what I read in november 2011...

I tried to read 11 books in the 11^th month...I even got sneaky and deliberately chose small books! But I failed to reach the target...no book reading bonus for me this month J

What with trips to Newcastle to look after mum and dad, and a road trip for work, the start of the silly season and the madness that is the end of the year in a consulting firm where clients leave everything until the last minute bless them, reading has been a bit light on. I still managed nine though:

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg - fiction

The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway - fiction

The Wah Wah Diaries by Richard E. Grant - memoir

Circle of Three by Patricia Gaffney - fiction

A Year in the Valley by Jackie French - memoir

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes - fiction (this year's Man Booker Prize winner)

What I Wish I Knew When I Was 18 - fluff

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris - memoir

A Widow's Story by Joyce Carol Oates - memoir

Books read so far this year: 72

I've just noticed that I read an equal number of fiction and memoir last month. My choices are rarely deliberate and I'll often pick something up, start it and then realise it's not the right time to read it. Do you think there's a right time to read a certain book? 

My favourite this month was the first one I read ~ Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. It was such an unusual thriller, with complex relationships that provided real depth; a not particularly likeable heroine, but a fascinating one, and set partly in Greenland and partly in Denmark it took me to places I've never been. The information about snow was also (surprisingly) interesting. I wouldn't say it was an easy read and probably not for everyone...I can imagine people throwing it in the corner in frustration... but I thought it was really worth the time spent with it.

I've only read one book so far this month, so December will also be a bit light on I suspect! I hope you're finding time for some books in between shopping and wrapping :)