What We're Reading, Vol. 28: November 2020

Photo by Olivia Gündüz-Willemin.

“November — with uncanny witchery in its changed trees. With murky red sunsets flaming in smoky crimson behind the westering hills. With dear days when the austere woods were beautiful and gracious in a dignified serenity of folded hands and closed eyes — days full of fine, pale sunshine that sifted through the late, leafless gold of the juniper-trees and glimmered among the grey beeches, lighting up evergreen banks of moss and washing the colonnades of the pines. Days with a high-sprung sky of flawless turquoise. Days when an exquisite melancholy seemed to hang over the landscape and dream about the lake. But days, too, of the wild blackness of great autumn storms, followed by dank, wet, streaming nights when there was witch-laughter in the pines and fitful moans among the mainland trees. “
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— L. M. Montgomery, The Blue Castle

As much of the world enters into another lockdown just as autumn arrives at its peak, with long nights and dipping temperatures, we’re taking comfort in the indoors and diving back into our books.

Here’s what we’re reading this November at The Attic on Eighth…

PLEASE NOTE: ALL THE BOOKS IN THIS PIECE CAN BE FOUND ON THE ATTIC ON EIGHTH’S BOOKSHOP.ORG PAGE.

Olivia Gündüz-Willemin

With November upon us and the clocks having gone back, I’ve found my long evenings again, when nothing feels more appealing to me than curling up in my pajamas and spending some time with my books — something that feels almost miraculous to me after a long reading slump. The book that’s brought me back? L.M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle. This isn’t the first time Montgomery has rescued me from a slump, and that is just one of countless reasons I will forever be grateful to her for her writings. One of her rare novels destined for adults, The Blue Castle is about one Valency Stirling, twenty-nine and unmarried, who is given bad news from her physician. Long oppressed by her family and used to taking refuge from her world in an imaginary castle, Valency takes this news not as a condemnation but as as an announcement of freedom and begins to finally live her life, talking and fighting back to her most unpleasant relatives. The novel is a cathartic delight, and I can’t say how glad I am to be reading it now… ten years after I added it to my shelf but when I needed it the most.

Caitlin Carroll

I’m currently reading An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, which not only provides a stunning and comprehensive look at pre-colonized North America but also reframes the nature of the arriving colonists without the sentimental backdrop familiar in U.S. history textbooks. To offset the seriousness of that, I’ve found humorous solace in the series The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Adams, which focuses on an all-male book club that reads romance novels to understand feminism better and mature past their privilege. It’s delightful.

Camilla Danaher

Recently, I finished the gorgeous graphic novel It’s A Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken by the cartoonist Seth. In a style reminiscent of The New Yorker comics, Seth tells a story about feeling out of place in the modern world, a nostalgia for something that was never truly his, obsession, and how these feelings affect how we love people. It was utterly convincing in its tackling of contradictory emotions, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I finished. To relax, I found Poems to Live Your Life By chosen and illustrated by Chris Riddell. Riddell’s illustrations are sometimes dark but always fun, and the collection is a combination of the familiar (Shakespeare, Leonard Cohen, Dickinson, etc), some new-to-me older poems, and some lighter more modern ones by the likes of Neil Gaiman. In one word: charming. 

Photo by M.A. McCuen.

M.A McCuen

After being in a reading slump for months, I’m finally reading again. Last month I read The Switch by Beth O’Leary. I really loved her debut The Flat Share last year and while this novel wasn’t as good, it was very cozy and soothing to read. I read They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman, which was a YA mystery with Riverdale vibes. It wasn’t the most profound thing I’ve every read, but it was a perfect Halloween week read. I also read A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green, a sequel to his first novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. I’m not a huge fan of science fiction, but Green makes his writing so readable while also combining art and pop culture. I really loved the sequel, as it felt like a great hug to all humanity. Finally, I’ve started reading the much hyped The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab and wow —I’m already so in love with this book. It’s a dreamy kaleidoscope through some of my favorite cities and time periods to read about with the perfect amount of whimsy. It’s the sort of book that I want to race through, but also to savor each moment.

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† This post is not sponsored, however as an affiliate we may receive a small percentage from any purchase made through The Attic On Eighth's Bookshop page dedicated to this reading list at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

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