It’s the end of November (beginning of December, I know), so it’s time for my November Book Digest! By the way, these are probably going to be two parts each month. Sorry not sorry.

The first book I read this month was Remina by Junji Ito. I loved it. You can read about it here. I will say, however, that this book didn’t stick with me the way Uzumaki did. I remember bits of the ending and a few of the… Well, Christ-images, but other than that, nothing. Still a really good book and I continue to recommend it.

And now for something completely different. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han was not what I expected it to be. I fully expected it to be about a Korean girl who is struggling to be herself in America or something like that. Then I realized, “Zach, you’re being a little ignorant thinking that every book featuring a non-white character has to be about struggle. POC have relationships, too!” Like I’ve said before, I’m still learning. Overall, it was okay. It’s a cute love story that is filled with so many cringe worthy moments (in a good way!). I definitely wanted to continue since the ENDING WAS TRASH. 3/5, 6/10

What do I even say about Asylum by Madeleine Roux? It’s just not that good. It’s a hacky, poorly written horror novel. This kid goes to a school that used to be an asylum for some summer classes. His roommate is a nerd who slowly becomes a super buff dude (Still not sure what the point of this was). He makes friends. He gets girlfriend. He finds out that he is related to a sadistic doctor who experimented on people for ??? Also, he might not only be related but also is the reincarnation of him??? His soul was transferred??? I don’t know. I frankly don’t care either. 2/5, 2/10.

I’ve also gone on and on about We Had a Little Real Estate Problem by Kliph Nesteroff. Still really looking forward to picking this one up in the future and sending to some of my friends who became comedians.

Up next is The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. It’s the first in the Robot series and, honestly, it’s pretty good. The first hundred pages or so are world building and, boy, does he build that frickin world. It’s necessary, yeah, but you can do world building through subtext as well. Spice it up, Asimov. It’s also a sci-fi murder mystery which is something new to me. A “Spacer” (human who descended from the first humans who went to space) is murdered and it’s up to Elijah to crack the case. But what’s this?! He has a partner?? WHO’S A ROBOT?!?! In traditional Poirotian fashion, everything wraps up nicely and neatly at the end and two characters walk off arm and arm. Literally. That’s the last sentence. 3/5, 6/10

I really wanted to love Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, I really really did. But I didn’t. It’s just okay. Nizhoni’s dad works for an oil company and she finds out that the owner of the company is a monster. Literally. She finds out that she is descended from the Navajo deities, the Hero Twins. When her dad is kidnapped, she and her merry band of friends have to go save him before something bad happens (not sure what that is exactly). It’s a Rick Riordan Presents book, so there are a bunch of Navajo stories and legends which was the part of the book I loved. I just kind of didn’t care about Nizhoni’s quest. 3/5, 5/10 (Math doesn’t add up, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

The last book for this round is P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han, the sequel to To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. I told you I was interested enough to keep going. This one was marginally better than the first. We get to see a bit more depth of Lara Jean’s character. But, it’s still a YA romance novel, so mishaps happen, hearts are broken, hearts are mended, and, of course, there’s a dog. 3/5, 6/10

That’s all for now! I’ll have the second batch up in a couple of days. Oh, and keep an eye out for another “Can We Talk About” movie post. Happy reading!

All images via Goodreads.