Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- November

November in my reading life gave me this:

Twice.

And then it gave me this:

While I read some books I didn't really care for, I did read two books in particular that I loved. Both books gave me Book Hangovers and I found myself either being unable to move on for at least 24 hours, or I found myself rereading favorite scenes in other favorite books in the same series.

Thus is a Bookish Reading Life.

But mostly, November also had me spending money because lots of books on my Kindle wishlist went on sale. And then lots of other books were available that I just really wanted to read and screw the prices. And then there were also a lot of other books wherein I just needed to reign myself in and stop spending money, because I had to remind myself how extensive my e-book library is... and also how many more books I have yet to touch on my physical book shelf.

Then there were the freebies and the library check-outs...

... ... ... ... ...

I also bought a Kindle Paperwhite. It was on sale. I regret nothing.

Books Read

Audio books:

After the Storm by Maya Banks

Crazy Sweet by Tara Janzen

Skylark by Meagan Spooner

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Dead by Midnight: An I-Team Christmas (novella) by Pamela Clare

Fear the Dark by Kay Hooper

Shadowlark by Meagan Spooner

Lark Ascending by Meagan Spooner

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

The Hope of Elantris (short story) by Brandon Sanderson

The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas

Shadow Fall by Laura Griffin

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Dracula by Bram Stoker

-- audiobook narrated by Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, and a full cast

Books Dropped/Put On Hold

On Hold

Currently Reading

Reviews & Notable Posts

Reviews

After the Storm by Maya Banks

Skylark by Meagan Spooner

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Dead by Midnight: An I-Team Christmas (novella) by Pamela Clare

Fear the Dark by Kay Hooper

Shadowlark by Meagan Spooner

Lark Ascending by Meagan Spooner

The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas

Other Posts

2015 Reading Assignment Challenge -- October Report

Official 'The Raven King' Cover!!!

In which I try to read ALL THE BOOKS!

Starting: Winter

Progress Update: Chapter 9 -- 9% into the book

Reading progress update: I've read 26% -- up to Ch. 25

Reading progress update: I've read 69% -- up to Ch. 68

In which I try to read ALL THE BOOKS! - Take Two

Fear the Dark Reading Update: 142 out of 265 pages.

Starting off the Christmas holiday... and some personal thoughts.

Reading Wrap-Up

14 books total were read in November. Two of these books were novellas and one was a short story. One book, Dracula was an audio book I began listening to in October and finished at the beginning of the month of November. But, to make up for the shorter books, I also read Winter which is listed as 827 pages for the Kindle version--that's a lot of pages.

Series I started reading in November:

The Gold Seer Saga by Rae Carson

The London Trilogy by Sherry Thomas

Castle Mountain Lodge by Elena Aitken

Series I completed in November:

Skylark by Meagan Spooner

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Series I have made progress on in November:

Steele Street by Tara Janzen

KGI by Maya Banks

Bishop/SCU by Kay Hooper

Cormoran Strike by Robert Galbraith

Tracers by Laura Griffin

My favorite books read in November obviously includes the concluding installment of the Lunar Chronicles, Winter. I repeat: The FEELS! There were many FEELS had by all. And then there was the long novella of An I-Team Christmas--Pamela Clare is always a delight! The Luckiest Lady in London, though part of a reading challenge, hadn't been a book I'd intended to read in November, but I picked it up as a random "I want to read this" moment and finished it and loved it--Sherry Thomas is also always a delight.

I was a bit disappointed in the Skylark trilogy, but then again, maybe I put too much hype into it all by myself and ended up with a too-high expectation for it as a YA dystopian. However, I was also equally disappointed in Career of Evil, which is saying much since I also DID like it at the same time; it just wasn't what I'd been expecting after such a genius work of The Silkworm last year.

Lastly, while I hope I'm wrong, I think I might have finally run out of influenced love and bias for Maya Banks' KGI series--while After the Storm was serviceable as a guilty pleasure, rainy-day read, I couldn't help but have issues with it and the continued downturn of the books and how each and every one of them are turning out cheesier and schmaltzier and more difficult to enjoy than the previous. I fell in love with the KGI world, but that doesn't mean I can continuously overlook the repetitive formulas just because I love the characters.

The same goes for Kay Hooper's Bishop/SCU series; however, at least there's still a semblance of story telling in these paranormal mysteries.

Coming Up Next (tentative scheduling)

Tentative TBR for This Month

Tentatively Planned Posts/Reviews

Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Review: Shadow Fall by Laura Griffin

Review: Taste Test by Kelly Fiore

Review: Vitro by Jessica Khoury

Review: The Immortal Heights by Sherry Thomas

Review: The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis

Review: Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis

Review: Slow Burn by Julie Garwood

Review: Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood

Review: What the Dead Know by Kylie Brant

Packaged Review Post: Books I Read in 2015 But Did Not Officially Review

Reading Challenge Post: 2016 Reading Assignment Challenge starter post

Reading Challenge Post: 2015 Reading Challenges wrap up post

End of Year Thoughts about 2015 Readings

What I am looking forward to in 2016

Book Haul / TBR Additions

Amazon Kindle Deals (free)

Amazon Kindle Deals (discounted/low price)

Bought as New

Audible Purchases

Checked Out From the Library

Reading Challenge Updates

Original 2015 Reading Challenge Post

General Reading Challenge

Goodreads Reading Challenge -- GR list/shelf

BookLikes Reading Challenge -- BL list/shelf

My Goal: 150 books

Progress: 159/150 books read

Outdo Yourself Challenge

Hosted by Book Vixen

My Goal: Getting My Heart Rate Up: read 1 - 5 more books

(I read 154 books for this challenge in 2014 / My goal will be 155 - 159 books in 2015.)

My Progress: 147/155

See Also: 2015 Outdo Yourself Challenge shelf for list of books

Romantic Suspense Challenge

-- CHALLENGE COMPLETED -- 4/9/2015

Hosted by Book Vixen

My Goal: SWAT: read 21+ romantic suspense novels

My Progress: 75/21

See Also: 2015 Romantic Suspense Challenge shelf for list of books

Men in Uniform Challenge

-- CHALLENGE COMPLETED -- 3/17/2015

Hosted by Book Vixen

My Goal: Chief: read 16+ men in uniform novels

My Progress: 69/16

-- 16 books read -- COMPLETED -- 3/17/2015

See: 2015 Men in Uniform Challenge shelf for book list

See: 2015 Men in Uniform Challenge post for detailed list

2015 TBR Pile Challenge

Hosted by Roof Beam Reader

My 2015 TBR Pile Challenge Summary Post

My Progress: 10/12

See Also: BookLikes shelf / Goodreads shelf

2015 Reading Assignment Challenge

Hosted by Because Reading & Fantasy Is More Fun

My 2015 Reading Assignment Challenge Summary Post

My Goal: Reading Level 5: 48 books (4 books/month), 4 Extra Credits, 1 Pass

My Progress: 46/48 (2 out of 4 Extra Credits Used / No Passes used)

See Also: BookLikes shelf / Goodreads shelf

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

Hosted by My Reader's Block

My Goal: Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR pile/s

My Progress: 30/48

See: 2015 Mount TBR Challenge shelf for book list

The Series That Never Ends Challenge

Hosted by Delighted Reader

My 2015 The Series That Never Ends Challenge Summary Post

My Goal(s):

1) Surviving the Book Tsunami -- 5-9 books -- COMPLETED 6/1/2015

2) Removing the Thorn From My Side -- 10-15 books

My Progress: 17/15 books

Listed Series Goals Completed: 2/3

See: 2015 Series Never Ends Challenge shelf for book list

Final Thoughts

As I was saying already, I had a really good book haul in November. It was in part due to all the discounts via Kindle books and then Harlequin was having a discount sale and then more holiday sales were going on... I just couldn't help myself. So I made up for it by also adding several freebies to my working reading list and Kindle e-library.

At least, I think that makes up for it. Seeing as how I had gone and bought at least three other books at full price, I thought I deserved some book haul goodness in the form of freebies and discounted books. It was a long month and I need to make myself happy.

And now I'm just grasping for excuses. I have a lot of reading to do next year.

I had been trying to make extra progress in many of my reading challenges since it's closing in on the end of the year, but I have already given up on at least two challenges: 2015 TBR Pile Challenge hosted by Roof Beam Reader and the Mt. TBR Reading Challenge hosted by My Re ader's Block. The 2015 Reading Assignment Challenge is still going strong, I've already completed four other challenges, and I'm hoping that the Outdo Yourself Challenge and the Neverending Series Challenge can be wrapped up before the year is over next month.

Hopefully.

As much as I know it's no fun to stick to a reading schedule, I'm going to do exactly that. There are at least eight other books that are pre-chosen for my reading challenges and I need at least eight more books to complete my Outdo Yourself Challenge.

This shouldn't be too hard, right?