Books and Looks | November 2025

This is a little delayed because frankly life and work got in the way. In November, I had a quick work trip to DC for meetings with a few partners and then I spent nearly a week in San Antonio where I ran a 3 day meeting. In the midst of this, I decided to teach myself how to code and conduct descriptive analysis visualizations for a presentation at that meeting I was running. On top of all of that, November included my standard board meetings for the Lexington Public Library and CivicLex, seeing Josh Johnson live (worth every penny), a screening of Join or Die (a phenomenal CivicLex event), seminars for the Accepted Society's Researcher's Program, a Dungeons and Dragons Session with L's family, and Thanksgiving. Outfit pictures definitely fell off the map a bit through all of this, but December will be a little better and I feel like I'm getting back in the habit.

The Looks

I failed to take photos of my outfits on the work trips. I wish I had a good excuse but honestly the lighting wasn't great in the bathroom by our sessions and L was usually still asleep when I was leaving in the morning. Long and short of it, you get seven outfits, mostly with the same color palette. Typically there was a long-line or men's blazer involved.

The Books

I feel pretty proud of myself for finishing five books in the midst of a month that required had a very high level of work output for me. Typically when I get done running the meeting, I'm catatonic for a few days and my brain is pudding. This time around, I was able to keep up with my reading habit throughout travel and significant work. Overall it meant that I spent a little time each day caring for myself by reading.

The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman- Book three of A Thursday Murder Club Mystery Series was the perfect start to the month of November. This series is one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I find the characters so absolutely lovable and hilarious. Plus since the Netflix adaptation), I can't stop seeing Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie as I read (perfectly cast film). Each book gets better and I have loved that Osman continues to build on the events. He doesn't wipe the slate clean each time. Instead the characters are still dealing with what happened in the previous book, but are not dwelling on it.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse- I've been interested in the Between Earth and Sky series for a long time but had read that each book ends on a pretty substantial cliff hanger. Cliffhangers can sometimes frustrate me. Plus my memory can be a bit spotty if I have to wait too long between books. The final book in this series came out in 2024, so I can just keep working my way through this series. I really enjoyed this. I have read some complaints about the "likability" of the characters, which may be valid but I personally liked that no single character was perfect. They are each flawed, but redeemable and I find myself rooting for most of the main characters although some are at odds with one another. The world building is absolutely impeccable. It is one of the more robust world building I've read, while also keeping the page count approachable (less than 500 pages). I plan to pick up the second in the series after the new year.

Female Fantasy by Iman Hairiri-Kia- I picked this one up at the library on a whim. I had heard it mentioned on the Bad On Paper Podcast and thought the premise was interesting. I found the plot and hijinks that ensued to be totally surprising. Not at all what I was expecting based on the plot summary. What I loved most though was the fact that it was a book within a book. The fantasy book within the story is tropey and over the top and everything that I love about romantasy. If Hairiri-Kia wants to dedicate some time to truly writing that series, I would buy it in a heart beat. Female Fantasy provided me with some genuine guffaws and a well-earned happily ever after.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab- Schwab is an instant-buy for me and there is not a single book that I've read from her that I didn't love. This was no different. A full review will be coming shortly.

Guilt and Ginataan by Mia P. Manansala- The fifth book in Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mysteryseries did not disappoint. It came out last year, but I'm glad I held off reading it for a time when I needed a cozy mystery. This installment saw Lila's best friend, Adeena, at the center of a murder, accused of killing the Mayor's wife from the neighboring town. Sometimes in cozy mysteries, it's a bit easy to identify the killer, but this one surprised me. What I especially loved though was exploring the dynamics between Lila, Adeena and Elena, Adeena's girlfriend. Friendship dynamics when two of the friends are romantic partners can really complicate things and it was great to see this acknowledgement of that.