoyed them. The author tends to write about plus-size main characters who are smart and funny and have complicated love lives. This was an earlier book by the author and I did not enjoy it as much as her more recent publications. The dialog was witty and the side characters well-drawn, but the main character, Cannie, was such a whiny brat, I got weary of it. Contrived plot and an unpleasant protagonist. 2 stars

Parting the Veil by Paulette Kennedy. Ugh. What a big jumbled mess this book was. It was described as being well-written and it was not. It was supposed to be a "gothic romantic mystery" but was instead a mish-mash of a ghost story, a romance, LBGT themes, a mystery, secrets, hidden identity: this book was a train wreck.  The setup: An American heiress in New Orleans with a scandalous past inherits a manor house from a distant relative (of course she did). She moves with her mulatto sister to a bucolic English village and moves into the house she inherited. She meets a mysterious neighbor who is a count and marries him within weeks (of course she did). Things start out fine between the two of them but quickly go downhill once she moves into his crumbling old mansion. I could go on but I won't. I wish I hadn't gone on with this book to tell you the truth. And you should see the five-star reviews of it on Goodreads. Did we read the same book?
1 reluctant star

So that's it for November. At least half of the books I read were good, right? Guess you can't win them all, but I had thought I was getting better at picking my reads. Better luck next month!