Read:
Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston (Harper Audio, 2005)
Bangkok Wakes to Rain – Pitchaya Sudbanthad (Riverhead Books, 2019)
Girlfriend on Mars – Deborah Willis (Hamish Hamilton, 2023)
Stubborn Archivist – Yara Rodrigues Fowler (Mariner Books, 2019)
The Wild Heavens – Sarah Louise Butler (Douglas & McIntyre, 2020)
Daughter – Claudia Dey (Penguin Random House, 2023)
Roman Stories – Jhumpa Lahiri (Alfred A. Knopf, 2023) (translated from the Italian by the author and Todd Portnowitz
Inland – Tea Obreht (Random House Audio, 2019)
Currently Reading:
Kingdom, Grace, Judgement – Robert Farrar Capon
Study for Obedience – Sarah Bernstein
America Fantastica – Tim O’Brien
The Flanders Road – Claude Simon
The Mysterious Affair at Styles – Agatha Christie
2023 GOALS:
Books Read: 94/100 (8 in November)
Translated Works: 9/15 (1 in November – Roman Stories translated from Italian)
Books I Already Own: 22/30 (0 in November)
Books From the TBR pre-2020: 17/20 (Their Eyes Were Watching God (2018), Bangkok Wakes to Rain (2019), and Stubborn Archivist (2019))
Current TBR: 200 (previously 203)
Thoughts:
Typing out the books I read in November, I’m pleased by their variety. Two audio books, one e-book, an ARC, 7 from my local library, a short story collection, a translation, 3 from this year, and 5 from past years. And I didn’t DNF a single title!
The standouts in terms of my own enjoyment were Girlfriend on Mars and Daughter (I guess I like Canadian women writers) but there were definite highlights in all of them and none that I struggled to get through. I did struggle with some of the content of Their Eyes Were Watching God but I’m glad I persevered.
What’s Next:
I’m currently reading 5 books at once which is 2 more than my ideal reading amount. This is partially because I optimistically got too many books out of the library/a few holds come in for me all at once. I’ll probably prioritize those in order of due dates but some of them are America Fantastica, Monsters, Ohio, and The Wagers. Since December is such a busy month I’ve decided to limit my audio book listening to Agatha Christie novels readily available through my library app. I don’t plan to review those here but maybe I’ll do a lump review in January if I feel like I have something to say.
As for the blog, reviews are forthcoming for Daughter and Inland. Next week I’ll also begin my Annual Karissa Reads Books Literary Awards. Obviously you’re all very excited about that.
What was your best read of November? Do you set reading goals? Do you feel in a panic to complete those goals now that it’s almost December?
Karissa Reads Books 
Looking forward to the Karissa Awards! My party dress is ready…
Lately, I haven’t had any reading goals. I feel like I’m falling into one thing after the next depending on my time (such as choosing a shorter book or an audiobook if I need material for a review).