I didn’t have as a lot time as ordinary to learn this month as I used to be actually busy with work (reward information season, cyber week!) however I nonetheless managed six books. For me the principle highlights had been Conform (a brand new fantasy sequence to like, with the second e-book popping out this summer season!) and What Form of Paradise (a literary thriller that blew me away). Plus a number of extra nice thrillers and an audiobook full of tales and profession recommendation.
What I learn in November 2025
Inform me what you learn and beloved within the feedback part: I at all times store your recs. And for much more books, take a look at The Library: a catalog of each single e-book I’ve learn over the previous ten+ years; you may even filter by style and kind by greatest/worst.
PS – Final month’s record! Additionally, take a look at my record of good books for fall!
Fantasy
Conform, by Ariel Sullivan
This one seems like a mashup between Love is Blind, The Handmaid’s Story, and The Starvation Video games. Emeline has been a lifelong outcast. She spends her days within the basement of her metropolis’s capitol constructing, the place she marks historic artworks for destruction. It’s centuries after a horrible battle the place humanity was practically decimated. Now, the town thrives underneath the rule of a bunch known as The Illum. The inhabitants’s well being is continually monitored, and procreation contracts are take critically. In the meantime, Emeline is twenty seven and ready for the MIND machine (a well being monitoring chip that’s embedded into everybody’s wrist to mark her prepared for a mate. A mate might change every part for her: elevating her standing inside society, giving her new alternatives. When the unthinkable occurs (for the primary time in years, an Illum takes a mate–and he chooses Eveline), her entire world is modified and he or she is thrust into a life-style of events and fancy courtship rituals. In the meantime, Emeline finds herself torn between two males: there may be additionally Hal, one of many leaders of an underground resistance. As Emeline attracts nearer to each males, she should query every part and resolve which facet she is on. That is enjoyable, unputdownable, and has me so excited for a sequel! Total Rating A- // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
Thriller
The Intruder, by Freida McFadden
I’ve actually turned a nook on Freida McFadden. Initially, I judged the writing. However the twistiness of her plots greater than makes up for the extra easy and generally easy writing model. Her books are at all times quick, enjoyable, propulsive reads you can’t put down. I’m at a degree the place I order something she’s written, sight unseen. This one delivered. I stayed up late studying it and didn’t see one of many large twists coming! Casey is a younger lady dwelling alone in a cabin within the woods. She’s getting ready for an extended night time when she discovers a younger lady lurking exterior her kitchen window. The lady is alone, coated in blood, and holding a knife. Casey invitations her in and makes an attempt to determine what’s occurred, making a disturbing discovery in the midst of the night time. Issues take a flip for the more severe. The lady has a secret and she’s going to kill to maintain it. Casey alternates between wanting to guard the lady and shield herself. In between chapters, we get to know Ella, a sufferer of kid abuse. She is the college outcast with a hoarder mom. We empathize along with her as she does every part she will to simply survive and get by when the entire world appears to be in opposition to her. I’ll say no extra however extremely advocate this! Total Rating A- // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
What Form of Paradise, by Janelle Brown
I’m classifying this as a thriller, however that feels a bit reductive: the writing is attractive, and it might simply as simply be labeled as literary fiction. Jane grew up within the woods of Montana. Her father is her whole world. They dwell in a tiny cabin stuffed with books and an previous range. They develop their greens in a backyard and kill their very own chickens. They’re as self-sufficient and off the grid as anybody will be within the Nineteen Nineties. She research nineteenth-century philosophy and ultimately learns HTML to assist her father publish his manifesto on-line. Her father is her entire world. However as Jane enters her teenage years, she is bored, and begins to comprehend that her father could also be retaining horrible secrets and techniques. She longs for connection (and solutions!), begging her father to affix him on his journeys exterior of the cabin. However when she realizes that her love for her father has triggered her to develop into an confederate in a horrible crime, her world is shattered. She flees Montana for the one place the place she believes she will get some solutions: San Francisco–the place that her mom died, the place her father lived and labored in earlier than Montana. Can she get solutions to her questions? Can she ever forgive herself for what she allowed her father to do? I’ll say no extra because it actually is greatest to learn this realizing as little as doable! I actually beloved this one. Total Rating A+ // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
We Don’t Discuss About Carol, by Kristen L. Berry
After her grandmother’s passing, Sydney Singleton finds a hidden {photograph} of a bit of lady that appears similar to her. Some research tells her that the lady is her aunt Carol, one among six Black ladies to go lacking in North Carolina through the Sixties. However Sydney and her sister Sasha had no thought her aunt Carol even existed! Along with her grandmother (and father) gone, Sydney decides to unravel the reality and work out what actually occurred to Aunt Carol (and the opposite ladies). Her search leads her to Detroit, Brooklyn, and backwards and forwards between Los Angeles and Raleigh. In the meantime, Sydney is grappling along with her personal points: her traumatic childhood and abusive father, her personal nervousness about motherhood (as she goes by way of IVF), and her troublesome relationship along with her mom. As Sydney searches to seek out out what occurred to Carol, she should confront her personal baggage. Household secrets and techniques come out, and he or she should do every part she will to remain afloat as she entangles an online of lies that encompass her household. I couldn’t put this down, I discovered it extremely pleasant (and I beloved the twist). Total Rating A- // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
The Elevate, by Ali Kriegsman
Alexis Ecker has at all times been the behind-the-scenes type of kind. She stays out of the highlight, whereas her co-founder Darcy (their trend startup Savvy’s CEO) is entrance and middle. When Darcy dies in a freak accident at Burning Man, Alexis should grieve the loss of life of her easiest pal but additionally rescue her firm from the brink of chapter. At simply 29 years previous, she feels misplaced and isn’t certain who to belief–particularly as she finds herself underneath ruthless strain to ship a big new spherical of VC funding. The whole lot is ok! It’s high-quality! No actually. As Alexis makes an attempt to woo buyers and get her firm onto the fitting monitor, secrets and techniques come out. Did she actually know Darcy? Was Darcy retaining secrets and techniques from her? Was her loss of life truly an accident? The plot is darkish and twisty, studying like a psychological thriller. I couldn’t put it down. It introduced me again to my very own trend startup days, gave me empathy for my former bosses (the co-founders), and stored me on my toes. I let loose an audible sigh on the finish! Extremely pleasant, although very disturbing! Total Rating A- // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
Non-Fiction
All of the Cool Ladies Get Fired, by Laura Brown and Kristina O’Neill
I actually beloved this. Lots of the recommendation was not pertinent to my life proper now, however I used to be laid off again in 2008, and man, do I want this e-book existed! The sensible recommendation is top-notch, and the interviews would have left me feeling a lot much less alone. Brown and O’Neill share their very own experiences with being let go from high-profile careers, however in addition they interview some unbelievable ladies: Lisa Kudrow, Jamie Lee Curtis, Oprah (!!), and extra. I listened to it on audio and beloved it. I’d extremely advocate it to anybody who has ever been fired, but additionally if you’re feeling stagnant in your profession or want a change. Or are simply feeling down. The tales are actually empowering. The e-book is a mixture of sensible and inspirational. A guidebook to the not too long ago let go/fired/laid off, but additionally chock filled with inspiring tales from ladies all of us love and admire. Total Rating // Order on Bookshop or Amazon
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