November was an excellent reading month for me. I read six books, three hardbacks, two e-books and one audio book. Two of the books I read were arcs received from NetGalley.
Three Ordinary Girls: The Remarkable Story of Hannie Schaft and the Oversteegen Sisters, Teenaged Saboteurs and Nazi Assassins by Tim Brady
That title is truly a mouthful, but it is correct in that this was a truly remarkable story! I was enthralled reading about these three teenage girls who served as spies, saboteurs and assassins during the war. They were brave, smart and wholly devoted to their cause.
I did a full review of this book here. It releases in February 2021 and I highly recommend it as a read if you enjoy history.
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Homegoing by Yaa Gasi
I have heard so much about this book and enjoyed reading Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gasi that I downloaded this audiobook on Libro.fm.
I love sweeping generational stories and that is exactly what this is! This novel traces three hundred years in Ghana beginning with two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, who were born in different villages in the 18th century.
Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives a life of comfort. Esi is imprisoned beneath her in the castle’s dungeons, sold in the slave trade and shipped off to America where her children are raised in slavery. Homegoing follows the descendants of these two sisters.
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The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nielson Spielman
I received this as part of my November Book of the Month selections. This is the fun and heart-warming story of three women who set out on an adventure through the Italian countryside to break a family curse and find love.
Aunt Poppy has invited cousins Emilia and Lucy Fontana to celebrate her birthday with her in Italy and she promises to break the family curse that second-born daughters will never find love in order to get them to go on this adventure with her.
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany was a fun, light hearted read.
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Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
Betty is another book that I received through Book of the Month. I have had this on my TBR list for a long time and finally added it on. I am so glad I did, too, because it’s one of my favorite books of the year!
I do have to warn you that this book has a lot of hard content and trigger warnings.
Betty is inspired by the life of the author’s mother and knowing that is heartbreaking is so many ways. She is the sixth of eight siblings that inhabit a world of poverty and violence. Throughout the book Betty faces unimaginable hardships, but she is resilient and incredibly strong. She survives in spite of so many obstacles working against her.
Betty escapes through her writing and telling the stories of her family. She recounts the horrors of her family’s past and present with pen and paper and buries them in the dirt.
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The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
I was thrilled to be receive an Advance Reader Copy of Kristin Hannah’s newest book, The Four Winds. I am a fan of Kristin Hannah’s historical novels and this one did not disappoint one bit!
This book is set against the backdrop of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression era and follows a mother and her children as they leave the drought that is destroying their farm in Texas and relocate to California in hopes of finding an easier life. What they find is racism and more hardship instead. They also find an inner strength and courage that allows them to fight for themselves and their survival.
My full review of The Four Winds can be found here. It will be available in February 2021.
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The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
I received this from my mom for my birthday this year and was excited to finally pick it up last month! I loved Lisa Wingate’s earlier novel Before We Were Yours, so I had high hopes for this one as well.
This historical novel, set in the post-Civil War south, tells the story of three young women on a journey in search of family. There is also a modern-day story being told of a first year teacher leading who rediscovers the story of these young women and how it connects to the lives of her students in rural Lousiana.
I loved how Lisa Wingate brings to life stories from actual “lost friends” advertisements that were in Southern newspapers after the Civil War. I didn’t know the story of how freed slaves put advertisements in newspapers searching for loved ones who they had been separated from during slavery.
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I enjoyed reading every one of the books that I read this month. They were all four and five star reads. That’s the great advantage of knowing what you like as a reader.