Month in Review: November 2025

What I read this month

Despite Nonfiction November, I read only one nonfiction book this month! It was a good one, though…and so were many of my fiction reads.

• The Collected Enchantments by Theodora Goss
• Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather – Reread
• Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace
• Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman
• Lucy Gayheart by Willa Cather
• Moonlight in Odessa by Janet Skeslien Charles
• Housegirl by Michael Donkor
• Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett – Reread
• Persuasion by Jane Austen – Reread
• The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
• Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer

From the Geneva Writers Group conference

This was the month when I went to the GWG conference, and belatedly I realized I ought to read books by the presenters in preparation. I did manage three, and was glad I had, as it made the talks and workshops I attended more meaningful. I could see what Janet Skeslien Charles meant when she said her writing career had been based on low-paying jobs–her first novel, Moonlight in Odessa, arose from her experiences teaching English in Ukraine for pennies. And it was moving to hear Michael Donkor talk about the long road to publication for his first novel, Housegirl, and I’m glad it’s enjoyed deserved acclaim.

Then there was my only nonfiction read of the month, Susan Jane Gilman’s Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven — a book I found unputdownable, even if I didn’t love the title. It was fascinating to hear Gilman speak about how she decided to make her real-life nightmare of traveling through China with a mentally disintegrating friend into a memoir, rather than a novel, and what advantages and limitations that involves.

In a moment of real-life reading serendipity, she mentioned that she’d been inspired to become a writer by her high school English teacher, Frank McCourt — whose essay about the origins of his memoir, Angela’s Ashes, I happened to have just read. Nothing in her author bio mentioned this connection, so it was fun to hear of it from her.

Next time I go to the conference I’ll try to get more of a head start on the reading! What memorable author events have you attended?

Completing Cather

With Lucy Gayheart, I’ve finished the last novel I had to read by Willa Cather, and now I just want to go back and read them all again. I think I’ll go through them in order this time, instead of all scattershot as I’ve been doing. I still think Shadows on the Rock is my favorite, in spite of Benjamin Taylor saying it was unlikely to be anybody’s favorite — another point against his somewhat disappointing Chasing Bright Medusas. Nevertheless, here’s an interview on the Library of America website with Taylor that points out some of what made the “extremely orderly and uncrazy” author so special, and why her writing endures.

Currently reading

I came back from the conference with a book from GWG founder Susan Tiberghien — her account of a year in Jungian analysis, Looking for Gold. I’ve read quite a bit of Jungian material, but not a memoir of such an analysis, and I’m finding it gives a valuable window into the process. It’s largely occupied with the dreams Tiberghien brings to her sessions, and with finding the “gold” in them, their meaning for her life and creative process.

The last chapter I read also includes a description of her pilgrimage to Einsiedeln Abbey — another instance of life/book serendipity, as I just went there myself and got to have the same experience she did, hearing the monks sing Salve Regina in front of the Black Madonna. She described it much more beautifully, though. I’ll continue to savor the book and its rich insights.

On the blog

• I announced an Advent study series on my Sacred Reading Substack. It’s still open, if anyone wishes to join.
• I pulled together a list of my top nonfiction of the year for Nonfiction November.

What’s on your shelf this month?

Linked at The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer, the Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction