November 2020 Reading Wrap Up

November was a great reading month for me. I read 10 books, and completed my Goodreads reading challenge of reading 100 books this year. Here are the books I read.

1.The Guest List by Lucy Foley (3.5/5)

This was a fun murder mystery, set during a destination wedding in a remote island in Ireland. It did not blow my mind, but it was a very enjoyable read.

2. Prelude to a Riot by Annie Zaidi(4/5)

Set in an unnamed town India, this book chronicles the tension that develops between two families, one Hindu and one Muslim. It dealt with contemporary issues in a pretty poignant way.

3.The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali(3.5/5)

This book follows the life of a young Iranian woman and her romance with the guy she met at her favourite stationery shop only to have it suddenly disrupted by political upheaval. It was a really enjoyable book that dealt with an interesting personal journey amid larger events.

4. Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven

This was a collection of sci-fi short stories, which were enjoyable enough, though I liked some of them a lot more than others.

5. Pyre by Perumal Murugan (4.5/5)

This is another Indian book, translated from Tamil. It follows a young couple who return to the man’s village after getting married without approval from the community. It was a dark, horrifying tale, very well-written, but not for the faint-hearted.

6. Star by Yukio Mishima(4/5)

This is a novella about a young movie star in the peak of his career. It was a pretty compelling read about the psyche of such a person.

7. The Japanese Wife by Kunal Basu(3.5/5)

This was a collection of short stories that dealt with cultural interactions between Indians and people of other cultures. The titular story was a love story between an Indian man and a Japanese woman that took place through letter. I liked some stories a lot more than others, but overall it was a pretty good read.

8. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke(4.5/5)

I listened to an audiobook of this fantasy book. It was such a unique and interesting book and I enjoyed listening to it so much. It follows a man who had lived all of his life-as far as he could remember-in a strange, labyrinthine house full of statues. I would have given it 5 stars if it were not for the ending which I found a little underwhelming. Yet, overall it was a pretty amazing book and it made me want to read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell by this author.

9. Criminal by Karin Slaughter

This was a really dark mystery thriller that went back and forth between 1975 and the present. It was a really intriguing read, though not one for the faint-hearted. Karin Slaughter really did not hold back while describing violence as well as the racism and sexism in the police force in the 1970s.

10. The Silence of Bones by June Hur(4/5)

This was another mystery, but of a very different type. This was a YA book set in Joseon(1800s Korea) and followed Seol, a servant girl working for the police force who ends up getting involved in the investigation of the murder of a noblewoman. This was the best YA book I had read in a long time, and I really enjoyed the setting. The plot was also pretty enjoyable.