Book Worm: November Book Reviews

Oh my word, we are into December already! I am 12 books behind on my Goodreads reading challenge to have read 52 books in 2015. If I accomplish that, December's book review post is going to be a long one.
This month I was all about YA novels, dystopian societies and fairy tales. To be honest, it was a really nice break from all of the other books of "literary merit" (read: Man Booker nominees) that are currently filling my reading list. Without further ado, here are November's reads:



1. Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard

This is the first book in a series, the second book Glass Sword is due in February of 2016 and I cannot wait! The setting for this novel is a dystopian society where the classes are segregated by blood type. The reds (red blooded) live in oppression and poverty while the silvers (silver blooded) live in the middle and upper classes. Our heroine, Mare, is a red who finds herself living in the midst of the Silver Royal Court and the royal family, but what they don't know is that she's working with an underground rebel group planning to overthrow the Silver Monarchy. If you were a fan of the Hunger Games or the Divergent Series, you'll like this.

2. The Lunar Chronicles: Scarlet, Cress & Winter, Marissa Meyer

If you've been following me you already know that I read Cinder earlier this summer and never got around to finishing the following books in the series. The final book in the series, Winter was released this past month so it seemed to be a good time to finish them up. I loved these books! Of the three I think that Cinder and Scarlet were my least favorite, but I loved Cress and Winter. Each book takes elements from a classic fairytale and puts a new futuristic twist on it. The characters were well developed and the storyline was fast paced and fun as our band of rebels work together to overthrow the Evil Queen Levana. Interlaced with action are romantic moments and comic relief. I enjoyed that the final book wrapped up the saga beautifully and all of the storylines were resolved in the end. These would make a great gift to the fantasy reader in your home. I highly recommend them.

3. After You, Jojo Moyes

In the sequel to Me Before You we find Louisa Clark struggling to get her life together after losing the man she loves to medically assisted suicide. In the aftermath of Will's death we find Lou struggling to keep herself together until one day a fall from her rooftop forces her to re-evaluate her life. Personally, I struggled a little with this one. I found Lou to be incredibly frustrating throughout the book, but was happy in the end. I think that this provided some much needed closure for fans of the first book who were heartbroken with the ending. In my opinion I could see a possible third book, but time will tell.

4. For the Love, Jen Hatmaker

Of all the books I read this month, For the Love was my favorite. I will sing from the rooftops, go and buy this book. Go get it on Audible so you can listen to it while you're in the car or out for a jog. I don't care how you get it, but just get it. Jen Hatmaker is absolutely hilarious. I want to be her best friend - for real. We live in a world where we as women are continually striving to be just as culinary artistic as Martha, as stylish as a fashion blogger, as funny as Kristin Wiig, the list is endless. I feel the pressure all the time! I feel that social media doesn't help with this at all - the endless scrolling of perfectly curated homes, outfits and dinners that leaves us feeling inadequate. I'm always thinking, if only...
Jen hones in on this so well and reminds us that these glimpses into the "daily lives" of others are often staged snippets of the best pieces of that person's world. She speaks about "balance" as if it's a unicorn - uh it is! Balance is a mythical beast that we're all searching for but unable to find! Her piece about fashion was on point and hysterical. But what I love about Jen Hatmaker most is how authentic her faith is. This is a woman of God who just gets it and I love that.
Jen Hatmaker, if you ever come to Washington, look me up. I seriously think we could be best friends. #bffs


And that's it for November. As always, if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them!
-Whit