Welcome to Quick Lit, where I share short and sweet reviews of what I’ve been reading lately on (or around) the 15th of the month, and invite you to do the same.
It feels to me like our Fall Book Preview just happened—and yet much of my reading time is currently devoted to our Spring Book Preview titles, those publishing between January 1 and mid-April 2025. I’ve also spent many happy hours with Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club reading this month—both for our current selections and as I vet and choose titles we’ll read together in 2025. You’ll see that reflected in my selections below.
Because I do most of my advance reading electronically, I’ve been going with predominantly backlist titles with my audiobooks. Of these selections, regular readers may notice the unusually high percentage of nonfiction in my reading mix this month. I can’t explain how or why that happened: my reading selections are comprised of a heavy dose of both planning and whimsy, and that’s where this past month led me.
I hope you find something that looks intriguing for your TBR on this list (and in these comments), and I look forward to browsing your recent reads below. Thanks in advance for sharing your short and sweet book reviews with us here!
Welcome to November Quick Lit
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
This short story collection about love, sex, relationships, regrets, and secrets was one of my favorite books of 2021 and I feel like I've been talking about it ever since. I revisited it for the third time this fall, since we had the pleasure of hosting Deesha Philyaw in MMD Book Club last week to talk about short stories in general and this collection in particular. Some stories in this collection are quick five page reads; others are closer to 40 pages. All of them make you feel like you're right there to witness a key revelation in the main character's life. More info →
Olympus, Texas: A Novel
I loved this book when I first read it back in 2021: it anchored the Myths & Monsters category for the Summer Reading Guide that year. What a joy to reread this and talk to Stacey Swann about it in MMD Book Club in October! This spellbinding family saga reimagines Greek myths in a small-town Texas setting. In Swann's telling, Olympus, Texas sits on the Brazos River not terribly far from Houston. It's a place where everyone knows everyone else's business, especially when it comes to the notorious Briscoe family. The clan is “a walking collection of deadly sins,” and due to patriarch Peter’s philandering, his children populate several households in town. When prodigal son March returns home after a years-long exile imposed after sleeping with his sister-in- law, he sets a devastating chain of events in motion. Though the story spans a mere six days, several lifetimes’ worth of secrets are revealed in that time, and the ensuing consequences to the family and their town are irrevocable. I especially appreciated that while the Briscoe family sees more than its share of heartbreak in the pages of this novel, Swann includes hints of hope and redemption as well. More info →
Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir
I wish I could remember what train of thought led me to Alderton's debut: I downloaded the audiobook on a whim and it felt like the right book at the right time. In this memoir she explores what she knew and understood about love from the time she was young to the time she wrote the book when she was twenty-eight. The book is written in short chapters that take the form of lists, emails, personal vignettes, and satirical situations, which serves to balance the mood between the heavy and the light, the sincere and the silly. While romantic love features prominently, the book's beating heart is platonic friendship, particularly her nearly life-long relationship with her best friend Farly, which anchors both the book and Alderton's entire life. I pulled my car over to the side of the road so I could jot down this quote from the book's final pages: "Nearly everything I know about love, I’ve learned in my long-term friendship with women." I listened to the audio version narrated by the author and thoroughly enjoyed it in this format. More info →
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Secret, and Me
I've been meaning to read this 2019 memoir ever since I read the author's novel Little Monsters in summer 2023. I love novels about complicated family relationships; this memoir hits the same things albeit in a different genre. The story begins on a summer night in Cape Cod, when the author's mother wakes her up at midnight to tell her she's just kissed her father's best friend. The author was fourteen at the time. So begins a decades-long affair, which the author is complicit in—and an essential accessory to—from the very beginning. This devastating secret would come to wreak havoc in the lives of all involved, and it would take many, many years for the full effects to be felt. This is a story about secrets, of course, about a complex and chaotic mother-daughter relationship, and about the daughter's difficult road to break the cycle of generational trauma. It's also very much a story about food, food writing, and Cape Cod. I listened to the audio version narrated by Julia Whelan, which was excellent. If you opt for this format, don't miss the conversation between author and narrator at the end. More info →
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Multiple readers—including several MMD team members—recommended this truth-is-stranger-than-fiction narrative to me, particularly because I've enjoyed reading fine arts thrillers and books about art crime in the past. This story of French thief Stéphane Breitwieser's unmatched eight-year crime spree almost defies belief. In his meticulously researched tale, Finkel lays out how and why Breitwieser carried out more than 200 thefts of fine art worth over a billion dollars from 1994 to 2001, nabbing works from museums and galleries in France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. This was interesting, if not exactly emotionally resonant. In fact, the bit that intrigued me most was Finkel's almost passing reference to how Breitwieser has more in common with bibliomaniacs than with his fellow art thiefs—I would have loved to have heard more about that! I listened to the audio version, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. More info →
Weyward
I'm happy to share this is our January 2025 MMD Book Club selection! I knew it was a great pick when I devoured the audiobook in two days and came away with both a deep feeling of readerly satisfaction and an urge to talk about what happened with my fellow readers. This layered story weaves together the narratives of three different women in the same family, over a timeline that spans five centuries. In the 1600s Altha is accused of being a witch for her knowledge of natural remedies and the healing arts. In the 1940s Violet is coming of age during WWII in a home where men are all-powerful and women are feared, though her own mother is absent, having died mysteriously when she was young. And in 2019 Kate is a young professional in London who is feeling increasingly isolated and imperiled due to her increasingly disturbing relationship with her boyfriend. Though living in different eras and facing different circumstances, Hart shows us how these women are fundamentally alike and share a deep spiritual connection that will ultimately save them. Weyward reminds me a little bit of Sarah Addison Allen and a whole lot of Kate Morton, two authors I love. I'm excited to read more from Hart—but first I'm excited to reread Weyward for Book Club and discuss it with the author in January! More info →
What have YOU been reading lately? Tell us about your recent reads—or share the link to a blog or instagram post about them—in comments.
39 comments
My reading month included a couple great romances plus a nonfiction book that may be my favorite book of 2024!
https://neverenoughnovels.com/2024/11/14/november-2024-mini-book-reviews/
The Art Thief is definitely going on my list!
Here’s what I read in October. I finally found something that could scratch my Stranger Things itch a little: https://www.allthebooksihaventread.com/blog-1/2024/11/14/show-us-your-books-november-2024
Michael Finkel’s earlier book, True Story, was fascinating.
Just finished his book, “Stranger in the Woods”, fascinating true story about a modern hermit.
In the last month or so I’ve read:
Washington’s Heir, by Gerard Magliocca (biography of Washington’s nephew, Justice Bushrod Washington, I heard about this on Book TV)
The Groom says Yes, by Cathy Maxwell
The Girl in the Photo, by Sam Carrington, a very troubling British mystery
Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews, (rereading for our book club)
The President’s Daughter, by Bill Clinton and James Patterson (rereading for our book club)
Moby Dick, by Herman Melville (LONG CD audiobook in the car)
Let It Glow, by Marissa Meyer
And I’ve started:
Madly, Deeply: the diaries of Alan Rickman
The Dinner, by Herman Koch
Lies and Weddings, by Kevin Kwan
An audio book seems just right for old Moby! I admire your tenacity!
In this month’s BOOKBAG, I’m talking about 10 books that have calmed, healed, and inspired me. (Bonus points because they’re the perfect Christmas gifts!)
https://lindastoll.substack.com/p/porch-159-10-exceptional-books-to
Stacey Swann will be speaking at my hometown library in TX this weekend! She is actually from a town nearby. We read Olympus Texas for book club recently.
I’ll put Weyward on my TBR. I am currently reading: The Wall Of Life by Shirley MacLaine. The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins and Here One Moment by Liana Moriarity
Also meeting with my book club today and we will discuss William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace. My first time reading him and I’d been meaning to forever.
And lastly, just finished Lisa-Marie Presley/Riley Keough’s FromHere To The Great Unknown.
Down to the wire and I’ll need to read 2 books each week to meet my reading challenge. I fell behind when we traveled for a month in August and when we got home I had Covid. So annoying!!
I heard Terry Gross interviewing Riley Keough, and while I am no fan of Elvis or his kin, I have to admit that the book sounded intriguing!
How dare other things get in the way of our reading!! 🙂 I’m behind on my goals too. I just read The Wall of Life as well. A very intimate look at her life. I had no idea she was 90! William Kent Krueger’s stand-alone books are so wonderful! I just had a friend tell me to read Lisa-Marie’s book, so I think I’ll use an audible credit for that one. Good luck with your reading goal.
So enjoyed Weyward when I read it and it’s not even a genre I normally read!
I did not know why I borrowed the audio of Weyward from Libby this past week, but now I do – its to be our Jan. pick. I have not started it yet.
Otherwise, I am slogging through Louise Penney’s The Grey Wolf – not sure why this one isn’t resonating, but I have decided to put it aside for now.
Just started The Wildes by Louis Bayard. Also reading Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for a six week in depth online program through the Rosenbach museum – I can’t tell you how much nerdy good fun is going on there every Monday evening. And last night I made a start on P.D. James Death of an Expert Witness. Kind of scattered, but in a good way. 🙂
I’m currently reading a memoir that is blowing my mind. It’s called Wavewalker by Suzanne Heywood. In the mid-70s, the author’s father decided to take his family (mom, 7-year-old Suzanne, and 6-year-old Joe) on a voyage around the world to commemorate Cook’s 3rd voyage. Fraught with danger, the voyage actually took closer to 10 years, during which time Sue and her brother are constantly in peril and largely deprived of education, friends, and sometimes food.
Before that, I finished a historical fantasy languishing in my Kindle: The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow (Starling House and 10,000 Doors of January). Set in Salem in the 1890s, Harrow weaves the women’s suffragette movement with magic and witchcraft to create a captivating novel about what it means to be a woman in dangerous times. I love her writing–she is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine.
You’ve sold me on Wavewalker!
I’ve got a novel with a genre I’m not sure how to describe, a book I picked up after seeing a fellow passenger reading it on a plane, and a high school required reading that my book club recently tackled.
https://carolinestarrrose.com/quick-lit-what-ive-been-reading-lately-40/
Hello! I read Weyward a few months ago and although I enjoyed it I came away with the feeling that the author must not like men very much; almost every male character in the book was either weak, or simply cruel.
My recent reads are:
* Before We forget the Kindness (Book #5 in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, 4 stars
* Dear Mrs. Bird and Yours, Cheerfully by AJ Pearce, 4 stars. These two books tell the story of Emmy and her best friend, Bunty, in WWII London. Despite the hardships and gloom of the war, the characters are upbeat and simply charming. There is a third book in the series which is on my library holds list.
* The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny, 3.5 stars. I love this series and the recurring characters, but this installment was frustrating. The plot was too far-fetched and seemed overly complicated, and the story just didn’t have a lot of new developments in the lives of the beloved characters. I was pretty disappointed…
Current reads are The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, We Solve Murders by Richard Osman (audiobook), and The Briar Club by Kate Quinn.
Happy Reading!
Gosh, I didn’t come away at all from Weyward with that sentiment. Her brother, Graham, is kind to her and a running character throughout her story.
The book recognized that throughout history women have largely been at the mercy of men and whether that was a good or bad thing was dependent on the character of the men who had the control. A prior therapist shared with me (I’m in my 40s so this isn’t someone who was ancient) that she couldn’t open a credit card or checking account without her husband and was not able to have her tubes tied after having two children without her husband’s permission. This is not a long time ago!
Well, I think Graham was the one and only decent man in the book. It is crazy how restricted women were not that long ago. I remember watching an episode of the Call the Midwife series set in the late 1960’s in which a newlywed woman wanted to press charges against her husband for rape, only to be told by the London police that “…there is no such crime as rape of a wife by her husband.” Shocking and sad, but I suspect this was true for the time period.
I so loved all three in AJ Pearce’s series. I was sad when it ended.
There is one more book in the A.J. Pearce series, Mrs. Porter Calling. Don’t miss it!
The Art Thief sounds great! Truth-is-stranger-than-fiction is always a winner for me.
Here’s what I’ve been reading: https://readeatrepeat.net/2024/11/books-in-progress-november-2024/
Once again I need to add books to my ever growing TBR list – The Art Thief and Wild Game sound interesting. What I read this month https://myviewofthehoneypot.blogspot.com/2024/11/what-i-read-november.html
A book about Church Ladies?
How have I missed that?
Here are my recommendations for Advent reading: https://michelemorin.net/2024/11/06/four-new-resources-for-your-advent-reflection/
I recently finished Anthony Fauci’s memoir, On Call, which is tremendously interesting. While most of us likely associate Fauci with Covid, it was, in reality, a small component of his storied career.
Books 61-72 of the year:
https://thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com/2024/11/reading-update.html
I had my most productive reading month of the year in October. I know numbers don’t matter but it does occasionally feel good to cruise through some books and knock down that TBR list a little. Also greatly helped by reading quite a few books with my 6 year old this month! I think I read my favorite book of the year in October as well! (The Opt-Out Family by Erin Loechner, highly recommend for all parents.)
October Reading Recap
I will be adding the Dolly Alderton to my almost 20-year-old daughter’s Christmas book stack. I think she would love it.
In the last month, I’ve read/listened to some newer titles and some backlist. None of them were 5 stars, but still good reads.
The Third Gilmore Girl on audio
And So I Roar on audio
Sandwich on audio
Brooklyn on audio and watched the movie
plus two Bible study books, God’s Relentless Love and Simon Peter.
https://www.sincerelystacie.com/2024/11/quick-lit-november-2024-edition/
I just got a notification from Goodreads that their Reader’s Choice awards are open for voting, (and I want to say that there are too many that are just recently released and I haven’t been able to read or even get hold of them yet! Too soon! Frustrating!) Anyway, I looked back at the awards for 2023, and Weyward won in two different categories! So I was surprised to see it on your list, but not! I am interested.
For the last month, these are what I’ve read:
Sandwich by Catherine Newman—GOOD! I like her writing!
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell—truly creepy, this was the fastest book I read this month.
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio—pretty interesting premise and it worked….sort of. Too long. Oodles of different choices for husband, coming out of the attic…
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman—-authentic Richard Osman, for sure, zippy, witty banter. Outrageous, in the style of the movie, REDS. A little long. You know how they tell speakers to vary pitch, pace and power? This one has the same pace throughout.
In Our Likeness by Bryan VanDyke. About AI, didn’t really do it for me.
Winter Sisters by Robin Oliveira—the sequel to My Name is Mary Sutter, and yes, it’s a continuation, Mary is now a doctor, but it’s a completely different story. I did like it! Old Albany NY history.
I Think We’ve Been Here Before by Suzy Krause. I liked her debut very much, but this one? I didn’t understand the ending. I feel like, unless I’m really a dummy, that this one left a lot unsaid and unexplained, although the premise was stellar! (which is a pun of a sort).
Right now trying to finish After the Flood by Kassandra Montag, and “rereading” Project Hail Mary on audio! Sooooo good!
I just read Sandwich too, listened to it actually. I liked it but didn’t love it. I could relate to a lot of the empty-nester feelings as a newer empty-nester and some of the menopause stuff but the rest was just ok.
I loved Olympus Texas. I recommend it all the time. Recently finished Shred Sisters. It was excellent. Good family drama – I think Anne would like it. I’m finishing up Like Mother, Like Mother – this one is just okay for me.
The Art Thief was good on audio- fascinating story
I still have The Secret Lives of Church Ladies on my list. Thanks for the reminder!
The library was good to me this month! My holds became available for both Matt Haig’s, The Life Impossible, and Judy Piloult’s, By Any Other Name. Both are good! I also read 4 really great nonfiction books.
All 6 book recommendations are here:
https://lisanotes.com/books-i-recommend-november-2024/
I had never read aa Adriana Trigiani but very much enjoyed The Shoemaker’s Wife this past month. It’s a little over the top sweet but overall a lovely lifetime love story.
This month, I’ve really had to start being more intentional with my reading so that I’ll be able to complete my reading challenges in time, especially the Diversity Across Genres reading challenge. I love how it brings me out of my bubble and comfort zone and always opens my eyes to something new. I appreciate all the title ideas I get here!
https://avikinginla.com/2024/11/what-ive-been-reading-lately-october-2024/
This month I am reviewing a few (excellent) books I’ve read recently with my kids, a fantastic mystery, a literary novel that surprised me, a lovely found-family story, some poetry that was not my jam, and nonfiction on marriage, parenting, and the current cultural climate.
https://kendranicole.net/quick-lit-november-2024/
I had such a good mix of books this past month! Including that I *finally* read A Man Called Ove this month after hearing about it here forever.
https://cocoonofbooks.blogspot.com/2024/11/what-ive-been-reading-lately-quick-lit.html
October Reading Wrap Up 🍂
https://readingladies.com/2024/10/29/october-2024-reading-wrap-up-octoberreadingwrapup-bookx-bookworm-amreading-bookblogger-readinglife/
My husband and I just returned from a trip to the east coast. We spent several days in Newport, RI, and toured some of the “summer cottages” of the rich and famous in “The Gilded Age. I’ve immersed myself in reading about some of the families and events of life in Newport including: “Vanderbilt”, by Andersen Cooper and Katherine Howe: “Homicide at Rough Point” by Peter Lance: “Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune, by Anderson Cooper. I now know more than I ever need to know about their lifestyles!
Anne, I haven’t read The Art Thief yet, but your comment about his having more in common with a bibliomaniac reminded me of an old episode of the Criminal podcast called Ex Libris. I think you would enjoy it! https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-22-ex-libris-6-26-2015/
Finkel’s The Stranger in the Woods
(Nonfiction) is also a good read and falls into that non fiction books that read like fiction category.
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