Whew, I’m a little late with this one, friends. December life is a whirlwind, that’s for sure!
Lots of good discoveries to make in this list. Off to our November reads!
Cathy
The Last Witch of Scotland by Philip Paris
Scottish Highlands, 1727. After her father is killed in a fire, Aila and her mother, Janet, move to north-west Scotland to start over. Aila was badly burned in the fire and her injuries make it difficult for her to blend in. One day, a new minister arrives and has an unsettling interest in Aila and Janet – who is slowly losing her grip on reality.
The pair then meet a troupe of travelling entertainers from Edinburgh, who bring some joy, light, and friendship back into Aila and Janet’s lives. Things seem to be going good for the women, until they get on the minister’s bad side and end up in jail accused of witchcraft.
The story is based loosely on the last person burned for witchcraft in Scotland – Janet Horne – and is an emotional read. Aila and her mother’s bravery in the face of death really stood out to me as well as the unfairness of the accusation of witchcraft – and the shock at how everyone turned on the pair. It was a gripping read and I would highly recommend it – 4 stars for me.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Junior librarian Lazlo Strange has been obsessed with the lost city of Weep since he felt it disappear from his mind and memory as a child. Then the chance to venture across the desert to find out for himself what happened in Weep, and who the girl that keeps appearing in his dreams is.
This is a re-read for me because I adore the story so much. I love the writing, I love Lazlo, I love the whole premise of being brave enough to persue your dreams and expand your world. I’ll always give Strange the Dreamer 5 stars.
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Joli
Life After Ambition: A “Good-Enough” Memoir by Amil Niazi
If you’re doing your best to handle parenthood and a career, here’s a book you might appreciate. Amil Niazi’s short but impactful memoir chronicles how she grew up in a family that didn’t have much and decided she’d strive for more.
But then, when she and her husband decide it’s time to have a child, she discovers just how difficult it is the keep that career ambition as a mother. She writes about needing to not exactly set the ambition aside, but to let it be what it is and be okay with imperfection, and possibly not quite living up to those plans she had for herself when she was an adolescent.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. It was easy to read, fairly short, and had some impactful passages that resonated with me as a mom with a career.
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The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
This was our book club pick for November. I just listened to The Girl on the Train in October, so I got to read this knowing what Paula Hawkins is capable of.
And, well, The Blue Hour was okay. I enjoyed the slow build up of the character living alone on the island. You feel sorry for her at times, but then things start to turn a bit weird.
Beyond that, it was just kind of meh. I saw many of the plot twists coming and didn’t love the ending.
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The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (Audiobook)
Whew, this one was long! I’m not a huge fantasy reader, but wanted an adventurous story to listen to, so I chose The Starless Sea.
There’s a lot going on in this book. I loved some of the imagery…it’s just gorgeous how Morgenstern can describe the scene and make you sink into it. On the other hand, though, there’s SO much going on that I was confused about some parts of the story. I wasn’t sure if I was meant to know what the heck the Owl King’s role in the whole story was, or if it was just meant to be obtuse.
Overall, I’m glad I listened to this book. It was definitely entertaining and those vivid scenes really got me!
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
How to Be Enough: Self-Acceptance for Self-Critics and Perfectionists by Ellen Hendriksen
If you identify as a perfectionist, you might want to check out How to Be Enough. I’ve definitely had run-ins with perfectionism. Supposedly it’s a common thing for ADHDers, because we’re avoiding feelings of shame and rejection for the way our brains work and mistakes we’ve made in the past.
I found some helpful nuggets in here, for sure. Was it the most amazing, life-changing book? Probably not…but I did find some passages that pertained to me a lot and wrote them down to return to again later.
If perfectionism is something you struggle with, this could be worth taking a look at!
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Molly
House of Cotton by Monica Brashears
Following the death of her grandmother, Magnolia takes an usual job in an attempt to make ends meet and get away from her handsy landlord. Cotton, the owner of a nearby funeral parlor, hires her as a “model” to pose as deceased and missing people to bring closure to their families.
The arrangement becomes stranger and more sinister, and Magnolia finds herself haunted by systemic racism and poverty as well as her past.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Sweetbitter Song by Rosie Hewitt
I was burned out on mythology retellings for a while, but I decided to take a chance on this one and it paid off.
When Princess Penelope visits her uncle’s kingdom of Sparta, fate brings her and a Melantho, a kitchen slave, together. Their paths cross again years later, and Penelope brings Melantho with her to Ithaca after she marries Odysseus.
Their love is complex but deep, and in the years of Odysseus’s absence, it blossoms.
I felt disappointed every time I had to put this book down and loved it start to finish. It comes out in March 2026–full review coming soon!
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Renee
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell
Grace and Pip move to a new flat with their mother after their father’s schizophrenic episode leaves him institutionalized, their house burned. The new place backs up to a private park, a sort of courtyard for the houses there.
In the park, the girls meet other local kids about their age, but with an already-established dynamic. Grace works to establish herself within that dynamic, but Pip senses something is wrong, and someone could get hurt.
This is the same kind of fast-paced read I love from Lisa Jewell, but it wasn’t my favorite in terms of plot. It didn’t feel as tightly woven as some of her other books, but I still enjoyed it.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
The Land of Sweet Forever by Harper Lee
I was so afraid to read this new collection of essays and short stories by Harper Lee after suffering through the whole Go Set a Watchman debacle. I was convinced after reading interviews with her niece and nephew, stating that some of these essays had been published, and that she had actively tried to publish the short stories (many of which show her creating the characters and world that would come to be known in To Kill a Mockingbird).
There is a run of 3 stories that have nothing to do with TKAM: “A Roomful of Kibble,” “The Viewers and the Viewed,” and “This Is Show Business?” that were, to me, hilarious. Such dry wit that I was laughing out loud.
The short stories are really the jewel of this collection. It feels like the essays were added to round it out enough to publish. Some of them, like “Christmas to Me,” were quite nice. It tells the story of the year her friends gave her a year off of work to focus on her writing.
Other essays leave a little to be desire. One is just a letter she wrote to Oprah. One is just her surface-level remarks about Gregory Peck from a special program of the American Film Institute in 1989.
Overall, worth the read if you’re a Harper Lee fan.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
A father and his son go out for their morning hike at the park—something they’ve done every day for years. But only the son comes back. He’s agitated.
The son, Eugene, is unable to tell anyone what happened or what he saw. He is autistic, non-speaking, and has Angelman Syndrome.
Throughout the book, the family works to communicate however they can with Eugene to get to what happened.
What the book has to say about communication and disabilities is really interesting, but the story itself felt frustrating at times. I found the end completely unsatisfying, but apparently the book is divisive and some people really like it and others don’t.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
That’s it! That’s what we’ve been reading. What did you read in November?
More About Me
- Best Books of 2025: Our Favorite Reads of the Year - January 1, 2026
- Review: That’s a Great Question, I’d Love to Tell You by Elyse Myers - December 30, 2025
- Review: Life After Ambition by Amil Niazi - December 11, 2025