Reads for November 2022

Here are my spoiler-free reviews for November.

More Summer Escape reads

Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.

Anna Quindlen

I am still sticking with the Summer Travel theme into August. I think I’ll continue my summer escaping into Labor Day. That’s technically the last day of summer right? So where did the books take me?

The Island of Elephants (PPAC #43)

I think this mural has made its way to my top five favorite public art pieces. I can’t believe I can find this within walking distance to my home. This mural can also be found in Plaza Del Valle. I was drawn by how whimsical and magical it looked with the clouds and the elephants greeting visitors to the island. There’s even a unicorn! When I reviewed the photo, it took me a moment to realize the vases are also painted — it fooled me!

October and November #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge

Here are some books I’ve read in October and November. I’ve been meaning to share my October reads last month, but at that time I was prepping for Lana’s first birthday party and that same week I had a terrible stomachache. It was best to take it easy that week. Funny thing was that this week I was sick again, but I managed to complete my #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge post for October and November.

July and August 2021 #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge (plus why I read for fun)

I’m participating in the #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge, hosted by Sue, Donna, Jo and Debbie.

Up until this year I have not read much but I think that’s because I tried to treat it like the way I would watch Netflix — binging it. As of this year, I started doing Gretchen Rubin’s read 21 minute in 2021 to help me read more. I found doing this practice manageable and sustainable because reading 21 minutes a day is achievable. Now I can’t imagine a day where I am not reading 21 minutes.

I’ve been reading more for the mental health benefits and how to process difficult emotions especially as I go through life as being a new mom. Also because of the pandemic as there are significantly fewer events and people are less inclined to go anywhere, reading has provided an escape where I can still have this sense of human connection and empathy. Reading is one of the simple pleasures that has centered me because there have been many moments when I have felt overwhelmed especially on some weeks when my husband is out doing army training.

Living the High Life at “The Thousandth Floor”

“Up here on the roof, so close to the stars, she felt young and alive and hateful.”

The Thousandth Floor by Katherine McGee is a quick, guilty-pleasure read. It takes place 100 years into the future in Manhattan and it’s is no longer an island, but a lone tower stretching into the sky at a thousand floors.

I wonder, how many meters would 1,000 floors be? The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is at 154 floors at 584.5 m (1,918 ft) and this does not include the tip. For 1,000 floors, you are looking at a little more than 6 Burj Khalifa’s — about 6.5. At 1,000 floors, it’s still within the Earth’s atmosphere.

“Maybe that’s all that praying was, she thought, just wishing good outcomes on other people.”

The floors are separated by class — if you live in the lower floors, you are in the lower, working class supporting the upper-floor residents. The higher you go in the tower, the higher your social economic standing. Then you have the super-elite families in the top floors living the glamorous life where it seems no one worries about money. These people have the latest clothes, technologies, and club memberships.

Five characters across different social classes tell their story in the book. Avery is the richest girl who lives in the penthouse and you have her rich friends, Leda and Eris. Then you have Watt who lives the middle class life and Rylin who lives in the lower floors of the tower working low-wage jobs to support her family. Out of all these characters, I was rooting for Eris and Rylin. Rylin got a chance for a better life and Eris was turning herself around. I’ll just leave it at that.

I was intrigued with the idea of a whole city living in a tower — and we might well be on our way — which is why I wanted to read the book. The technologies featured in the book were pretty cool. In the year 2118, you can send text messages via your eyes (instead of smartphones), you take a train from Manhattan to Paris in minutes, instead of laser tag there’s AR tag.

This book is part of the Thousandth Floor trilogy and I look forward to reading the next book, Dazzling Heights.

Recommendation: Gossip Girl meets the “Jetson’s”. If you don’t like hearing about rich people’s problems, then this book is not for you.

Have you read The Thousandth Floor?

Wild Eclectic Book Club (Name in Progress): I am trying a blog series where every other Wednesday I review a book from my ever-changing Current Reads page. My goal is I write a review without giving too much away!