My Favorite Books of November

Something strange happened in my reading life in November. My library loans kept expiring before I finished the book.

Normally, the only time this happens is when I don’t care for a book, but I’m already too far in when I decide to quit it. But that wasn’t the case in November. I think life just got in the way of my reading. You know, the beginning of the holiday hustle and all that.

And, before you ask, yes, I know about the trick where you can put your iPad or Kindle in airplane mode and keep your library loan from returning. The problem is that I mostly read on my phone. There’s no way I can keep my phone off of WiFi while I finish a book. My social media addiction just won’t allow for that.

Despite my expiration woes, I still read nine books in November. Of those, I gave two books perfect grades — one nonfiction and one fiction. Interestingly, I listened to both books. It’s unusual for me to really connect with multiple audiobooks.

My reviews for my favorite books of November are below.

An open book with two leaves marking the pages.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

I know it’s strange that I’d never read Patrick Lencioni’s classic leadership book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. But my boss told me that a coworker was reading it as part of some ongoing training, so I decided now was the time to give it a listen.

The book tells a story of a CEO hired to unite a dysfunctional team and get the company back on course. During her training with the team, she introduces them to the five most common dysfunctions in a team.

The five dysfunctions are:

Lack of Trust
Fear of Conflict
Lack of Commitment
Avoidance of Accountability
Inattention to Results

The interesting thing is that, as I was listening, I could relate to these dysfunctions. I’ve either had them myself or experienced them on teams. Of course, the book also gives advice for overcoming these issues. And, let’s be honest, if they’re so common, most teams probably need help with at least one of them.

The Missing Hours

I love a good girl is wronged and gets revenge novel, which is what The Missing Hours is.

Claudia Castro comes from a rich and famous family. The NYU freshman also is an Instagram influencer. She seems to have it all going for her — living it up as a college girl in the city that never sleeps.

Then one morning Claudia wakes up and can’t remember anything. She is severely beaten and doesn’t know how it happened. As she tries to piece together the hours before, she begins to think something even more terrible happened. Then the video appears.

What does a young woman like Claudia do when she finds out she survived a rape and beating and everyone around the men responsible is working overtime to protect them? She takes matters into her own hands.