Welcome and happy November! The year is almost over, and, yes, we all know that “time flies.” That’s why I like reading books—sinking into an adventure while we escape the hustle and bustle of the real world! October was chaotic. I am taking 5 classes this semester, AND I finally launched a business that I have been contemplating for at least a year—if not two. You can check it out here: https://10kweb.co With all that being said, please give me some grace. There was little time for reading, but I still was able to get some great reads in!
11/22/63 by Stephen King
This book is a LONG read, but 110% worth it. I think this is one of Stephen King’s most brilliant books. My wife and I took this book on the road with us for our honeymoon, listening to the AMAZING audiobook narrated by Craig Wasson. Wasson is a seasoned narrator and a true class act in the audiobook world, renowned for his exceptional performances. His masterful narration elevates an already great story, bringing King’s characters and narrative to life in a way that makes the lengthy journey absolutely captivating.
So what’s the book about? 11/22/63 follows Jake Epping, a high school English teacher who discovers a portal to 1958 in the back of a local diner. His friend Al, the diner’s dying owner, convinces Jake to use the portal for an extraordinary mission: travel back in time and prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. But Jake quickly learns that the past doesn’t want to be changed—it pushes back, hard. As he spends years in the past waiting for that fateful day in Dallas, Jake builds a new life, falls in love, and grapples with the moral weight of altering history. It’s a masterful blend of historical fiction, romance, thriller, and King’s signature exploration of how our choices ripple through time.
I greatly enjoy reading how different authors handle the paradox that is time travel. There are so many nuances to it, and I think some authors can struggle with keeping up with each paradox. King, being the seasoned author he is, navigates the wormholes of time perfectly.
There were definitely a few parts of this book that seemed to drag on a bit, particularly in the middle. That is my only complaint, and I think the amazingness of this book outweighs any negatives. With these things in mind, I award this book 5/5 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
I loved this book! I discovered it by chance while scrolling through Reddit—someone had asked for medieval fiction recommendations, and I’m so glad I found it.
This novel is part of a time travel series where researchers and students from Oxford University journey back in time to observe historical events as they unfold. While other books in the series explore periods like World War II, this one follows Kivrin, a young historian eager to experience the Middle Ages firsthand. She travels back to 1320 to observe a medieval village during the Christmas season, but things go catastrophically wrong. Due to an error in the time travel calculations, events begin to unfold that will have you eagerly turning each page.
I don’t necessarily fall in love with characters and their arcs in stories, but this title did it for me. Willis writes her characters in such depth that you can almost sense them in the room with you while reading. How fun!
4/5 stars for me. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah by Stephen King
The sixth installment of the Dark Tower series was… a miss for me. Ask most fans of the series and they will rate Sonf of Susannah as a low point. I just couldn’t get into the book, and I missed the tight-knit group of gunslingers that we have come to know throughout the series.
One of the things that I really disliked about the book is that Stephen King inserts himself into the plot. It was neat at first but just felt weird. But, hey, it’s something new, and I guess I found it cool in some parts—but overdone in others.
I am hopeful that the final book in the series brings our beloved characters back together as they face their final challenges in their quest to the Dark Tower.
This book has been bashed enough by readers, so I will save time. It’s one to get through so that you can get to Book VII. If you enjoyed this title, please let me know in the comments below!
3/5 stars for me. ⭐⭐⭐ Read it just so you can continue the quest!
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
A classic novel that explores many taboo subjects—what could go wrong?
Vonnegut packs so many themes into such a short novel that I think reading it multiple times will only do this masterpiece justice. There are elements of time travel, aliens, war, and more.
This title is banned in many schools throughout the United States. I took a banned books class in high school, and I think we were slated to read this title but chose another instead. That’s all to say that my destiny with this book would come later in life. For that, I am grateful, simply for the fact that I could grasp the weight of the elements much more as an adult than I would have as a kid.
Vonnegut, a POW in World War II, spent two decades writing this book as he struggled to find the right words to capture the horrors he witnessed during the firebombing of Dresden. His personal experience as a prisoner of war infuses the novel with raw authenticity and emotional weight that only a survivor could convey.
Free will, the absurdity of war, and more are explored in this absolutely riveting novel.
5/5 stars—a title that everyone should read. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Long Walk by Stephen King (published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman)
Looking back on this list, I am reminded of just how much SK I’ve read this month. I actually finished this title on October 31st, so maybe it was fate that it made it into October’s list.
I’ve had The Long Walk on my radar for quite some time now.
In a dystopian America, one hundred teenage boys volunteer for “The Long Walk,” an annual competition where they must maintain a pace of at least four miles per hour without stopping. If a walker drops below the pace, he receives a warning. After three warnings, the penalty is death, delivered immediately by execution from the soldiers accompanying the march. The boys walk day and night, through exhaustion, pain, and mental breakdown, until only one remains alive. The sole survivor wins “The Prize”—anything he wants for the rest of his life. Our main character is Ray Garraty, a sixteen-year-old from Maine, as he bonds with fellow walkers, witnesses friends die around him, and confronts the psychological and physical toll of this nightmarish endurance test.
If you’re not a fan of sudden endings, this book might not be for you. We don’t really get much background about “The Walk” or really how society led to the annual contest in the first place. The book is short enough to be a few-day read (or one day if you are like some readers I know!)
For me, I’m glad I read the book but can’t say that it was riveting. 3/5 stars for me! ⭐⭐⭐
Thanks for stopping by! Please let me know in the comments of this post your thoughts on these titles if you have read them. I look forward to seeing you back here for September. Be sure to sign up for my mailing list to never miss a post.
