My November Reads - Monthly Round-up

Monthly Reads

30 Nov

Written By Lulu

Hiya! I've had a bit of a slow reading month - I wish I could be one of those people who reads multiple books at the same time. Although it's quite a small collection and I didn't read any nonfiction books for #nonfictionnovember (whoops!), I think I covered a good range of genres this month.

Amy & Isabelle

In Strout’s debut novel, a mother-daughter relationship begins to fracture when Amy is discovered in the midst of an affair with her teacher. It’s a bit of a slow burner with plenty of detail paid to the surroundings rather than any big advancements in plot, but Strout creates a highly original story centring around the minutia of everyday life in the fictional Shirley Falls.

The Secret Keeper

Genre: Fiction | Historical fiction | Mystery
Author: Kate Morton
Year: 2011
Pages: 592
Content warning: Domestic violence

This one is quite a long read at nearly 600 pages, but Kate Morton creates a detailed world full of mystery and intrigue when Laurel begins to explore her family’s past after she witnesses a life-altering event as a teenager. The Secret Keeper combines past and present with nuanced characters, one of the many reasons why I’m such a fan of Morton’s work.

One of Us is Lying

Genre: Fiction | Young adult | Mystery
Author: Karen M. McManus
Year: 2017
Pages: 360

After seeing this all over Instagram and in my favourite bookstores, I finally bought this book. Described as The Breakfast Club meets Gossip Girl, five students walk into detention one September afternoon but only four walk out alive. All of them have secrets. All of them are suspects. This is a compulsively readable murder mystery, ideal if you’re after a quick and intriguing read.

The Vanishing Half

Genre: Fiction | Historical fiction
Author: Brit Bennett
Year: 2020
Pages: 352
Content warning: Racism, violence, domestic abuse and sexual abuse

This is also another “Instagram made me buy it” book, but I’m so glad I did because it completely exceeded my expectations. Twins Desiree and Stella live in Mallard, a town that prides itself on its whiteness despite its coloured history. When the sisters finally leave town for good, their lives begin to irrevocably change. The sisters seperate, losing touch with one another as one sister lives her life as a black woman, the other white. But their lives slowly begin to entwine as their daughters meet. This wonderful novel is a story about secrets and truth, about the halves we choose to display to the world and the halves we choose to hide.