Here’s the list. The books I liked the most are at the top. If you click the titles of the paragraphs, you’ll get to the full reviews.

1. Short stories by Daphne du Maurier

They are dark, deep and atmospheric. They brought a lot of beauty and mystery into the colder days. I can definitely recommend all stories from this edition.

2. The Birds by Daphne du Maurier

Right, the second place is taken by du Maurier too. She is like those actors who jump on the stage and take all the prizes. She’s indeed that outstanding, as well as her novelette The Birds. I made a research about this book, looking into the accusations of plagiarism and comparing it to other works of the same name. Follow the link for more information.

3. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I’m not sure if the shorter days are turning me into a reader of gothic or I just have a natural inclination to this genre, but my third most favourite book of the month is gothic again. The Little Stranger is a story about a noble family, a local doctor and a dilapidating creepy mansion. I had an audiobook version of the story and absolutely loved the narrator’s performance.

4. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

A contrast to all the gothic above, The Rosie Project is light, funny and heartwarming. It’s a modern story about an autistic scientist who’s setting off on a quest to find a perfect wife for himself.

5. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Bone Gap is an unusual item on this blog because it’s a young adult novel. This book showed me that young adult genre doesn’t necessarily mean simplistic or primitive. It’s a story about a small town with some magical powers. It’s about human nature, relationships and the ways people see each other. I liked the actual story and the bigger ideas of the book.

6. The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

The Seven Sisters is the first book in the series about seven sisters (with a book per sister, I guess) who are discovering their true histories after their adoptive parent dies. The first book travels through time and continents and has several love stories in it. It’s well-written and interesting. Even though there’s not too much romance, there’s still too much of it for my personal liking, so I won’t continue with the series, but I’m sure many people will love the book.

7. Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller

This book takes the final position among the books I liked because I can’t say I liked it that much. It was beautifully written, with a very deep exploration of human mind and psychology but I didn’t like the aftertaste of the story and the personality of the characters.

There are two more books that didn’t make it to the list above because I didn’t like them. I’m happy I have read them as a part of my experiment and research.

1. The Birds by Frank Baker

This is the book that Daphne du Maurier was accused of plagiarising. There’s a definite similarity between the two books. Both have birds attacking people and changing the course of human history. Frank Baker’s work has much more philosophy in it. It’s full of deep ideas and contemplations but it’s unbearably boring to read. The style of writing is a torture. I’m glad I had a chance to compare the two works myself but I can’t recommend Frank Baker’s book to anybody.

2. Uprooted by Naomi Novik

It’s a much loved book among fantasy readers but I had to push myself to find things I could like about it. Even though I found some, they were still overshadowed by those I disliked. I’m glad I took this leap into fantasy because next time I will take a more careful step into this genre.

I also listened to a couple of curious programs that are not actually audiobooks but I found them awesome anyway. In order not to overload you with information, I’ll post about them in a separate post, so stay tuned.

Off to the final month of the year! Hopefully I will discover more fantastic books to tell you about.

If you are interested in more book lists, you can read:

1. The books I bought on Black Friday
2. The books I read in October
3. The books I read in September

The Seven Sisters drew the most attention in my Currently Reading in November post so I’m reviewing it first.

General information about The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

The Seven Sisters is the first book in the series about young women who were adopted as kids by a rich man. They were brought up in a secluded castle in Switzerland, each of them developing their own skills and talents. When their father dies, he leaves them letters with clues on how to discover more about their histories. There are now 5 books in the series, but there will be more. The Seven Sisters focuses on the history of the eldest sister only. There’s actually a book trailer for The Seven Sisters! (I didn’t even know such things existed.) I don’t think the trailer does the book justice. It makes the book sound rather silly and simplistic. The Seven Sisters is much more sophisticated. Just in case you are interested, here’s the trailer.

What’s good about The Seven Sisters

This book is definitely a great way to travel across continents and times. When Maia, the protagonist, is discovering the truth about her great-grandparents, the narration shifts from modern times to Brazil during the times when the famous statue of Christ was being built.

The book is about relationships and love stories (right, not one but a few!) The writing is quite good. The story develops in an interesting and unpredictable way. There are many curious historical facts and descriptions of the life in old France and Brazil.

What I personally didn’t like that much in The Seven Sisters 

Some descriptions

I’m not a big fan of romance genre. I like any good stories, including love stories, but all these “he pressed his lips to hers” and other romanticised language yank me back from the book to reality. I can’t immerse myself into stories where women grew noticeably pale because they just thought about their lovers. It sounds overplayed and fake to me.

Erratic behaviour

One of the characters is pure Jekyll and Hyde. At one moment he’s warm and understanding, at another one he’s a selfish drunk, then he’s back to a good chap again. It was hard not to notice that his pendulum-like behaviour was for the sake of the plot only.

The protagonist also behaves strangely sometimes, but alright, I’ll agree to believe that this is just the way she is.

The series effect

It’s absolutely OK for the series not to uncover all information in the first book so that readers can look forward to some discoveries in the next one. To be fair, all the main questions about Maia were answered in the first book. Still, I’d been looking for the series that would attract by their protagonist only, by how good they are, not by leaving something untold. I mean the series like Sherlock Holmes, for example. People love it because of Sherlock and because of stories themselves, not because they need to know who that mysterious boy two books ago was. Thus, I will have to continue my search for the perfect series.

Final thought on The Seven Sisters

The Seven Sisters is very well-written and entertaining. If you like stories about love, relationships and different epochs, then this book is definitely for you.

1. The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

The Seven Sisters is my first attempt to get into some series. I picked up The Seven Sisters because it sounded dynamic and adventurous.

It’s a story about several sisters who were separately adopted by a rich man. Their childhood passed on a private island in a castle-like house. They grew up very different, each with their own talents and aspirations. When their father dies, he leaves them letters with clues on how to discover more about their ancestry and history. The Seven Sisters is the first book in the series, and looks like it is focusing on the eldest sister only. Thus, my guess is, there is a book per a sister.

The Seven Sisters is indeed full of action that takes you through different countries and different epochs. It’s slightly too romantic for my liking, but I’m quite enjoying the overall story.

(An update: I finished the book, so you can now read my review of The Seven Sisters.)

2. H. P. Lovecraft

I’m also going through Lovecraft’s short stories right now. They are truly, high-class scary. They are also quite thought-provoking. I like it when there’s a higher purpose to being scared. I’m quite enjoying the stories so far.

3. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

The Little Stranger is very atmospheric, dark, beautiful and gothic. It’s about a noble family living in a grand but quickly dilapidating house. A local doctor befriends them. Together they start witnessing horrible mysterious events happening in the house. I’m listening to the audio version of the story. The narration is perfect! There’s a lot of feeling and intonation in the voice but nothing is overplayed.

(An update: here’s a link to my review of The Little Stranger)

4. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

When I want a break from everything gothic I read The Rosie Project. It’s hilarious and kind. It is about a man with Asperger’s syndrome who’s looking for a wife. Whenever I read it, I hear the voice of Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory. If you are a fan of Sheldon you will also like this book. (An update: my review of The Rosie Project.)

There are samples of a few more books on my Kindle. Besides almost all the books with beautiful covers have arrived. Thus, I’m in no lack of books for November. I’m aiming to be even more selective with my books this month, so that in the end I can recommend the most of them to you. How is your November going on? Are you reading anything?