For the Love of Reading, November 2025

Time to take a look back at what I read last month . . .

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
First, the good things: a Boston setting, a mysterious scavenger hunt, and some really flawed and likable characters. But, and this is a big but . . . there’s just TOO much going on. There are too many extraneous characters. Not only could I not keep them straight, I just didn’t see the point. There are too many plot points. There’s the mystery of the gothic house at the beginning of the book, the disappearance of an off scene character, the lies and the secrets and the flashbacks, it all just gets way too convoluted. By the time the scavenger hunt wrapped up, I was a little lost about who knew what and why. The emotional moments worked, but the mystery itself felt overcomplicated and the characters started to feel stereotyped. Still, the writing is clever and the familiar Boston setting was entertaining. 2.5 stars rounded up because of that.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a charming, engrossing, and truly delightful epistolary novel with a main character who is a sharp, clever, and unfailingly honest older woman. Evans does a wonderful job of revealing stories, secrets, hopes and dreams through the letters that Sybil both sends and receives to the many people in her life, from her children to her neighbors, former colleagues, and more. There are lessons learned that are both painful and heartbreaking, but it’s ultimately a novel of redemption and love. Highly recommended.

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I loved Yellowface and was enthralled with Babel (even though I thought it was too long), but this latest from Kuang was not for me. The philosophical tangents felt more academic than entertaining and the hero’s journey through hell felt like a total slog. I had trouble visualizing the world that Kuang created (although I did really like the academic library section of hell) and never connected with any of the characters enough to care about what happened to them. While there are a few passages that show Kuang’s imagination and vision of dark academia, much of it was just boring.

107 Days by Kamala Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The construct of this book is what you’d expect from the title: a fast paced and compelling review of the 107 days Harris spent on the campaign trail, which each chapter being focused on a different day. She covers everything from the national convention to debate prep to the things Biden did that hurt more than helped her chances with honesty, humor, and humility. While I was initially hesitant to read this as I didn’t want to relive the hope and ultimate disappointment of the election outcome, I ended up feeling buoyed by her optimism rather than despondent about what we could have had.

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this historical mystery set in Italy. The story is told in two timelines, the present of 1955 as the murders are happening, and also in 1943 as the Germans left the countryside when the Allies arrived. There’s plenty to keep things compelling: a murderer intent on destroying a family and cutting out the heart’s of the victims, Nazis stealing art, a forbidden romance, and the questionable decisions people had to make in order to survive and stay safe during a German occupation. Chris Bohjalian is a talented writer and his research is always impeccable. Highly recommended.

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Maybe the secret to pain was to acknowledge it, to admit that it hurt so bad, so you didn’t have to pretend that it didn’t. And maybe it didn’t go away. Maybe the secret to pain was to respond to it in ways that made the pain worth it.
Kevin Wilson has once again given us a delightfully quirky story about a group of misfits who create a family where none previously existed. Embarking on a road trip to find the father who abandanced each of them separately, these siblings will certainly find a place in your heart and you will be cheering them on despite the odds that are stacked against them. There is plenty of dysfunction and anxiety to go around with just enough humor to keep it from feeling too heavy. Definitely recommended for Wilson fans.

It was a good month of reading and a vast improvement over last month.