Wow… I was sipping my coffee the other day and realized that it was soon time to draft another reading list. November FLEW by, more so than any other month this year. It truly feels like yesterday when I posted my October 2025 reading list. Nonetheless, here are the adventures I got into this month.
The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, Book 7) by Stephen King
All good things must come to an end, and, sadly, book 7 of this HUGE series ended sooner than anticipated for me. I was about halfway through this final novel in the Dark Tower series when I realized that I just wasn’t having fun with it anymore. To get this far into the series and not finish the book is wild, I know.
Hear me out. I lost steam with the series in the last book, which I reviewed last month. I think that title put a damper on my spirits, and that carried over into book 7. Furthermore, I lost touch with the characters and the ka-tet that we came to know and love.
Wizard and Glass was the book that ruined Dark Tower for me because it was SO good. I found myself trying to chase that “high” with the final two books, and, again, it wasn’t there for me.
I imagine I will return to the journey of Roland and his ka-tet at some point in my life. Not only that, but I won’t give this book a rating at this time.
Children of Memory (Children of Time Book 3) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Another series has come to an end. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books of the Children of Time series, but I felt that this third and final installment was missing something. My last main critique of this title is that it’s SLOW in its pacing. Some readers may like that; others may not.
Spoilers: Most of the book turns out to be some sort of simulation from a device embedded in the planet. That…ruined it for me. This book just felt “meh” compared to the other two in the series. I am a firm believer that, as you get closer to the end of a series, you lose steam and the final book becomes a struggle bus.
Children of Memory gets a 3/5 for me. I hope to lose its sour memory. ⭐⭐⭐
Billy Summers by Stephen King
I’ve been excited for this read for a long time! I recently finished 11/22/63 and Billy Summers had a lot of those same elements within its storyline. Of course, the book is entirely unique and much shorter, but the premise feels rather similar at times.
This book never felt boring and kept me engaged for the most part. There are some slower parts that I feel like we have come to expect with a Stephen King novel. Like I said, there were a few parts that I found dull, but I still think this was an excellent read.
I think a lot of us are believing that King is a horror-only writer (at least this was my impression before I got back into reading.) Books like 11/22/63 and Billy Summers are from the horror genre, and I think it’s another great way to get exposed to King’s style. I’ve been on a King kick for the past few months (it seems like every other book I read is from him), and this one I highly recommend. 4/5 stars from me! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
I’ve seen this title floating around for a bit now, and I decided it was time to enter the world of Blake Crouch. Up until this month, I had not read a book by this author before, and—wow—was that a mistake!
This book is packed full of physics, multiverse lingo, and time travel. What more could a Sci-Fi fan want? Better yet—the plot is riveting, and I never felt that the book got boring or slow. I think it takes a talented author to blend this many elements of science with a compelling story that will have the reader on the edge of their seat!
Our main character takes a mind-bending journey across the multiverse, forcing him to confront countless versions of the life he could have lived, and ultimately, battle to reclaim his identity and the family he loves.
The last part of the book threw me for an absolute surprise. 5/5 stars from me! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Recursion by Blake Crouch
Another Blake Crouch novel. The thing I liked about Dark Matter and Recursion is that they were both quick reads. Don’t get me wrong, I love having a book that takes me a while to read, but occasionally it’s nice to get those quick novels in. Both of these took me a few days to get through.
Recursion is a mind-bending sci-fi thriller where a detective and a neuroscientist must race to save reality from a technology that resets time and inflicts the world with maddening, false memories of lives never lived. The false memory thing was really cool to see play out, and I think Crouch does a brilliant job of warping back and forth between worlds.
Recursion has plenty of similar elements to Dark Matter, and, admittedly, I have confused myself a few times in mixing the two up. Looking back, I should have spaced them apart, but I think Blake Crouch might be my new favorite author. His writing style is very engaging, and I think part of the reason his books are on the shorter side has to do with the fact that he doesn’t fill them with paragraphs of “so-so” content.
Recursion follows similar tropes that we see with Crouch’s writing insofar as we get a stellar dose of physics, time travel, alternate universes, etc. I’ve come to respect writers who can keep it all together and not get mixed up with timelines. It’s hard enough to write in the present, and I think it takes a special author to keep track of everything and still make a compelling story.
If you’re newer to Sci-Fi and alternative universes, I think this novel is another great start! 4/5 stars from me ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thanks for reading! We’ll see you back here in January for another reading list (assuming we’re all still around and the idiots running the USA don’t get us into too much hot water.)
