November Wrap-Up

More graphic novels than I expected to read this month. That’s the way the library hold list moves I supposed. Despite supporting nonfiction November, I didn’t really do much for it myself this year.

Three Kisses, One Midnight by Roshani Chokshi et al

A Halloween YA romance. All the main characters are Asian which I didn’t realize right away. The older I get, the less these work for me. It’s cute and does what it sets out to do. If you like this sort of thing, it’s probably a 4/5 but for me, a pregnant mom, it was a 3/5

Mary: The Adventures of Mary Shelley’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter by Brea Grant

A YA graphic novel that puts a fun twist on the legacy of Mary Shelley. Fun but I wanted a little more backstory and plot development. 4/5

I’ll Be Alone for Christmas by Meyer Matthews

A holiday thriller novella, Romee is nursing a broken heart when she goes to a remote cabin for Christmas. She suspects she’s not alone but is it her imagination or real? Excellent creepy Christmas. 4/5

A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll

I tried to form more cohesive thoughts on this but my brain said no. Summer vibes, spooky, alternates the domesticity with the grander horror. Unexpected ending but compelling overall. 4/5

On the Plus Side by Jenny L. Howe

A plus size woman is nominated for a makeover show. While it’s a romance, I really liked Everly’s focus on coming back to herself. I say more here. 5/5

Parasocial by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson

Misery for the social media generation. I wanted it to be just a little longer, draw out the discomfort just a bit more. Otherwise, very fun and unsettling. 4/5

30 Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani

A contemporary fiction that reads like a romance but the protagonist falls in love with herself. Bridget Jones for the social media crowd. Nothing wrong but nothing great. 3.5/5

Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey

Quality smut, interesting concept, relies a little too heavily on Insta-love for my taste. Christmas isn’t plot critical so this can easily be read in the off season. 3.5/5

Behind the Scenes with Burt: Breaking Cat News #5 by Georgia Dunn

This installment is a mix of old strips that were updated and newer ones. Still delightful. 5/5

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

Solid celebrity memoir. I say more here. 4/5

No DNFs this month so that was a solid win. I totally failed at Nonfiction November. Maybe next year. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hit Me Baby

I got Britney Spears’s memoir on audiobook which is read by Michelle Williams. Given the trauma and abuse detailed here, I can see Spears not wanting to revisit it or do several takes of it.

These are her experiences and her interpretation of events with multiple participants. Sometimes, I fully believe her. Others, I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between her take and someone else’s.

Someone on my socials said her memoir read like a kid explaining why she was in timeout. Given how Spears was infantilized her entire adult life, I can see why she thought that. Her regular nude or semi-nude posts feel like an 18 or 21 YO experiencing own her sexuality for the first time. This makes sense given that Spears had almost no control over her own body for her entire conservatorship.

Something that seems obvious to us might not have been to someone who led such a restricted life. K-Fed not telling her about his kids then leaving his pregnant girlfriend for her was all sorts of red flags. She dated the ‘ain’t-shit man’ most of us did. She did it when she was more clueless and more desperate to prove something to the world that was judging her.

Spears telling her own story adds so much more context to events most of us remember as spectators. As the child of a controlling and emotionally abusive narcissist, I have a lot of sympathy. I can’t imagine what she endured or how broken it made her.

The big quotes that jumped out at me were:

“I made peace with my family—by which I mean that I realized I never wanted to see them again and I was at peace with that.”

“I’m working to feel more compassion than anger toward her and toward everyone I feel who has wronged me.”

That’s more than I can say. Good for her. She says she feels like she’s experiencing many things for the first time in her 40s. It’s like a delayed adolescence. I wish her well as she discovers life as an independent adult. I hope she is surrounded by good people now.

There were times when I wanted more details about the making of certain albums or touring. I know that’s not the reason she wrote it but I just wanted a bit more in places. Overall, 4/5 for me.

Dressing Down

I was scrolling IG when I saw this post by Courtney Carver. She is a semi-famous minimalist who came up with the project 333 Challenge: having only 33 items of clothing for 3 months. There was some wiggle room for occasion wear (gym, formal wear, skiing, etc.) but your key wardrobe was meant to be simple.

Having dabbled (unsuccessfully) in minimalism, I like the idea of a capsule wardrobe. Now that I’m 34 weeks pregnant, I like it less. The idea is that your 33 pieces are things you love and have even had tailored to your body. Not an option for me.

Plus size maternity clothing options are comically limited. They’re often crap quality, crap material, and/or cost prohibitive. Since you wear them for such a short season of life, it’s hard to justify splurging. This leaves me with very few pieces I actually like and many more I’m just stuck with wearing.

I’ve become very beholden to laundry. I have to stay on top of washing and putting away my laundry just so I can get dressed in clothes I don’t hate.

This all ties back into Carver’s Instagram post from today. Her 3 big tips were to get rid of clothes that don’t suit your lifestyle, clothes that make you sad, and clothes that don’t fit your body right now. The first two I can get behind but not the third.

If you’re in a transitional season of life, there’s no good reason to get rid of clothes you love. Declutter? Absolutely but not wholly eliminate. My rule is to get 1 to 2 medium storage bins for clothes that don’t fit me right now so I don’t have to start a wardrobe from scratch.

My body probably won’t find an equilibrium until next summer. I had my son in 2020 and so much was in flux in my life that I didn’t hit a physical equilibrium for a couple of years. Before my daughter decided to exist, I had finally found a uniform I was comfortable in and happy with. I like know that is available for me to come back to once my body is mine again.

I could definitely stand to dabble in minimalism again. I’m already fantasizing about shipping off my maternity clothes to textile recycling next year.

Dolly Rock

Dolly Parton is fascinating in a lot of ways. She is on par with Elvis and Beyoncé and even has her own theme park. Despite her intense level of fame, she is still a kind and grounded person. Part of why she wears the wigs, corsets, and intense makeup is that so she can go out in the world as a normal person and not be recognized.

Dolly Parton could absolutely be a billionaire but instead is so philanthropic that she won’t let it accumulate. Grady Hendrix touches on Parton’s childhood literacy program in We Sold Our Souls. The character always got skipped by Santa but Dolly sent her a book every month so she believed in Dolly instead of some schmuck with reindeer.

The Moderna COVID vaccine also received significant funding from Parton’s foundation. She’s donated to animal welfare, public health, and conservation among other things.

I Will Always Love You was originally Parton’s but she readily handed it over to Whitney. It was sort of a torch passing since Jolene was a cover for Dolly.

When Parton was presented with the nomination for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, she declined. Dolly wanted to make a rock record to earn her place. That record is finally here and it’s great.

A mix of originals and covers, full of fantastic guests and collaborations, you can see quite a range from the Queen of Country. She even touches on one of her more iconic songs in her original song about Elvis. It’s incredibly fun for anyone who likes music. 5/5

2024 Is Going to Be Horrifying

I’ve started hearing about the 2024 horror books coming out and it’s going to be a good year for creepy books.

The House that Horror Built by Christina Henry

A reclusive horror director and a single mom who cleans his house. What will she do when the horror seems to jump off the screen and into the eerie mansion?

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

A cursed film with a cult following. People are clamoring for a reboot but only one member of the original cast lives to tell the tale.

I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

I’ve tried Jones but he hasn’t really worked for me. I might try again for this book from the POV of a teenage killer in rural Texas.

The Queen by Nick Cutter

Taking place over 24 hours, there are teen girls, a secret government plot, and weaponized genetic manipulation. I’m curious how much of a hint the hornet/wasp on the cover is.

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden

A young American couple by a cheap Italian house on the condition they stay in it for 5 years. The house has a much darker history than they anticipated. I love anything that highlights the dark history of the Catholic Church.

Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes

I enjoyed her previous book so I was excited to see another space horror. This one for a small crew attempt to colonize an abandoned planet. The crew is hiding something and attempts at colonization have been made before so I’m sure it’s going to be disturbing.

What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

The sequel to the very popular What Moves the Dead. I haven’t read it but it was very buzzy so I’m sure this will also be popular.

Whatever Stephen King comes out with. That man is absurdly prolific.

These are all the big ones I’ve heard about recently. Did I miss any? Besides what the absurdly prolific Stephen King will release.

On the Plus Side

I got an eARC of Jenny Howe’s upcoming book. On the Plus Side had fat representation, a quietly diverse cast, genuine character growth and depth, and a fun premise. Howe does so much right.

I loved how Everly wanted to fix herself, not just get a man. She wanted to grow as a person. Because we know how romance novels work, we know she gets a man but I loved Howe focusing on Everly growing as a person as much as the relationship.

I loved how realistic Everly’s issues with her mother were. Things weren’t magically fixed because that’s fun for readers. It was messy and complicated and not immediately resolved. It was the start and acknowledged the work they both needed to do to improve things.

Howe did a fantastic job coming up with dog names. Sundae, Ravioli, and Gnocchi are perfect. And, no third act breakup. The big drama comes from somewhere else. I appreciated Howe keeping the good communication going and not going for the formulaic plot point.

A satisfying, feel good romance. Highly recommend. 5/5

Nonfiction November Suggestions

Since it’s Nonfiction November, I thought I’d recommend a few books that would be fun.

Not ready to give up on spooky season yet? Monster, She Wrote, Cursed Objects, Toil and Trouble, Chasing Ghosts, or We Are Not Alone would be great nonfiction ways to prolong the spooky. While these are all visual, a few are cheap on Kindle right now.

One of the easiest ways to incorporate nonfiction is with graphic memoirs. Lucy Knisley and Guy DeLisle have some excellent (but very different) books you should check out.

Celebrity memoirs are usually very readable and fun. I’m saving some for 2024 since I’m having a baby for Christmas. On my list are memoirs by Simu Liu, Kal Penn, and Melanie Chisholm.

I’m a sucker for thru-hiking memoirs or stories of people having adventures in nature. The Sun Is a Compass, The Puma Years, Feral, The Salt Path, and Rough Magic are all on my long list TBR. We Came, We Saw, We Left and Tip of the Iceberg were fun reads.

I hope some of these inspire you. Happy reading!

November TBR

I try to partake in Nonfiction November but I’ve got a lot of stuff pulling at me.

30 Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani

My book club’s pick for the month. I’ve read the intro so while it’s fiction, there’s a bit of truth to it.

On the Plus Side by Jenny Howe

A romance with fat representation I got via NetGalley

Black Box: A Pregnancy Discrimination Memoir by Chelsey Glasson

I won this in a GoodReads giveaway. It feels especially poignant since I’m very pregnant right now.

Greater than His Nature edited by Eirik Gumeny

In addition to NetGalley, I was recently invited to join BookSiren. It appears to be all indies and you can only read and review one book at a time.

I’ve got a few other things I’d like to get to but we’ll see. Baby prep will shift into high gear since she’s due for Christmas.