November was a super weird reading month for me. I started November on a high. I was excited to get through my To Be Read (TBR) pile and I attacked it aggressively, maybe a bit too aggressive. I started out reading some books that were all less than 150 pages then went on to tackle some bigger reads. However, by the second week in November I hit my biggest slump for the year and I was unable to read for a whole two weeks.
Overall, I did manage to read 17 books and I think that was due in part to my how many books I got through before the slump as by the time the slump was over, so was November. Here is why I said November was weird, because even though I didn’t read as much as I wanted to, I ended up reading some of my favorite books for the year during this month. These books included my two five star reads, Becoming by Michelle Obama which dragged me out of my slum and the advanced reader copy given to me by Hogarth Books- Golden Child by Claire Adam.
I have been singing praise to Michelle Obama’s Becoming as hands down my favorite Memoir for 2018 and this is saying a lot because I have read a lot of great memoirs for this year. This is Michelle Obama like we have never seen her, unapologetic and unguarded, she explores so many things that while are personal, most women struggle with universally. I went through a range of emotions while reading this memoir but I closed this book feeling hopeful and expectant- if you haven’t read a book for the year yet I strongly suggest picking this up.
Thanks to the amazing people over at Hogarth Books I got an advanced reader copy of Claire Adam’s Golden Child, set to be released in January 2019. This debut novel is the second book for on the Sarah Jessica Parker For Hogarth list and I could not be more excited for everyone to read it. Set in Trinidad and Tobago, Claire Adam explores in a deeply moving way a family that is facing troubled times that will leave them reeling. Honestly, I was a bit reserved when I picked up this novel but the writing was so impactful, I kept thinking of it days after.
While I do read for fun, as a Marketing Manager I do try to read books that explores issues in my industry. In November I picked up Seth Godin This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See and I am so happy I did. In This is Marketing Seth explores what Marketers should be focusing in a marketing place that is so saturated- how do you make your brand stand out. My key take away from this book was “The goal isn’t to maximize your social media numbers. The goal is to be known to the smallest viable audience”.
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Another insightful read was Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand In The Age of Social Media by Brittany Hennessy , the market is saturated with influencers, everyone is an influencer but are they? In Influence Hennessy explores how you can grow your brand and launch out from the pack as an Influence. My only drawback was that the book caters more for persons with 25,000 followers + and Influencers in the fashion and beauty space.
Two books that deserves honorable mention are My Year Of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh and Factfulness: Ten Reason We’re Wrong About the World- and why Things Are better than you think by Hans Rosling. Do you know those books you read with an side eye the entire time because it so strangely intoxicating- that is how I felt while reading My Year Of Rest And Relaxation. Three weeks later, I cannot stop thinking about the narrator from this book who decided she will be taking a year off from life to just sleep. Don’t we all wish we could make a decision like this and stick to it? Well this narrator sure did. This book top the charts for “surprisingly good read” for me.
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I consider myself a optimist, I am forever looking on the bright side, I might be a bit impractical sometimes but I love thinking of the best and hoping for the best, it is no wonder I absolutely enjoyed reading Hans Rolsing’s Factfulness: Ten Reason We’re Wrong About the World- and why Things Are better than you think . In Factfulness Rolsing gives us data driven information on why the world is better than we think and that is what I loved most, that it wasn’t just a hope but it was true. If you are looking for a great conversation starter or for some really good news, pick this book up.
My two re-reads for this month were The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garica Marquez. Both books were like revisiting some amazing old friends and I thoroughly enjoyed picking these books up.
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17 Books
8 Female
4 Caribbean Authors
2 Re-reads
5 Stars
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Golden Child by Claire Adam
4 Stars
This is Marketing: You Can’t Be See Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin
My Year Of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler
Factfulness: Ten Reason We’re Wrong About the World- and why Things Are better than you think by Hans Rosling
3 Stars
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand In The Age of Social Media by Brittany Hennessy
In A Free State by V.S. Naipaul
Miny Alley by C.L.R. James
Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert F. Kennedy
Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garica Marquez
Switch Bitch by Roald Dahl
2 Stars
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
There you have it, my November, a weird but great month nonetheless. What was your November reading month like?
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