Hi guys, and welcome to my November wrap up!
Even if I may have only read three books this month, I think I can finally say that I have beaten my reading slump. Or to be more correct, Annette Marie has beaten my reading slump, because all three books are part of her Steel & Stone series. And even though it’s “only” three books, I have sped through them, fallen in love with the characters and their world and have had my heart racing at the thought of coming home at night and getting to read, which is the joy of reading I have sorely missed the past few months.
So here’s what I’ve been up to in November!
Chase the Dark by Annette Marie
After having fallen in love with Annette Marie’s Red Winter series (and “love’ almost feels like an understatement), I decided to pick up Chase The Dark. And guess what? I fell in love with it. I am so hooked on this story that I am already on book four as I am typing this. I’m so into these characters and their adventures that I’m using every free minute to read a few pages. What reading slump?
Rating: 4 stars | Check out my full review here.
Bind the Soul by Annette Marie
I finished Bind the Soul, the sequel to Chase the Dark in about two days. Take that, reading slump! I’ve already fallen in love with these characters in book one, and book two is where we meet up with these characters again and learn more about them and their world. One of the big bads get introduced and he is creepy as hell. And we learn more about the life and struggles of Ash, which I adored.
Rating: 4,5 stars | Full review to come
Yield the Night BY ANNETTE MARIE
I think this is my favorite book in the series so far? The stakes are life-or-death, the action is fast-paced, the worldbuilding get expanded even more and the chemistry is just sizzling off the charts!
Rating: 4,5 stars | Full review to come
TOP TEN TUESDAY
- 28 November 2017: Ten Books on my Winter TBR
- 21 November 2017: Books I’m Forever Thankful For
- 14 November 2017: Books I Would Want My Future Children To Read
- 7 November 2017: Fictional Characters Who Would Make Great Social Media Trendsetters
*and the crickets continue*
For those of you new around here, I promise I do listen to music other than k-pop. Really! It’s just that I’ve been listening pretty much only to k-pop the last few months. And well, October was no exception. But come on, some of the new releases this month were just SO SO GOOD!
SOME OF MY FAVES THIS MONTH:
BTS! Again. Mic Drop is my jam and this Steve Aoki remix is just… *heart eyes*
But let’s not forget about those other awesome November releases by Monsta X and Seventeen!
TV
Stranger Things (SEASON 2)
OMG, Stranger Things owns my heart. This series is just soo good and I was a little worried if a second season could live up to the glory of season one, but yes, IT TOTALLY DID! I actually tried to take my time with this season so I wouldn’t have finished it all at once. And well, I succeeded for the first 3 episodes or so, which I watched almost a week apart. And then I watched the rest of the season in one evening. At least I tried, right? Loved the storyline, loved the balance of creepiness and humor and once again loved all these characters so much. This season featured a few new combinations of characters in scenes together, which were golden, and introduced a few new characters who fit right in (Loved Samwise Gamgee, I mean Bob <3)
The Defenders
I’m sorry, I was really trying to watch this in order and watch Luke Cage and maybe even Iron fist before watching The Defenders, but I caved, okay? After having fallen in love with Jessica Jones, I just needed more of her, stat. I liked The Defenders and I can never get enough of the “team up” trope, but overal I wasn’t in LOVE with this series the way I was with Daredevil or Jessica Jones. Maybe it’s because the Hand storyline already bored me in Daredevil season 2. Maybe it’s because I never liked this version of Elektra. Or maybe it’s because I never fell in love with the characters of Luke Cage or Iron Fist the way I did with Matt Murdock or Jessica Jones. So tell me, should I still watch both or one of those series anyway? What do you think? Either way, I did like it overall and of course I will watch a second season if it comes.
MOVIES
JUSTICE LEAGUE
As I mentioned, I love the “team up” trope, so naturally Justice League was a must for me. And even though I absolutely hated Batman vs Superman, I did adore Wonder Woman, so I went into this movie with mixed expectations. And I actually highly enjoyed this movie! It didn’t blow me away either or equalled the amazingness of Wonder Woman as it felt just like your average superhero movie, BUT that didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy every single minute. I loved the introduction of the new characters such as The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg to the team and though their roles were limited, I’m already super excited for their solo movies. Wonder Woman was the highlight for me, with the Flash providing the humor. Unfortunately still not a huge fan of Ben Affleck’s Batman, but he’s okay. My main takeaway from the movie? The Flash is a k-pop fan and is a total Blink. 😉
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- Had a few bright spots this November, such as a few date nights with my friends who I don’t see nearly enough and missed like crazy. Friendship has always been so important to me, and I know distance or amount of interaction doesn’t lessen the friendship in any way, but life just feels so much brighter to me when we get to spend more time together.
- Made homemade tteokbokki (a Korean dish) this month. Or well, my husband made it and I helped. It was delicious.
- My dance class is actually doing a cover of a k-pop dance which I suggested and I AM SO HAPPY! It’s this one and it is not easy AT ALL but I LOVE IT!
- Mentally, I’m still not at a 100%, but I am doing a bit better than last month. Thank you all so much for your kind words, it really did help me so much <3
Three books is still great and the most important thing is that you enjoyed them ? How amazing is Stranger Things ?? I NEED SEASON 3 ASAP !!!! I hope December is great for you ?
Definitely, I really missed reading so I’m already soo happy with absolutely loving three books 🙂 And OMG YES, Stranger Things is sooo good <3<3 The wait for season three will be waaay too long but at least we'll have time to rewatch ;) Thanks so much Lauren, hope you'll have an amazing December too!
All three songs have definitely been on my playlist too this month! For some reason I also can’t stop listening to Can’t Help Myself by Eric Nam, and Beautiful by Monsta X. I’m glad to hear you’re getting out of your reading slump. I just read a book, for the first time in TWO MONTHS. So I definitely know how that feels.
I hope you have a great month of December!
I didn’t know Can’t Help Myself by Eric Nam, but I just looked it up on Youtube and OMG it is super cute and catchy! Will definitely add this to my playlist, so thanks for the tip 😉 Beautiful by Monsta X is such a great song too <3 And congrats on your first book in two months! Hope you'll be able to get out of your reading slump as well :) Have an amazing December!
Sounds like you had a pretty great month! So glad you’re out of your reading slump! We loved Stranger Things 2, too – they really upped the creepy factor this time. We liked Defenders, and now we’re watching Punisher. Happy December!
Thanks, I’m so glad I seem to be out of my reading slump as well 🙂 Stranger Things 2 definitely felt way more creepier than season 1. Hope you’re enjoying The Punisher, I’m thinking about watching that one next as well 🙂
Yaaaiyie! I’m glad you’re out of your slump now and hope December brings more bookish goodness in your life!
I haven’t watched Stranger Things yet but now I definitely will! And Mic Drop is my jam as well!!! <3 I watched Justice League with my brother and I enjoyed it pretty much, glad you liked it too!
Thanks, I’m definitely ready for more bookish goodness 😉 OMG, I hope you’ll love Stranger Things as much as I did! Mic Drop is sooo good <3 And glad you liked Justice League as well, it was such a fun film :)
Congrats on beating your reading slump! I hope you have a great December!
Thanks so much, I hope you’ll have an amazing December as well!
You’re such a big fan of KPOP, I just love it! Do you also watch korean dramas? I used to watch them a lot. 🙂
Have a great reading month!
Oh yes, I LOVE Korean dramas! I also fell in love with them beginning of this year and try to watch some regularly. They’re soo addictive and good <3 What's your favorite?
My favourite is Descendants of the Sun! Have you watched it? It’s so good!
Oh I heard so many good things about Descendants of the Sun but I haven’t watched it yet! Must do so soon! 🙂
Glad you are doing better! <3 And yeay for getting out of your reading slump. It is great when a series like that can pull you out of it.
Thanks! Yeah, reading slumps happen unfortunately, but the feeling of falling in love with reading all over again isn’t too bad 😉
Congrats on beating that reading slump ? haven’t heard of that series though.
I was supposed to go out with friends last friday too, and got sick… worst thing is, they’re moving to another country in maybe a month and a bit. Time is kind of running out :/
Oh but we also went out to a Korean BBQ ? Korean food is kind of really cool.
Thanks so much! Yes, it’s definitely not a well known series, but I’m happy it beat my slump either way 🙂
Oh I’m sorry, that sucks! Hope you’ll still get to spend some time with your friends before they move. And of course, that you’re feeling better soon!
A Korean BBQ sounds delicious! I wish we had more Korean-style restaurants in Belgium, but it’s close to none…
I’m glad to hear that you found a cure to your reading slump with Annette Marie. I’ve never read anything by her before, but you’ve definitely put her on my radar now.
That dance class routine looks amazing. I hope you’re having fun with it and that your December is wonderful.
Thanks, I’m so happy too, I really missed that joy of reading 🙂 If you decide to pick up anything by Annette Marie, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do 🙂
It is such a fun routine, though quite challenging but that’s also half the fun 😀 Have an amazing December!
Yay for Annette Marie and for date nights with friends. Those are amazing.
Wow – you are taking on a lot in dance class!!!! That looks amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Any chance we’ll get a clip on your blog???
I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better and I hope that 2017 closes out strong for you.
Haha, we’ll see about that clip – first we need to actually learn it fully still and I have a feeling it’ll take quite some time and probably some adjustments here and there 😉
Thanks so much Di, I hope you’ll have an awesome end of 2017 as well <3
YAY for slowly beating that reading slump, I’m happy for you! I hope you’ll read all the amazing books this December!
I’m also really glad to hear you’re feeling a bit better than last month. Take care of yourself, Lindsey, sending you all the love and hugs for this holiday season and a very happy December! xx
Thanks so much Marie! I’m glad the reading slump seems to be over and I hope it’ll help me feel better in general too 😉 Wishing you all the best for this holiday season as well, hope you’ll have an amazing December!
YES OMG SO MANY AMAZING KPOP SONG RELEASES THIS MONTH. Stranger Things definitely lived up to the hype for me too, I was really scared about s2 not meeting my expectations but it did.
Yes, so many amazing releases in one month, it was the best! Yeah, I was really scared about Stranger Things S2 not living up to S1 too, but I shouldn’t have worried as it was just as amazing 🙂