Hi and welcome to a new monthly wrapup!
Let’s get this out of the way first: HOW ARE WE DECEMBER ALREADY? How fast is this year going by? I know I pretty much say this every month, but time really is flying…
November was a rather odd reading month for me. I only read one fantasy series and then I just binge-read a whole bunch of YA and new adult contemporary romance books. But that’s okay, because I am becoming more accepting of my total moodreaderitis. I’m just rolling with it and I’ll see where I end up. I am hoping to get back to fantasy in December though.
But first, here’s my November:
What I read
Half Bad, Half Wild and Half Lost by Sally Green
This series was definitely my favorite read of the month. I fell in love with the unique and uber personal writing style and the incredibly real characters.
Check out my full reviews here: Half Bad | Half Wild | Half Lost
Say Her Name by James Dawson
I read this horror story based on the legend of Bloody Mary as a belated entry for the Halloween Readathon. I really enjoyed it, even if it had me creeped out by mirrors for several days.
Check out my full review here.
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
This was my first book by Huntley Fitzpatrick and I liked it. It was a nice contemporary with a lovely romance and a big focus on big families.
Check out my full review here.
How To Repair A Mechanical Heart by J.C. Lillis
This was a super heartwarming LGBTQ romance and a hilarious look into fandom life. Another favorite read of the month!
Check out my full review here.
Paper Princess, Broken Prince and Twisted Palace by Erin Watt
I was super intrigued by the hype surrounding this series so I just had to give it a try. And though it is definitely a flawed series with WAY too much drama for my taste, I really liked the The O.C. vibe it had going on and it was just super addictive. I mean, I basically tore through this entire series in 3 days, so that’s saying something right? I don’t have any reviews up for these books yet, but I’m thinking of maybe doing a short series review. With lots of The O.C. gifs. Of course.
The Mistake and The Score by Elle Kennedy
Also super addictive are these two new adult books in the Off-Campus series by Elle Kennedy. I already loved book one, called The Deal, and so I read book 2 (The Mistake) and book 3 (The Score). I loved them both, though I must say I love each next book just a little less. Maybe one just gets tired of hot hockey player romances after a while? Is that possible? I don’t know, but I still have book 4 (The Goal) to go, so I’m thinking of just doing a series review after I finished them all.
Other blog features
Top Ten Tuesday
- 29 November 2016: Holiday Gift Guide: What To Get The Book Lover In Your Life
- 22 November 2016: Ten Books & Other Things I’m Thankful For In 2016
- 15 November 2016: So Fetch – Favorite Nineties & Early 2000’s Highschool Movies
- 8 November 2016: Ten Books I’ve Added To My TBR Lately
- 1 November 2016: Ten Books I Want To Join A Book Club For
Waiting on Wednesday
- History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (read)
- The Gentleman’s Guide To Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (read)
- Empress Of A Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza (read)
- Fate of Flames by Sara Raughley (read)
- Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones (read)
Tag Thursday
- Gilmore Girls Book Tag 2.0. (read)
Other
- Series I Still Want To Finish / Catch Up On In 2016 (read)
What I listened to
I’m someone who usually listens to music a lot, but in November I have been glued to my headphones even more than usual. It’s honestly been a pretty crappy month and I do find that music helps me SO MUCH. So these are the 3 playlist I have been playing the most:
Sleeping With Sirens: Complete Collection
2016 is the year I’ve discovered these guys and they have pretty much been a constant soundtrack for me. My November favorites: Free Now, Déjà Vu, The Strays and Captain Tyin Knots VS Mr Walkway (No Way)
Hamilton / Hamilton Mixtape
The Hamilton Soundtrack has been another constant in my headphones this year, but in November we also got to hear a few of the songs from the Hamilton Mixtape (and, as of yesterday we got the entire album). Though I do prefer the original versions, I still like them a lot. My November favorites: Right Hand Man (OST), Guns and Ships (OST), Wait For It (OST), Wait For It (Mixtape), Helpless (Mixtape)
The therapists pumping through my speakers
Basically a playlist of the main bands and songs that help me get through the days. It’s basically 50% Fall Out Boy and 80% stuck in 2005 but I’m 100% in love with it. My November favorites: Anything from a little album called ‘From Under The Cork Tree’
What I Watched
Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life
This was my most highly anticipated bit of TV in 2016 and it did not disappoint. I sobbed like a baby during a lot of the 6 hours, but mostly during the final episode, Fall. I loved that we got to check in with all the characters again. The last four words were a shocker, but I am weirdly ok with them. Yes, I definitely need more episodes, but I also know that I will never be satisfied (#Hamilton) anyway so I am happy with what we did get. Loved: Stars Hollow, Kirk and Öööber, Paris, Michel, Petal, Emily and Berta and everything Jess. Could have used less musical, forgettable boyfriend and more Lane, Sookie and Jess.
What’s on the December TBR
Well, since I already reached my Goodreads reading goal of reading 70 books, I though I’d use the month of December to focus on finishing up some series. You can check out which ones in this post.
Omg I love your recaps so much <3 Seriously your blog is one of my faves! :)And your playlists are the best!! Have you listened to Twenty One Pilots? I love Heathens 🙂 I haven't watched Gilmore Girls. You love it so much, maybe I will watch soon?? I do not really watch TV that much. I am feeling really happy since maybe you started a little photography based on my last post? (lol I hope so that is the reason)
Aww thank you, that’s so nice <3 Your blog is one of my favorites too, I love your use of photos and colors and the creativity in your posts! Your blog definitely inspires me to do a little more with photography! I don't like the picture I used here though. Now that it's winter I have very little natural light to use and I had about 10 minutes after I got home that I still had natural light so I kind of rushed this picture... but it's okay, I'm working on it so I hope it'll get a bit better every day ;) I LOVE Heathens! It's one of my favorite songs this year! I don't know that many other Twenty One Pilots songs though, so I'll have to check them out. I do really love Gilmore Girls! I hope you'll enjoy it if you decide to give it a try :)
This is an awesome monthly wrap up 🙂 i have the series by Sally Green and I think I’ll push it up on my TBR and get to reading it soon 🙂 And yes Gilmore Girls is beautiful and I’m glad it happened all over again even though I haven’t seen it yet! (I blame College) But will get to watching it soon! I need more of all the characters 🙂 😀 And I’m so glad to see Fall Out boy songs in your playlist <3
Thanks! Oh, I LOVED the Half Bad series so I hope you’ll enjoy it too 🙂 Hopefully you’ll get to watch the Gilmore Girls revival soon. I couldn’t stop myself and binge-watched the entire revival in one weekend… but now it’s over so I kind of wished I had paced myself a bit more haha 🙂 Fall Out Boy is one of my all-time favorite bands, so glad you like them too!
Looks like you’ve had a good reading month! You’ve gotten through some books I’ve been wanting to read for so long.
Good luck catching up on series!
Thanks, I hope to catch up on quite a few series 🙂 And I hope you’ll get to the books on your wishlist soon as well!
You had such a great reading month, this is awesome 🙂 Also, I felt the same way about the end of Gilmore Girls, we need more episodes, this can’t end like this, can it ?!!
Thanks, it definitely was a good month readingwise 🙂 I know, I’m totally hoping they’ll still give us at least one more season of Gilmore Girls! Or maybe they can actually write and publish the Gilmore Girls book, I would be okay with that too 🙂
Oooh I really need to read the Half Bad series. I’ve had the first book on my shelf FOREVER. I’m in love with all the playlists especially The Therapists Pumping Through My Speakers! I love From Under the Cork Tree so much and that is definitely one of my favourite lyrics ever. Also the Hamilton Mixtape is soo good!!!
I absolutely loved the Half Bad series! It’s been a super long time that a book has been able to made me sob like that. Hah, I know that sounds weird, but I did really love it because I got so deeply invested in it 🙂 From Under The Cork Tree is so amazing! To this day, there are not that many albums out there of which I LOVE every single song that much and can actually remember all the lyrics even so many years later 🙂 But maybe that’s also because I keep playing it so much 😉 And yes, the Hamilton Mixtape <3