November is historically a pretty dismal month for my reading. I have no idea why, since I don't really NaNo. This year seems to be bucking the trend; while there was a bit of a drop on my numbers this month, I still ended up with a respectable total.

I expect December's total will be down once I'm done. At the beginning of the year, I set myself a goal to read (or get rid of) the 10 oldest books on Mt TBR. I have just one left: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray. It's an 800-page tome and will likely take me half the month, if not more. And that's if I don't get distracted by the Magical Readathon's Winter round. The Magical Readathon is a series of Harry-Potter-themed reading challenges--you might remember me doing the OWLs and NEWTs earlier this year. This time, reading prompts are hidden in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, changing according to which path you pick. I admit I'm sorely tempted. Maybe I can do both?

Another odd thing about this month is that I got suckered into audio books. Kobo sucked me in with a free trial and I made an excellent choice for my first one. I'd planned to cancel once the free trial was over, but I found myself running out of podcast episodes to listen to, so I guess I'm going to keep trying audio books for a little longer.

Mt TBR Status

Mt TBR @ 1 January 2019: 442
Mt TBR @ 31 October 2019: 383
Mt TBR @ 30 November 2019: 378

Books Read

191. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride by Cary Elwes and Joe Layden. Non-fiction memoir. Although I rarely listen to audiobooks, I made an exception for this one. Not only is it narrated by Elwes, but many members of the original cast and crew also voice their snippets of memories. All in all, charming and highly recommended.

192. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Classic literature. Not really my jam. The protagonist was supposed to be unlikeable and succeeded in that regard, but not in any particularly interesting way. The cynicism was not to my taste and I found Wide's fascination with artifice to be completely foreign to me.

193. Bad Case of Loving You by Laney Cairo. Contemporary m/m romance. Read for book club. Too much sex and not enough conflict.

194. Forged by Desire by Bec McMaster. Fourth in the London Steampunk series. Historical fantasy f/m romance. Nine years after fleeing the nobility and joining the Nighthawks, Perry's past comes back to haunt her. A decent enough read, though I got a bit tired of Perry shutting Garrett out in order to protect him. I also appreciated the help Perry's friends provided in helping her face her trauma and abusers.

195. Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron. YA epic fantasy. Review forthcoming.

196. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. Reread for LDUH book club.

197. Of Silk and Steam by Bec McMaster. Last in the London Steampunk series. Historical fantasy f/m romance. When Leo's illegitimacy is revealed to the other members of the Royal Council, he kidnaps Lady Aramina on his way out. I do love a good enemies-to-lovers and this also did an excellent job of wrapping up the overall plot. However, as with the last book, I found it somewhat tiresome that Mina held on to her secrets for so long.

198. Tam Lin by Pamela Dean. Read for the Lady Vaults book club. A retelling of the old Scottish ballad set in an American university in the 1970s. A bit slow-paced and full of references to English literature and the classical canon. I enjoyed the mythopoeic feel, but was a little puzzled by some of its choices. In particular, for a book that plays relatively coy about the existence of magic, it certainly ends unambiguously. Also, an interesting exploration of how this myth might play out with the advent of modern contraception.

199. Dead Queen Walking by Tansy Rayner Roberts. Fantasy. Last in the Castle Charming series. Queen Ella has woken from her enchanted slumber, but there's no rest for the wicked as fairies close in on Castle Charming. Listened to via the Sheep Might Fly podcast. Utterly delightful. I'm rather sad the series is done.

200. It's Raining Musketeers by Tansy Rayner Roberts. A collection of non-fiction essays on various portrayals of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers. It had me howling with laughter in places.

201. Indexing by Seanan McGuire. Read for the LDUH book club. Henrietta Marchen is a Snow White in waiting, heading up a rag-tag team whose job is to prevent fairytale incursions into reality. Structured much like a TV crime procedural, it starts off with a monster-of-the-week plus a bit of an overarching plot that gradually takes over as the Big Bad is revealed. I enjoyed it, finding the vibe at the midpoint between Seanan's two major series, October Daye and InCryptid. I hope to get my hands on a copy of the sequel at some point.

Books Acquired

~~Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron~~
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss
Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch
~~Indexing by Seanan McGuire~~
Year's Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy, Volume 1 edited by Marie Hodgkinson
Snow White Learns Witchcraft by Theodora Goss
Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms by Anita Heiss

Fanfic and Online Reading

Compulsory by Martha Wells. A prequel short story to the Murderbot Diaries. Charming enough, but doesn't really add anything to the novellas.

Blade's Escape by Bec McMaster. A prequel short story to the London Steampunk series. Having escaped from the noble that turned him into a vampire, Blade is taken under the wing of a local crime lord. I don't feel like this really added anything to the series.