October and November 2021 Wrap Up

Having been trying to catch up with my TBR, reading memes and challenges and the computer giving out for a bit in October, I never ended up posting my October monthly wrap up so am combining it with the one for November. So as not to make this post too long, I’m just listing out the books I read, with a very brief description and links to the reviews.

Both October and November were fairly good reading months for me, with 10 books read in October and 11 in November. Both months, particularly November, had some literary memes/events that I was looking forward to and enjoyed participating in.

October for me began with Edmund Crispin for 2nd October 2021 was his centenary, and I wanted to read something of his to celebrate–and what I picked was The Case of the Gilded Fly, the first of his Gervase Fen novels in which I found the writing brilliant. l also enjoyed participating in the #1976Club hosted by Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings and Simon at Stuck in a Book, for which I had picked three books, of which two were read in October, and one previously. I enjoyed all my reads (one a little less than the other two), and more than that reading others’ picks and reviews. For the rest of the month, I read my usual, mixed fare, mysteries, historical fiction, some children’s fiction, and some nonfiction. Another highlight of October’s reading was Death of a Busybody, my first George Bellairs book which I also enjoyed a lot. Here’s my complete list:

The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin (murder mystery surrounding a repertory company at Oxford-5 stars)

How to Examine a Wolverine by Philipp Schott (memoirs of Canada-based vet, Dr Schott, including fun stories, interesting patients, and some info-4 stars)

The Golden Gate by Alistair McLean (daring kidnapping plot executed on the Golden Gate bridge-3 stars)

A Stitch in Time by Penelope Lively (a little girl’s holiday in Lyme Regis introduces her to new friends and brings out a connection with the past- 5 stars)

Princes Gate by Mark Ellis (murder mystery at the American embassy in 1940s London-4 stars)

The Dust Never Settles by Karina Lickorish Quinn (a woman travels back to her family home in Lima, in which the past and present reside together-4 stars)

Death of a Busybody by George Bellairs (a village busybody is murdered; Inspector Littlejohn investigates-4stars)

The Caravan Family by Enid Blyton (three children and their parents begin to live in a caravan when their father returns from the war-5 stars)

The Story of the Country House by Clive Aslet (an informative history of the English country house and its evolution from mediaeval times to the present-3.75 stars)

The Prince of the Skies by Antonio Iturbe (historical fiction around Antoine de Saint-Exupery and his fellow pioneer pilots-4.5 stars)

November was full of reading memes and plots from Nonfiction November, to Novellas in November, GermanLitMonth, Australian Reading Month, Margaret Atwood Reading Month, and many more. Of these, I managed 2 titles (of the three I’d hoped to read) for GermanLitMonth, and one for AusReadingMonth. I didn’t get to either of the nonfiction titles from my NetGalley list which I wanted to but I did do an overview of my nonfiction reads in 2021 (here). For the rest, I had some literary fiction, mysteries, and a Hamlet retelling; also my very first Japanese mystery. Here’s the full list

Murder at the Savoy by Jim Eldridge (murder at the Savoy in 1940s London- 4.25 stars)

The River Within by Karen Powell (‘Hamlet’ in 1950s Yorkshire, but with its own twists-4.5 stars)

Murder on the Pier by Merryn Allingham (murder at a pier in 1950s Brighton; second in a series-3.75 stars)

Lost Boy by Rawiri James (a teen who loses his mother cheats on his girlfriend, but the girl in question disappears and he is the chief suspect-3 stars)

Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie (scientists go missing, suspected of having crossed the ‘iron curtain’; a young woman on the brink of suicide is convinced to help intelligence officials investigate-3.75 stars)

Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer (murder mystery which opens in a typical English village; a crazy set of characters and wonderful dialogue-5 stars)

The Village of Eight Graves by Seshi Yoshimoto (murder in a Japanese village in the 1950s-4.25 stars)

An Unusual Grief by Yewande Omotoso (a woman grieving over the death of her young daughter reflects on her own life and copes in unusual ways- 4 stars)

The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch (murder mystery and witchcraft allegations in 17th century Bavaria-4.25 stars)

Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann (historical fiction around the adventures of Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Friedrich Gauss; loads of fun-5 stars)

The Mystery of a Handsom Cab by Fergus Hume (murder mystery in 19th century Melbourne–one of Australia’s first international bestsellers-4.25 stars)

So those were my reads for October and November. I managed to participate in many of the memes I’d wanted to, but not all, so it seems I would need better planning next time. I was pleased with my reading overall, but did fall behind on my NetGalley list which I hope to catch up with this month.

Cover art for ‘The mystery of a hansom cab’, written by Fergus W. Hume, published by Melbourne : Kemp and Boyce, 1887 (attrib), etching, State Library of New South Wales, [https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/YdmWXDd9/o80MPxw74lzXW DSM/C 808-1]

Any books on my list that you’ve read or are interested in reading? Which were your favourite reads this past month? Looking forward to your thoughts and recommendations!

All cover images from Goodreads; Handsom Cab cover image via wikipedia