November 2019 reading round-up

Holly tree

Well, once again I only finished four books this month, but in my defence one of them was massive. We started November with a weekend away in London and ended it with a trip to Glastonbury. Both involved bookshops, as did the weekends in-between in Bristol. I bought far more books than I read this month and I am not sorry (about the first half of that statement; I’m a little sorry about not reading more).

Happy December!

Books read

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
What more can I say about this classic graphic novel? It is emotionally draining and challenging, but absolutely worth reading.

Letters from Tove by Tove Jansson
A large volume of Tove Jansson’s letters to friends, family and partners, covering most of her life. This is a real insight into the mind of the beloved author and artist, and thankfully she comes across as just as warm, generous and nature-loving as you’d expect from the creator of the Moomins.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
Another excellent graphic novel, this time about teen romance. Freddy Riley is a completely believable heroine, desperate for answers about her love life and failing to notice that her love life is damaging her friendships. I really like that this is LGBTQ but it’s not a coming out story, it’s a story everyone will recognise.

Exemplary Tales by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
This is my Portugal choice for the EU Reading Challenge. The author is best known as a poet but she is also an excellent writer of short stories. They tend to have religious or moral themes, which I would usually find offputting, but I actually rather liked them.