What I Read in November

 

I absolutely loved Tom Lake and I think it absolutely had to do with the setting and being able to picture the area. Tom Lake is essentially Interlochen, a place I adore. Then the family's orchard is on the shores of Lake Michigan near Traverse City, aka my favorite part of Michigan. But also I loved the story. And had no background on Our Town, which it's based on. I have heard two other people say eh on it, but I loved it. Ann Patchett is sometimes a slog fest for me but I loved this one!

The Bar Harbor Retirement ...

This book had such a quirky bunch of former writers and others who worked in the writing industry at the end of their life. They all live together in Bar Harbor in a house/grounds where a famous author planned for them to go when they were old. I really enjoyed it. I mean an elderly woman who is smoking weed for her back and lots of secrets of lovers and some of the writers decide to start writing a book together.

Hester surprised me. I thought for sure I would dislike it as it's a book that ties with The Scarlet Letter, which is a book I cannot engage with. Isobel Gowdie arrives in Salem with her good for nothing husband and is promptly left behind with the judgy Salem folk and meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorn. My 12 year old is also now reading it.

Tin Camp Road is written by an Upper Peninsula author and it's a book about a mother and daughter living day to day in poverty making the most of it and I will be reading so many other books by this author.  As someone who has seen people living in this type of poverty and knowing the Upper Peninsula and all of that it was just a book where you are rooting for something to go right and keep going right for them.

Reader, I murdered him, takes Adele from Jane Eyre and puts a queer romance female vigilante twist on the story. I liked it but those who adore Jane Eyre may feel differently based upon the goodreads reviews I looked at when I was done.

Reunion Beach is a sweet collection of stories and essays for Dorothea Benton Frank, a lowcountry author who I adored for her beachy hilarious stories. There are short stories by Elin Hilderbrand, Patti Callahan, Adriana Trigiani, and others..

All the SInners Bleed is another great crime fiction book by SA Cosby. His books are not for the faint of heart. There's language, usually graphic details, but you are instantly engaged with the story. This one is about a small town sheriff who is dealing with small town drama and a serial killer.

Have you read any of these? If you read Tom Lake what did you think?