Hello,

I wanted to get this out earlier, but things got pretty crazy toward the end of November into December with finals and papers. I’m finally free for break now so I am trying to catch up on monthly posts and end of the year stuff. I haven’t done much this year, but next year I have some reading goals that I am thinking about. I’ll talk about it more in one of my posts coming up after my December TBR (also getting out late).

Oh, I’m also trying out a new graphic for my stats information for the month. I’m not sure if I like this one or if anything needs to be changed, but I think I might continue this into 2020.

 

NOVEMBER WRAP-UP STATS

November was a very good reading month, considering I was doing a lot of reading in school and had a couple of papers. It was kind of a weird semester because I had a lot of stuff to do, but no big projects at least until December. Thanksgiving was a pretty busy week, so I wasn’t able to get a ton of reading done but I did get some in. I did have to DNF two books that I just didn’t like, but other than that it was an overall good month.

November wrap-up

  1. Serena by Ron Rash – I love Ron Rash and especially after getting to meet him last spring for one of my English classes, I was really curious about his other books. For my southern lit class we had to read Serena, and while I was a bit excited about it, I was also a bit weary of it. It was a good thing that I was because I really disliked Serena. I didn’t mind the other characters, though Serena got added to my top least favorite characters of all time. Overall I would recommend this book if you are interested in Rash, but Serena can be an interesting and difficult person in the story (3.5 stars).
  2. The whisper man by Alex North – I’m not quite sure how I heard about this one, but I saw it on my Overdrive and placed a hold on it. I’m so glad I did because it ended up on my top favorite books of the year. October/November has always been the  mystery/horror months for me, and it was the perfect time to pick it up. It’s one I would highly recommend (4.5/5 stars).
  3. The last wish (The Witcher #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski – A few months ago, I started watching Booktube and heard about this series being talked into an adaptation. I’d never heard of it before which surprised me, though I am slowly moving into Adult Fantasy so I’m also kind of not surprised that I did. That probably doesn’t make sense, but anyways, this year YA Fantasy has not been the best for me and I was a little weary getting into it because I’d also heard that it was a set of fairy tales introducing the Witcher. I was pleasantly surprised by how I enjoyed it though, and ended up getting the rest of the series (4.5 stars).
  4. The wicked deep by Shea Ernshaw – I’ve seen this one around for a while, and I was trying to remember if I’d read it before but wasn’t really sure. I decided to pick it up and while I thought the plot was interesting it definitely felt more character driven. I also predicted the mystery right before we found out about it, so I really lost interest in it after that and decided to DNF it. If you like the paranormal genre I would recommend this one, but I am not sure if I will try to read it again. I think I had too many mystery/horror novels at the time to really invest in it (2 stars).
  5. Flipped by Van Draanan Wendelin – I really liked The running dream (I think that’s what it is called), and while I thought this was a great growing up story, I did find it really cheesy at times. I definitely think it’s more on the middle grade side and would highly recommend it for someone who loves reading contemporary novels. I think if I was still in high school I might have enjoyed it more, but I am glad I read it. It allowed me to take a break from the other books that I had picked up and was a short fun read (3 stars).
  6. Dumplin’ (#1) by Julie Murphy – I was a bit apprehensive going into this one, but I’d thought I would try it to see if I would like it. I had to DNF it about 20-25 percent into the story because I did get tired of the main character. I thought the plot was good and the mc had good intentions, but the things she did got kind of repetitive. I won’t say that you shouldn’t read it, I’m just not entirely sure if I would recommend it or not (2 stars)
  7. The bloodline by C.S. Feldman – I usually don’t pick up free books on Amazon prime, but apparently this was exactly what I needed to read before Thanksgiving. I love stories about houses with vengeful spirits and a background, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. There was a hint of romance between the main character and one of the other characters, but it didn’t take up the whole plot of the story, which was a refresher. I tried to find this book elsewhere, but so far I haven’t found it on other than Amazon. I would highly recommend this one though if you are looking for haunted houses.
  8. A gathering of old men by Ernest J. Gaines – This was the last classic that I read for my Southern lit class (we had to read three books), and it was pretty good. This one was a new one for me and I am glad that I read it. I loved learning about the culture and the times that it was set in. It was definitely an eye opener for me and I am glad to have been able to pick it up when I might not have picked it up before. Overall it’s one that I would highly recommend (4.5 stars).
  9. Black lagoon Vol. 1 by Rei Hiroe – I have a ton of manga that I am interested in picking up and eventually watch, but for some reason I always go for the one’s I”ve seen and read a million times (Naruto, Vampire knight). This was a new one for me and I loved it. I’m definitely planning to continue it after I pick up a couple of others and would highly recommend this one (4 stars).

 

So this is my November Wrap-up. It was a good reading month, though I am hoping to catch up in December. I have an ambitious TBR for December and I’m hoping to pick up some good ones too.

Hope y’all have a good start to the week.

Marybeth

(I’ll add in the links to Goodreads tomorrow when I post my December TBR).