Everything I Read – November 2024
1. The Night We Lost Him
I absolutely loved The Last Thing He Told Me from this same author but sadly this book was not as enjoyable for me. It was good but not great. Liam Noone lived an extraordinary life and rose to great success early on in his career. His personal life however was always a bit more complicated. He had multiple wives and multiple children with these wives though none of them ever seemed to fully get to know who their father really was. So when Liam dies in a tragic accident, one of his sons, Sam, is convinced something more sinister may have occurred. Sam reaches out to his half-sister Nora for help and they both try to learn more about their father’s life which hopefully could explain his death. It was a bit predictable and a tad slow for me but still kept my attention. Rating: 7.5
2. Husbands & Lovers
This took me a bit to get into and I wasn’t sure if I was even going to finish it. But then about 1/3 of the way through, I became fixated on finding out how everything would play out and really became invested! Mallory has a young son named Sam who suffers a horrific accident at summer camp and leaves him fighting for his life. He is now forced to be on dialysis until they can find a kidney donor to save him. Since Mallory is a single parent, she must face all of this alone. She got pregnant in her late teens and never told the father about the pregnancy. With Sam’s impending health crisis, Mallory contemplates reaching out to the father and also exploring her familial history to see if there could be a potential donor match for her son. The book does oscillate between time periods which can be a bit hard to follow at times but overall I ended up really liking the story! Rating: 8.5
3. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
After falling in love with The House in the Cerulean Sea and it’s sequel Somewhere Beyond the Sea, I was excited to possibly read more heart warming fantasy books. This book was recommended many times so I decided to give it a go. Sadly I could barely get through it because it was so boring and slow. I know so many loved it so don’t let my opinion sway you too much because everyone has different preferences. Mika Moon is a witch living amongst regular people trying to have a normal life. When she receives a message to come visit a place called Nowhere House, she wonders what they could possibly want her to do. After she arrives, she meets three young girls who live there and comes to find out they are witches. Their guardians want Mika to help teach them how to be a witch and harness their powers safely. I love the premise of this book but sadly it just was not enjoyable for me. Rating: 6
4. The God of the Woods
My mom is on my iPhone family sharing account so she listens to all of the audiobooks that I do. I will often ask her what she thinks especially if a book has a TON of buzz but I am not loving it. That was the case with this book. It has so many great reviews and tons of hype but she and I just didn’t understand why. LOL It was good but definitely not a favorite for us. That being said, since so many loved it, I would recommend giving it a go because you may fall into the majority of people who found it captivating. Barbara Van Laar is a 13 year old camp goer spending the summer at her family’s youth summer camp. She isn’t happy to be here and rebels against the conservative values of her parents. One night Barbara goes missing and many find her disappearance too similar to the disappearance and tragic death of her older brother years ago. Will Barbara suffer the same fate? Or is the family hiding a devastating secret that could explain all of this. It’s a story with lots of twists and turns and it did keep my attention, but was not a favorite this month. Rating: 8
5. The Last Love Note
This entire month was a month of books that were just ok. Not spectacular but not awful. This was another book that kept my attention but wasn’t a favorite. Kate is now a young single mom after suffering the devastating loss of her husband a few years ago. Since his death, Kate has struggled to find purpose and some sense of stability in her life. She has a supportive job, boss and family, but she is still drifting aimlessly through life. Her boss, Hugh, has become a source of comfort for her and he was also very close with her husband. During a work trip, Kate discovers that her husband shared something with Hugh that he never wanted Kate to know. Now Kate wonders who she can trust and what her husband was hiding? Rating: 7
6. Carolina Moonset
Another good not great book for this month. An enjoyable read but a tad slow at times. Joey is a divorced father who has returned to his hometown in South Carolina to look after his father who is struggling with dementia. Joey wants to give his mother a break so he offers to stay with his father while she goes on a girls’ trip for a few days. Things seem ok at first but Joey’s father begins discussing things from his past that Joey has never known before. Secrets that his father has kept for decades and only now are coming out in his increasingly confused state. It’s only when a neighbor is shot and killed that Joey worries that there is something his father is hiding that could ruin their lives. Did his father leave the house in the middle of the night and shoot this man? And if so, why? Joey can’t go back home until he clears his father’s name and finds out what he is hiding. Rating: 8
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