Hi everybody and welcome to my November wrap up!

This can be a pretty quick one, because that reading slump that started in October? It’s still hanging out with me and I can’t quite get it to leave just yet. But, despite this continued blah-ness, I still managed to read a few books (even if I did start some of them in October and took 4-5 weeks to finish others and just haven’t been as into my reading as I would like to be). I’m thinking to focus on re-reads in December because I did that last year and enjoyed it a lot, and I’m hoping it will finally cure this reading slump once and for all. Anyway, first here’s a complete wrap up of everything I did in November!

Well Matched by Jen DeLuca

I actually read most of this in October, but I finished in early November and never reviewed it so honestly my brain’s already a bit fuzzy on the details, but I do remember I ADORED this third installment in the Well Met series. I love this little town with its Renaissance Faire and its adorable characters and it was fun to revisit it all. I also loved seeing Mitch and April get the spotlight and I loved the fake dating aspect. Also, the kilt made a comeback so that’s a bonus.

Rating: 4 stars

A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I LOVED this book. I was afraid to start it because A) reading slump and B) I was nervous that I was gonna miss Poppy and Cas too much and I would not love this prequel series to the From Blood and Ash world because of it. But my real-life bestie asked me to do a buddy-read and I agreed. Which, best idea ever, because I LOVED this story so much. I’m so invested in Sera and Nyktos (maybe even more than Poppy and Cas right now? Don’t shoot me) and I also tore through this book so fast it was like my reading slump didn’t exist for a little while. Only downside? I AM SO CONFUSED ABOUT EVERYTHING. I feel like I need to re-read all the books to make sense of things.

Rating: 4,5 stars

A Grave Girl’s Getaway by Jeaniene Frost (novella)

I listened to this short novella in the Night Huntress world because I was missing my favorite characters and world so much. In this story, Cat and BFF Denise (my fave <3) go on a weekend trip together. Of course, nothing goes as planned and they quickly find themselves in a whole lot of trouble. I loved being reunited with Cat and Denise (and a little bit of Bones and Spade). The narration was a little…. intense though. I heard a lot of negative comments about it and while I didn’t hate it that much (it kind of made sense in the plot), I’d definitely also still prefer Tavia Gilbert to stick to her regular way of narrating from here on out. Still, all the stars though because I LOVE DENISE!

Rating: 3,5 stars

Let’s Get Textual by Teagan Hunter

I discovered this book thanks to Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse and when I found out it featured one of my favorite tropes ever, the penpal trope, I knew I needed to try it. In the story, Delia gets a text one day from a new number. She assumes it’s her brother with a new number and texts back, but it turns out it was a wrong-number mix-up. However, she keeps texting with this wrong number (who turns out to be called Zach) and the banter and chemistry between the two is undeniable and hilarious and so good. I love when two people fall for each other without ever having met in real-life yet and this story delivered! (Also, if you’re like me and don’t like abs on covers, please ignore the cover and just enjoy the book, which is actually very good!)

Rating: 4 stars

I Wanna Text You Up by Teagan Hunter

After finishing Let’s Get Textual, I thought my reading slump was cured and I dived right into the sequel, I Wanna Text You Up. This sequel features two characters we already met in Let’s Get Textual, namely Zoe and Caleb. Zoe is Delia’s BFF who’s looking for a new roommate and in moves Caleb. A fun roommates trope should have been entertaining enough, but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. I wasn’t feeling the chemistry between the leads and I thought the banter was just more of the same from Let’s Get Textual. Not sure if it was due to my slumpiness or because I wanted it to live up to the first book too much, but I struggled a little to get through this. Still want to continue the rest of the series, but I should probably wait until my slump’s 100% over.

Rating: 3 stars

Payback’s A Witch by Lana Harper

Honestly, I think this book has been hurt the most by my reading slump. It was one of my most anticipated reads of the year (Halloween – witches – revenge plot with 3 spurned women working together but has 2 of the women falling for each other instead!) but it took me about 5 weeks to even finish this book. I just had to force myself through it. But it had everything going for it, the Halloweeny vibes, the cozy little town, the sizzling romance and all the witchy goodness. So I think it’s really a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”

Rating: 3 stars

Shades of Wicked by Jeaniene Frost

At least there was some more Jeaniene Frost audio goodness to keep me going. “If all else fails, try Jeaniene Frost” should be my new reading slump motto, because this was again so good. Shades of Wicked is a spin-off in the Night Huntress series featuring Ian. Ian’s one of the most hilarious characters in the entire series, so it was definitely nice to read a whole book focusing on him. I’m not gonna say my reading slump is cured, but I think it definitely took a time out for a bit so I could enjoy this listen.

Rating: 4 stars

Top Ten Tuesday

If You Liked These TV Shows, You Should Try These Books
Memorable Things Characters Have Said – A Selection Of My Favorite Quotes From Recent Reads
10 Books To Read If You Love Hades & Persephone Retellings
Characters I’d Love An Update On (Where Are They Now That The Book Is Over?)
A Journey Through My Reading Life (AKA My Favorite Books of the Past 10 Years)

Quote It Wednesday

Can’t Wait Wednesday

The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann
Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane

Hmm, even music-wise I’ve been feeling a little slumpy… But here’s what I did love this month!

MY FAVORITE: ONEUS – LUNA

Oneus has kind of become my favorite band of 2021, as I started the year with a favorite of theirs (No Diggity) and now it seems like I’ll end the year with a Oneus favorite, as Luna is absolutely AMAZING. The poetic lyrics, the gorgeous vibe of the MV and the beautiful choreography, this is just a win in all ways.

Little Mix – No

I love a good power jam, and this is hitting all the right spots!

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha

Howetomw Cha-Cha-Cha is such an amazing feel-good, healing type of kdrama that I’d highly recommend to anyone who loves shows like Gilmore Girls or Hart of Dixie and small-town romances. It’s the story of a successful dentist called Hye-Jin, who lives and works in Seoul. However, when Hye-Jin quits her job because of her incompetent boss and then drunkenly posts about her boss on the internet, her boss makes sure she can’t get hired in Seoul again. In an attempt to soul-search, she visits a little seaside village and on a whim decides to open up her own dentist practice there. Naturally she has some issues adjusting to small-town life and regularly buts heads with the town handyman – until she doesn’t 😉 I’m definitely doing a full review on this sometime soon, so stay tuned for that and if you’d already like to check it out, it’s on Netflix!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 5

Yep, the rewatch is still ongoing and this month my husband and I finished season 5. It’s a season I haven’r rewatched a lot before, because it’s a super emotional season and yep, I cried a lot now too.

Love Hard

Yep, time to get into that Christmas mood! I ADORED Love Hard. I know it has a catfishing plot but I did like how they handled it. Also, fun to see Nina Dobrev on the screen again.

Ehh, Belgium is being hit by the 4th COVID-wave so regulations have become more strict again and I’m thinking they’ll still become more strict as time goes on. I’m working from home again 4 days of the week, the nightlife is closing down and masks are obligated everywhere again. For now, we can still go to restaurants (max 6 at a table) and see our friends and family, though we should be careful. I’m really hoping it can stay that way at least, but we’ll have to see what happens.

Things that made me happy this month:

• Had a week off that I really enjoyed
• Put up our Christmas tree (it’s a little one that’s on our cabinet, but whatever, LIGHTS!)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

• CHRISTMAS BREAK!
• (Hopefully) spending the holidays with family.
• Umm, how about The Witcher Season 2? Also, The Hating Game Adaptation!
• Oh, and the release of If This Gets Out, a boy band romance book!

How was your November? What did you read? What did you listen to and what did you watch? What are you looking forward to in December?

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