I did a lot of reading this month! Between travel, power outages, and rainy weekends keeping me indoors, I've had lots of time for it. Most of what I read this month was very good, so it was a little hard to choose a favorite. Other than my one disappointment, I would highly recommend reading any of these books!
Best surprise: The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah This book is exactly the type I love most - heartbreaking and surprising and beautifully written. The story follows two estranged sisters struggling to survive in Nazi occupied France. While it's fiction, the characters and situations are all so well thought out and believable that it feels real. The hardships and tragedies they struggle with over the course of the war are all certainly situations women found themselves in. This book had me crying a few times. I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone!
Biggest disappointment: Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch Like last month, this was a book I'd looked forward to reading for a long time. The first few chapters were enjoyable; they read a like a more fantastical Dickens. Then the main character went to sea, and it turned in to the same thing for hundreds of pages. It took me almost two months to finish it, and it's not a long book. I even considered not finishing this one, which is something I almost never do.
Also read: The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K LeGuin The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown Nimona by Noelle Stevenson Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson Girl at War by Sara Nović Station Eleven by Hilary St John Mantel