Holy Cats! How is it December already? We did a fair amount of hiking in November, since the leaves were at least two weeks late changing color across the state.

Mostly re-reads this month. But that means most of what I read was stuff I loved, so that’s a good thing, right?

Some particular favorites are: Patricia C. Wrede‘s Thirteenth Child and the rest of that series. It’s an alternate history of the frontier US, only there is magic. It’s YA and it is NOT cowboys (the magic kept North America from ever being settled by humans).

Diana Gabaldon‘s Lord John series. Although characters from Outlander appear here, there is NO time travel. At their core, these books are historical mysteries set in the 1700s. The main character is both a military man, and gay at a time when that was a hanging crime.

I’m also reaching some of my favorite books in Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series. This month it was Walking Shadow. However, I had to switch to reading because the narrator after Michael Prichard is just plain awful.

Fantasy, Historical

Thirteenth Child (2009) Patricia C. Wrede (9/10)
Across the Great Barrier (2011) Patricia C. Wrede (8.5/10)
The Far West (2012) Patricia C. Wrede (9/10)

Fantasy, Supernatural

Once Burned (2012) Jeaniene Frost (8/10)
Twice Tempted (2013) Jeaniene Frost (8/10)
Bound by Flames (2015) Jeaniene Frost
Into the Fire (2017) Jeaniene Frost (7.5/10)

Mystery

Spenser
Double Deuce (1992) Robert B Parker (8.5/10)
Paper Doll (1993) Robert B Parker
Walking Shadow (1994) Robert B. Parker (9/10)

Mystery, Historical
Barker & Llewelyn
The Limehouse Text (2006) Will Thomas (7.5/10)
Lord John
Lord John and the Private Matter (2003) Diana Gabaldon (8.5/10)
Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007) Diana Gabaldon (9/10)
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007) Diana Gabaldon (8/10)

Graphic Novel

Rivers of London: Detective Stories Vol. 4 (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Luis Guerrero, Lee Sullivan (8/10)

Audio Book

Spenser
Stardust, Audio Version (1990/1991) Robert B Parker narrated by Michael Prichard (8.5/10)
Pastime, Audio Version (1991/1992) Robert B. Parker narrated by David Dukes
Sonchai Jitpleecheep
Bangkok 8, Audio Version (2003) John Burdett narrated by Paul Boehmer (8.5/10)

So here’s how things turned out this month.

Mostly ebooks this month, almost all re-reads:

Trade Paperback: 1
eBook: 14
Audio: 3
Re-Read: 16

More than one genre this month, though I think half those were historical of some sort

Fantasy: 8
Mystery: 10
Romance: 4
YA: 3
Comic: 1

Gender-wise, pretty evenly split between male and female authors, with women holding a slight lead over men for the year 41% : 44%. Mostly because I’m re-reading the Spenser series, and those are quick reads (it’ll go slower once I can get back to listening).

Male: 8
Female: 10

And those are the books of November.