I don’t know why, but November went by like it was nothing, in stark contrast to an October that felt especially long—probably in part because of how many books I wound up reading. I tried to show a little more restraint this month, especially as the holiday started to loom on the horizon, but I found myself tempted more than once into buying myself some brand new books. The impulses won.

Still, it was a fairly modest month. Let’s see what I did pick up.

New Books

Ice by Anna Kavan is a dystopian science fiction novel that I believe was featured in one of these posts only a few months ago. One day after the gym, I was feeling a little blue. So, despite monetary considerations, I set out to browse a nearby bookstore just to see what they had. Well, I came across a singular copy of this book and decided I ought to pick it up. After all, it’s not every day that I see one available; I had assumed I’d have to go out of my way to order this book someday. So, I picked it up. Maybe I’ll read it in the new year as we become entombed in cold air and frost.

I picked up The Watcher and Other Stories by Italo Calvino for rather simple reasons. One, it’s been a while since I’ve read any of his books, having read the two other books that I do own. Two, despite other trade paperbacks of similar size being priced much higher, this book was only $15. I’m not ashamed to admit that nothing else really influenced this purchase. I have no idea what stories are contained within this collection and if they’re celebrated at all. It will be a fun surprise, I’m sure.

Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi was the only second-hand purchase I made last month. I haven’t read the first book yet, which is usually a deterrent from picking up more books in a series, but learning that this book was in fact the direct sequel to the first one and being sold at a reasonable price, I said “screw it” and picked it up.

Novel Discoveries

I believe that Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele, was recommended to me by Goodreads while I was reading The Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff. Though I’m less inclined to read anthologies than novels, Jordan Peele’s connection to this book has drawn me in enough that I’d like to try checking it out, perhaps around Halloween next year.

I think I came across A Love Story from the End of the World by Juhea Kim on another blog’s weekly WWW post, though I cannot recall where. I don’t often go for romance, but I was intrigued by this book’s promise of blending science fiction elements alongside a motif of humanity living in precarious balance with the natural world.

The Luminous Fairies and Mothra by Shin’ichirō Nakamura, Takehiko Fukunaga, and Yoshie Hotta (translated by Jeffrey Angles) is a book I was very excited to learn is coming out early next year. Styled similarly to Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again, which was published in English back in 2023 and also translated by Angles, this book is the first translation of the original novella that was the basis for the 1961 film Mothra.

I believe I have another WWW post to thank for learning about Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen, a tale told over centuries about humanity’s constant clashing with nature, centred around Steller’s sea cow, a long-extinct creature that used to live in the northern oceans. Taking a closer look into this book for this post, I’m actually even more enthused about checking it out. It’s also a Finnish novel, which I hadn’t realized. I’m fairly certain I’ve never read anything from Finland before, so I’m feeling especially interested in checking it out, perhaps sooner than later.

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Until next time, thank you for reading!