November feels fundamentally different from the other months of autumn. It’s the peace after the sugar highs and excitement of fall festivals and Halloween, the calm before the storm of Advent and Christmas.
And November is dark. Not that I enjoy changing the clocks back an hour with a houseful of tiny children and their sensitive little circadian rhythms, but I do relish the early evenings. There’s just something about a 4:30 sunset, thick velvety darkness surrounding everything before you’ve even sat down to dinner, that makes my soul sigh with delight.
I know I’m in the minority here, but that’s OK. I make an effort to get outside during the daylight hours so I can be fully cozy and content all evening long. And there’s nothing that says “cozy contentment” like a thick stack of library holds and new releases that I’ve been waiting ages for.
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
Even though I only had to wait three weeks between finishing Fourth Wing and getting my hands on this sequel, I was dying for this book to come out. Once it was here, I did almost nothing but read until I finished it three days later.
This (ahem, *very* open-door) romantasy series continues following dragon rider Violet Sorrengail through her second year at Basgiath War College. There’s not a whole lot I can say about this book without giving spoilers for either Iron Flame or Fourth Wing. Look up the content warning before committing—I’m a sensitive reader and I made it through, but I absolutely sobbed at one point, and twice I had to take a reading break.
Hardcore fantasy fans have been critical of Iron Flame, and although I can understand their point, I think many people are judging this book by unfair standards. Rebecca Yarros is writing a romantic fantasy, where the love interest is the driving force of the plot. This series was never trying to be the next Game of Thrones just because it too has dragons.
However, Iron Flame does have genuine issues with pacing, plot structure, and the overall quality of editing. This book was written quickly and then, IMO, rushed to publication to ride the wave of success from Fourth Wing (which released just six months earlier). That’s just not enough time for a quality edit, and unfortunately it shows on the page. Yarros has said that she plans to take her time with the remaining three books, and kudos to her on that!
All said and done, I am invested in these characters and their story. I’ll be right there waiting when book three does eventually hit bookshelves.
The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Based on Welsh folklore, The Drowned Woods follows Mer, the last known water diviner. After escaping from her near decade of forced service to the prince, during which she was used to locate and poison the wells of the villages the prince wished to conquer, Mer is finally living in precarious anonymity.
That is, until the prince’s former spymaster and her childhood mentor offers her a deal: if she joins his crew to dismantle the magic that makes the kingdom virtually impossible to attack, he will give her a share of the prince’s treasure that will allow her true freedom. The rest of their team includes a magic-touched fighter, a lady thief, and a delightful corgi who sneezes when he smells magic. (There are a few others along for the ride too, but I honestly didn’t care about them enough to bother remembering their defining characteristics).
I read this for the gorgeous cover and its comparison to Six of Crows, one of my favorite YA fantasy books of all time. Although both books are fantasy heists, that’s where the comparison ends for me. The Drowned Woods lacked the wit and character depth of Six of Crows. I wanted to find out what happened, but many of the characters fell flat for me. Even Mer felt a bit like a caricature.
However, this would be a great choice for a young teen or precocious middle schooler who is interested in fantasy. Much “young adult” literature these days skews toward older teens or even new adult, but I can’t think of any objectionable content in this book. Death and mild violence are present but not glorified, and the overall themes are morally good.
When Time Is Short: Finding Our Way in the Anthropocene by Timothy Beal
This month in “books I read for grad school,” we have this short treatise on ecotheology—the theology of caring for and living alongside the earth and all other creation. This book is bleak. Beal presents an unflinching look at climate change and makes an argument that the best Christians can offer is “palliative hope.” Essentially, the earth is on hospice, and it’s hubris to think that we can “technology our way out” of the mess we’ve made. It’s on us to make sure that humanity and all the rest of creation lives out our remaining days with as much dignity as possible before our extinction event.
I’ve given this book a lot of thought since I read it. I don’t think I agree with Beal about the gravity of humankind’s impending demise . . . but I don’t think I have to agree with him about an inevitable extinction event in order to agree with the heart of the book.
At its core, this book is about rethinking our place in God’s creation. Most Christians have been spoon-fed a theology that centers humans as the end-all, be-all of everything God made. But is that accurate? After reading When Time Is Short, I’m not so sure it is. If we are not more important than everything else on earth, if we were not given the earth and its creatures to have “dominion” over, then how does that change how we choose to interact with creation?
This book is short but thought-provoking. I recommend it not because I think it holds all the answers to climate change from a Christian perspective, but because it will give you some prompting to think differently about the human relationship with God’s creation.
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
After waiting months in the library hold line, the fourth installment of the Thursday Murder Club series finally made it to me! The gang of retirees at Coopers Chase is wishing for a calm new year with no new bodies to speak of—but their hopes are dashed when they learn of the murder of an old friend who helped them solve their last case . . . and it looks like a professional job.
Headed by former MI6 agent Elizabeth, the Thursday Murder Club embarks on yet another adventure, this time tangling with drug dealers and art forgers. But the real battle is the one at home, where Elizabeth struggles to process her husband Stephen’s decline into the strongholds of dementia.
The cast of quirky, lovable characters absolutely makes these books. The mysteries themselves are second to Osman’s gorgeous exploration of friendship and love in the sunset years of life. As always, I highly recommend this cozy mystery series (no on-page violence here!). But do start at the beginning so you can read in order!
On the Kids’ Shelves
The nine-year-old has been in a bit of a book rut. She’s struggling to make the transition between early reader chapter books, with their short chapters and quick plots, into junior fiction that takes her more than one sitting to read. Graphic novels are still her go-to. Lately she’s had the Geronimo Stilton series on repeat.
The seven-year-old is a voracious reader. She’s flying through the Ramona books and the I Survived series, and she recently proved that she got a hearty dose of my DNA when she threw her book across the room and shouted, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” because it ended on a cliffhanger. (The book series in question is Amulet, an anime fantasy graphic novel series. She’s completely obsessed!)
The five-year-old is still working on sight words and phonics. He isn’t reading independently yet, but he loves choosing a pile of early readers for us to work through. His current favorites (and mine!) are the Piggy and Elephant books, classics for a reason.
The two-year-old is in a heavy Disney phase thanks to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The Little Golden Book Mickey’s Walt Disney World Adventure has been her bedtime pick for the last ten nights running.
I wanted to make it through one or two more library holds in November (that are now dangerously close to overdue), but alas, the end of the semester kept me busy. Here’s to hoping that always-busy December brings peace, joy, and plenty of time to read!
What have you been reading lately? Click on over to leave a comment!