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According to the graphics on my Storygraph account, November was my most active reading month, most books and most pages.

The A-List

Animal Farm by George Orwell (A). Re-read for reasons, and it definitely holds up during these strange times.

Tramps Like Us by Joe Westmoreland (A-). A pseudo memoir about a young gay man who hitchhikes his way out of small town Missouri to a new life in Florida, New York, New Orleans and eventually San Francisco in the 1970s and then has to deal with the loss and grief during the beginning of AIDS.

The B-List

The Dogs of Venice by Steven Rowley B+ A very short novella (60ish pages). After breaking up with his fiance, the main character continues with his Christmas trip to Venice and befriends a dog that helps him understand that there is still life out there.

I Wrote This For Attention by Lukas Gage B+. Who knows how much of this is true as Gage identifies himself as a liar, but I think most of it is…a memoir as irreverent as the actor himself.

A Mannequin for Christmas by Timothy Janovsky B+. Janovksy’s latest romcom about a wish that brings a mannequin to life—he must show the mannequin true love by New Year’s Eve or the mannequin returns to its mannequin self. Yes, a queer Christmas version of the 1980s film.

Roadwork by Richard Bachman (RR) B Stephen King re-read of the month. I had completely forgotten this one about a man enraged by the construction causing him to lose his business, marriage and house and plans revenge. (Yes he mentions the politics of the 1970s era a ton. Yes, the main character wears a blue chambray work shirt! And it wasn’t until Thinner when he was found out? :P)

I think in 2026 I’m going to add John Grisham and John Irving to my monthly re-reads (at least Irving, while being my fave, doesn’t have quite so many to re-read!)

The C-List

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune C+. This book was so overhyped and incredibly superficial and cringeworthy at times. An uptight man goes to investigate a magical orphanage on an island (and all the mystical creatures living there, including the supposed AntiChrist), are annoyingly precocious and grated my last nerve). The metaphors were all heavy-handed while being incredibly superficial, and I really only found myself caring about the lead character’s romance with the orphanage caretaker. I originally gave it a B, but I went to start the sequel and couldn’t even with it…and the more it sits with me, the more I disliked this one.

The End of the World As We Know It by Various C. A 750-page collection of short stories set in the same universe as Stephen King’s The Stand. A cool idea became very tedious and repetitive after the first few stories. A few decent stories, but overall it became a true chore to read.

Series:

Elmwood Springs Fannie Flagg:

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl by Fannie Flagg B+ This one read like a mix of a Sidney Sheldon plot with Adriana Trigiania characters and pacing and a Jodi Picoult theme/ending. A New York newswoman in the 1970s from small town Missouri deals with the stress of being a woman in a male dominated world and proving herself…and alcoholism…while trying to escape her mother’s past. The twist could not be written by Flagg in today’s world, but I’m able to contextualize that it was written in the 1990s.

Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg B. The follow up deals with Dorothy’s family (next door neighbour to Dena’s (first one’s main character) family, but has so many subplots that I couldn’t even tell you who the main character was. I thought it was Dorothy’s son, but then it was a random character who came to live with Dorothy who married a character I *hated* and it became all about them, but then completely changed again. This needed to be better edited with focus.

Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg B. The loveable aunt finds herself on a trip to heaven…but wait, it’s not her time! Kinda crazy, but it works.

The Whole Town’s Talking by Fannie Flagg B-. One hundred years of Elmwood Springs history…as everyone who dies sticks around the cemetery and comments on the town’s shenanigans.

The series as a whole was okay, but Fried Green Tomates at the Whistle Stop Café is her best book, and I’m not sure I would read any others by her besides that one.

Thalia Texas (follow ups to The Last Picture Show)
 by Larry McMurtry

Texasville by Larry McMurtry C+. This was wayyy too long, and nothing happened, and the focus switched from Sonny to Duane, who I didn’t really like in the Last Picture Show. It does set up the rest of the series, but it didn’t need to be 500 pages.

Duane’s Depressed by Larry McMurtry B+. However, this one had focus and a plot. Duane deals with a midlife crisis, starts therapy…and starts to grow.

When the Light Goes by Larry McMurtry B-. But the older Duane gets, the more irresistible he is to women (eye roll). He deals with the end of Duane’s Depressed.

Rhino Ranch by Larry McMurtry C+ And a not great end. A billionare woman rancher tries to save rhinos in Texas, and more Duane is irresistible to women that could be his great grand daughter, with a sudden, anticlimatic ending. I still like McMurtry overall, but some of his books are much better than others.

Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer by John Grisham:

Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer by John Grisham B+ Grisham sets up the series well, even if a lot of it is ridiculous (what middle school class is going to care THAT much about a murder trial without a ton of extra credit? Theodore Boone is a 50 year old in a 13 year old’s body! Anyway, the whole town is obsessed with a local murder case, and one of Boone’s classmates comes to him to say his immigrant cousin witnessed the whole thing.

Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham B. Not as good as the first one. Boone’s friend April goes missing, and he has to find her.

Theodore Boone: The Accused by John Grisham B+ In the third one, someone is setting Boone up for a computer store robbery.

I have four books left in the series. Ridiculous escapism with Grisham’s usual writing for a teen audience.