Spelling the Month in Books: November

I’m getting this one in under the wire, but hey, it’s here. I did manage to get seven books in that I hadn’t blogged about here (all but one from before I started this project) and one I didn’t have much to say about due to time. I think I said this last month (or the one before), but a string of months ending in “ember” or just “ber” adds a level of challenge to this series I didn’t anticipate (but clearly, should’ve).

	No Hero Jonathan Wood’s Urban Fantasy debut was one of those books that really got me into the genre. It’s the story of a British police officer (I want to say a Detective of some sort, but I could be wrong—it’s been a decade) who sees something he shouldn’t and ends up being recruited for MI37. That particular branch deals with things like tentacled monsters from another reality. The action and humor both make you think of 80s Action flicks.
	Oath of Gold The conclusion to Elizabeth Moon’s The Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy (that I really should read again) brings Paks to the brink in so many ways. I remember really enjoying the portrayal of the mercenary company and the other non-epic adventure kind of things. Paks goes through harrowing ordeal after ordeal in the way only the best fantasy protagonists do. This was a heckuva feat.
	Voices of Dragons Carrie Vaughn stuck her toe into YA Fantasy here. Kay’s a human teen who lives on the border of a very 21st Century America and the realm of dragons. Of course, she slips over the border and gets in trouble. The dragon Artegal saves her and the two become friends as relations between their two races erode. There’s a lot of heart in this charming read.
	Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World Nellie Bly is one of those historical people I should know more about—this book did a good job of giving me the essentials (following up on the highlights that Abbey Bartlet gave us). It provides a good sketch of her life and career—ditto for Elizabeth Bisland’s. But the focus was on their race around the world—Bly starting in NYC and moving East, and Bisland moving West—both of these trailblazing female journalists are out to beat the (admittedly fictional) pace of Phineas Fogg, and each other. Matthew Goodman’s text—and Käthe Mazur’s narration for me—captured a little of the flavor of their exciting (mostly) adventures.
	Marathon Man William Goldman’s list of accomplishments is pretty daunting, and so is this thriller. I encountered it in High School, and while I knew it was going to be very different from the other novel of his I’d read (The Princess Bride), I really wasn’t prepared for it. It’s been (mumble, mumble) decades since I read this book, but there’s a scene or two from it (and the sequel) that I still remember. I really remember the tension I felt through most of the book. Goldman knows how to tell a story and this book demonstrates is as well as almost anything else he did.
	A Bad Day for Sorry Sophie Littlefield’s protagonist is Stella Hardesty. She runs a sewing shop in rural Missouri—but her real calling is helping women escape from abusive husbands and boyfriends. She doesn’t limit her services to helping them relocate and hide—she’s tough when she has to be. This book involves one of those men kidnapping their child. Stella’s one of the more unlikely vigilantes I’ve come across, but when push comes to shove, she’s a good one to have at your back. I really wish I’d made my way back to this series.
	Eddie and the Cruisers I’ve never gotten around to seeing this movie, but who doesn’t know “On the Dark Side” from the soundtrack? I admit I listened to a John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band songs while I read the book to help me get the feel. P.F. Kluge’s book hit all the typical Band Novel beats and did so in an effective and entertaining way. I don’t know that this was a great read, but it was a lot of fun.
	The Rosie Project Graeme Simsion’s debut really got under my skin—I’ve read it three times. And it led to me reading three other books by him (and I’m glad about two of them). This is the story of Don Tillman, a genetics professor who has set out to find the perfect wife for him—he has charts, tables, and all sorts of plans to help him find her. Along the way he finds someone who meets precisely zero of his requirements and agrees to help her with a project of her own—she figures a geneticist might be able to help her track down her biological father. And, as you’d expect, along the way Don’s project takes a turn he couldn’t have predicted. It’s funny, it’s sweet, and both Don and Rosie will make you want to read the next two books about them.