I read some really great and fascinating books in November. There was a dystopian one about a quick pandemic, a heart-wrenching historical fiction series, a book on cryptocurrency and a book about sleep. Here is what I read in November …
In a few short days, society collapses as upwards of 90 percent of humanity succumbs to a deadly virus. Taking out its victims in less than 48 hours, the virus makes quick work and surprises even the most prepared. Survivors include lucky airline flight with no contamination on board, people isolated for work trips, souls out on boats and those blessed with an immune system that fights the virus and wins. Twenty years later, those who have survived are starting to rebuild in Station Eleven.
In The Wedding Date, Alexa and Drew end up stuck in an elevator. He’s there for a wedding and she’s visiting her sister, who is in town for a work trip. However, Drew doesn’t have a date for the wedding of his ex-girlfriend and after a few minutes with Alexa, he decides to risk asking her to be his date. While just for a weekend, both Drew and Alexa feel a connection during the wedding festivities, which leads to another weekend, which leads to … (warning – it’s a bit of a steamy romance, but the storyline is cute).
In present day, Alice’s grandmother is facing the end of her life. While it was known that she and her husband escaped from Poland during WW2, they never talked about the details. When Alice visits her in the hospital, her grandmother insists Alice go to Poland to find out some details about her life. However, the grandmother is only able to communicate through an iPad, unable to talk from a stroke. Reluctant to leave her husband, gifted 10-year-old daughter and autistic son, she feels she has to fulfill her grandmother’s wish before she dies in The Things We Cannot Say.
The Paper Palace reads like a memoir about a highly dysfunctional family and how it leads the main character away from her true love. It was hard to read about the physical and emotional abuse the children in this book suffer, but I did want to read to the end to see Elle would chose her husband and children or her first, true love. The overall theme is how much secrets can affect families and relationships.
Three very different women join forces to help Britain break codes at Bletchley Park in The Rose Code. Osla comes from money and is dating Prince Phillip. Mab is no-nonsense and is looking for a husband to help raise her sister. Beth is abused by her mother, but is a savant when it comes to code-breaking. Secrets run amok in Bletchley Park and several years after the way, the women who can’t talk about their work have to join forces once more to figure out who at the park was a traitor. The Rose Code is a fascinating and fast-paced historical fiction novel.
Sleep is crucial … to almost everything about being a human being. Why We Sleep explores in-depth how exactly sleep affects a person’s health, intellect, energy, mood and longevity. I devoured this book and was fascinated by all the details the author offers on sleep. I highly, highly recommend this book and will be safeguarding my sleep even more after reading it!
After reading The Things We Cannot Say, I quickly added The Warsaw Orphan to my to-read list. It’s the sequel and follows Elzbieta after she moves to Warsaw with her adopted parents. After both her father and brother end up victims in the war effort, Elzbieta can’t ignore the Warsaw ghetto located just blocks from their apartment. However, she doesn’t expect to get her heart involved or put her parents in danger. The Warsaw Orphan is heartbreaking, but an important historical fiction read.
We Will Not Be Silenced by Erwin W. Lutzer
I ended up skimming through We Will Not Be Silenced. It looked to be a book about encouraging Christians to speak up in the modern age, but it was just heavy on the topics and light on the action steps. It’s a good overview, but not a book that encourages much action.
The Age of Cryptocurrency was the first book on crypto I didn’t skim through, but read entirely. It goes over the history of crypto and explains it in ways non-tech people can understand. I think I finally get what “mining” is and gave me a good grasp on what crypto’s future might look like. I would recommend this book for anyone looking to invest in or use crypto.
After reading Kate Bowler’s Everything Happens for a Reason, I wanted to read more of her writing. The Preacher’s Wife is a study about women in the Christian realm who are “celebrities” or are in the role of supporting a pastor, often publicly. Some women perform the roles with no additional pay, while others have created their own dynasties. The expectations, demands and criticism given to these women speak to how the roles of men and women are viewed differently in the Christian culture. It’s an interesting read.
The Spice King was recommended by Carolyn Astfalk in her An Open Book post for November. It was available from my local library to check out as an ebook and I enjoyed reading it. It falls in the historical fiction romance category and revolves around the time when the government was starting to look at making companies put ingredient labels on their food. Gray owns a spice company and when Annabelle is sent from the Smithsonian to see if he will part with a vanilla orchid, they start a very bumpy romance. There are Christian themes in the book and it’s a clean romance.
What did you read in November? Share your favorites in the comments!
