Since I fell behind with my October ARCs, I decided to fit them into my November 2023 TBR List when I can. My November ARC list is manageable, so I might be able to squeeze in an October ARC. But I also need to read more SFINCS novellas and, ideally, a book or two “for fun.” November is also SciFi Month and hopefully I can overlap some of my ARC and novella reads with that. So here’s what I decided for my November 2023 TBR List.
Priority Reads
CALAMITY by Constance Fay: This is the first book published by Bramble, which is Tor Publishing Group’s new imprint for romance. Technically I started this in late October, but will finish it this month. It’s a sci-fi romance, which obviously is perfect for SciFi Month.
GWEN & ART ARE NOT IN LOVE by Lex Croucher: I am almost ashamed to admit I have had this sitting in my NetGalley queue for months. But that’s ok. That tagline is, “Heartstopper meets A Knight’s Tale in this queer medieval rom com YA debut about love, friendship, and being brave enough to change the course of history.” You all know I love an Arthurian retelling.
THE KINGDOM OF SWEETS by Erika Johnson: I used to do ballet and The Nutcracker has been my favorite performance since I was little. I don’t often see retellings of this classic, so I jumped on this opportunity when I saw it on NetGalley. The price point means adults are the target audience. It “…tells the tale of twin sisters, divided by envy and magic, set against each another one fateful Christmas Eve.” I really hope I enjoy it!
ROXY BUCKLES AND THE FLIGHT OF THE SPARROW by Nicole Little: This novella is one of many assigned to my SFINCS team. And it’s sci-fi, which makes it perfect for another SciFi Month read. It looks a sci-fi mystery in which Roxy, the main character, is a bounty hunter/mercenary who seeks to prove her fiance to justice.
HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD by Sarah J. Maas: I started this in October and read about 300 of the 800+ pages. I really want to finish it this month so that I can then start on the second book. My goal is to read the first two books before the next one comes out at the end of January 2024.
Hopeful Reads
WHAT THE RIVER KNOWS by Isabel Ibañez: This ARC was on my TBR last month, but I couldn’t get to it. The tagline is: “The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in What the River Knows, Isabel Ibañez’s lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt and filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.” I haven’t seen a ton of commentary about this one, but I believe what I did see was all positive.
THE WORDS OF KINGS AND PROPHETS by Shauna Lawless: This is another ARC that fell to the wayside. Not because I’m uninterested, but because that’s how life is. Everything I happened to see about this book, sans reading reviews until I’ve read it, is positive. I really enjoyed the first book and I look forward to reading this second installment.
TWO TWISTED CROWNS by Rachel Gillig: Yes, yes, this is yet another October ARC. See what I mean by falling behind? This is a highly-anticipated read for me. I’ve been avoiding reviews until I get to it. But the general reactions I’ve seen are, again, positive. It will be nice to finish this considering I have quite a few duologies/series started.
SEA OF TRANQUILITY by Emily St. John Mandel: This sci-fi book is on the shorter side. One could either call it a longer novella or a shorter book. But it would be nice to finally read it and it would also fall into my SciFi Month bucket. “The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time travel, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.“
Are any of these books also on your November 2023 TBR list?
SciFi Month artwork copyright:Â Yosua Bungaran Cahya Putra.
Good Luck with your November TBR. None of these are on my list although I am tempted by the Erika Johansen as I loved The Tearling books. I have got Station Eleven to read though as part of SciFi month.
Thanks, Janette! I hope I can get to Station Eleven, we’ll see…I completely forgot to include IRON FLAME on this list, so that might change my reading a bit this month.
I’ve got some October review books I haven’t read too, you’re not the only one. I’ll be reading Calamity also, and Sea of Tranquility was in my top five books of 2022 (although technically it’s the sequel to The Glass Hotel but you can read it first) Have a great month!
Glad I’m not the only one! I always feel bad when I can’t get to them on time even though I know I want to read them. I’ll get there at my own pace!
I didn’t realize SEA OF TRANQUILITY is technically a sequel, so that’s good to know I can still read it as a standalone.
I hope you enjoy Art & Gwen! I’ve heard good things about it and it sounds so cute 🙂 I’ve also got Sea of Tranquility and Maas’ book on my TBR and I feel like they’ve been on there for ages, lol. Happy reading!
Thanks! Seems like a lot of people who’ve commented on this post have either read or have SEA OF TRANQUILITY on their TBR. Don’t think I’ve seen anything negative about the book. Regardless, hopefully I’ll be able to get to it.
Good luck. Here is to hoping you can fit in some reads for scifimonth. I also need to read What the River Knows!
Thanks Annemieke! Sadly I had to DNF a sci-fi novella (not the one listed here). I was a bit bummed because I would’ve liked to have written a review for SciFi Month. I suppose technically I still can, but I’m also not motivated to write a DNF review for it (also since it’s part of a competition and I don’t want to look like a meanie).