I did a little bit of re-reading this month, but I actually read a lot of new to me books and authors. Laurann Dohner, for example, was an author that was recommended to me via GoodReads and I read five of her e-books. Dohner's New Species does bear a marked resemblance to Lora Leigh's Breed series, but Dohner gives it more of an animalistic spin. I would continue reading the series if Ellora's Cave didn't make them so damned expensive. In addition, I read Maya Banks's Highland trilogy and got caught up on her Sweet series. November was also picture book months so I tried to catch up on my picture book TBRs. I only read eight of 'em, so clearly, I wasn't very successful.
However, two of them were particularly good. My favorite was E-mergency. The premise is that the letter E fell down the stairs and became injured. The other letters band together to cover for E so it can rest. The book was extraordinarily clever and filled with visual puns. It's not something I would recommend for a story-time, but I'd buy it for a young child learning their letters. The Adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn by Robert Burleigh, on the other hand, I read aloud to myself in my best Southern accent. Huckleberry narrates Twain's life in homespun language. It gives a basic overview of Twain's life and I'd put it at elementary school level.
The best adult book of the month was Tsunami Blue by Gayle Ann Williams. It's a post-apocalyptic novel that I thought was entirely plausible. It wasn't very romance-y, but then it's hard to work in the beginnings of happily ever after when humanity is trying to rebuild civilization. Still, the writing was sharp, the characters were unique, and the action moved along at a nice clip. Just a spoiler for those who get squicked at the idea of animal cruelty, the dogs will be fine.
The worst book of the month was Suzanne Enoch's A Beginner's Guide to Rakes. As I said in my GoodReads review, I normally enjoy Enoch's books, but I just couldn't get behind the heroine. At all. I guess I prefer my heroines to not appear to be quite so cold and calculating, at least in historicals.
Category Totals
Romance: 46
Picture Books: 8
Children's Nonfic: 1
Nonfiction: 2
Science Fiction: 2
Young Adult: 1
Urban Fantasy: 2
