November, November: the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year

Posted November 8, 2015 by Cristina (Girl in the Pages) in Features / 11 Comments

November may be my new favorite month.

This year, November’s brought with it the first hints of fall (the weather has literally dipped twenty degrees over the course of two weeks) new holiday traditions, and a return to a state of calmness in my life. At the end of August I experienced some major life changes, and have moved to a new town, started a new job, and gone on an epic vacation in the course of the past two months. This has led to a decrease in posting and reading, but an increase in amazing life-changing opportunities. However, mid November marks the end of “busy season” at work for me, and I’m thrilled that I’ll soon be able to devote more time to reading and blogging to wrap up some of my challenges before the end of the year. I’ve never been one for monthly TBR posts, but I thought that this month it would be a fun way to feature how I’ll be getting back into the reading world.

The bookshelf situation.

Here’s the thing about moving: it’s an absolute nightmare if you haven’t been able to successfully switch to e-books and thus have amassed an even larger physical book collection than you had since you last moved. When I knew I was moving for work one of the first things I did was pack up alll of my books (it took the better part of an entire afternoon and 13 heavy duty storage boxes). However, the beautiful bookshelves I’ve been using for the past two years still currently reside at my parents house, and thus I am on the hunt for new ones to put in my brand new apartment. Yet finding the time to look for decent shelves (not to mention finding them time to BUILD them) hasn’t been something that I’ve had since starting my current job. Sadly, 90% of my books are sitting safely tucked away under lock and key in a closet at my parent’s house. I’ve taken just the ARCs I need to finish within the next few months as well as any books I’ve recently purchased and put them on a small (although very pretty and decorative) bookshelf my aunt generously gave me. It looks great, but it’s limiting in the amount of books I’m able to have with me.

FullSizeRender 3(1)

The owned tbr.

As you can see on my “priority bookshelf” above, I have several ARCs that I need to get to that I acquired at ALA. These Shallow Graves, Illuminae, Soundless, and Forget Tomorrow are the highest priority ARCs I have to finish in November. I am also itching to get to Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows.

Upcoming additions to my tbr.

I haven’t even had time to buy a book since November, (The Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone illustrated edition was an anniversary present from my boyfriend) so I can’t wait to flex my consumer muscle and stock up on some titles this month, especially since a lot of books are coming out in paperback this winter. Yesterday I pre-ordered two adult coloring books from Amazon, The Harry Potter Coloring Book and The Disney Princess Coloring Book. Before adult coloring books became a “thing” I was still buying Hello Kitty coloring books to use when I babysat and I never stopped finding coloring incredibly soothing. These are both released Tuesday and I can’t wait to see what beautiful illustrations are waiting for me.

hpcoloringbook

I also plan on going straight to Barnes and Nobel after work on Tuesday and buying myself a copy of Winter. Why haven’t I pre-ordered it, as a huge Lunar Chronicles fan? Because I want to make sure my copy is 100% flawless and not subject to any bent corners or rips that can sometimes happen when a book comes through the mail. I also have my eye on The Young Elites and A Thousand Pieces of You as they’ve both come out in paperback recently (my preferred method of reading). I keep being drawn to Carry On by Rainbow Rowell as well but I’m scared it won’t be my thing…can anyone who’s read it give me some guidance?

How about those challenges?

I’m actually doing really well on my Goodreads challenge, and currently have read 69 out of 70 books (the counter in my sidebar is off since it only counts books I’ve reviewed on the blog so far)! I’ve already reached my “goal” level of 5-9 fairytale retellings with 6 books so far (I’m hoping to make it to 8 by the end of the year) and finished my goal of 12 books for the re-read challenge thanks to rereading the entirety of the Princess Diaries series in the spring.

What’s on your tbr for November?

Are you feeling pressure to finish things before the year’s end? Do you usually read more or less around the holidays? Are any of these books worth bumping up on my to-read list ASAP? Let me know!

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11 responses to “November, November: the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year

  1. Oh wow I know exactly what you mean by saying moving books is an absolute nightmare! I recently moved to another city too and I was only able to take half of my books with me due to a lack of space! And all of them had to be moved to the fourth floor without the luxury of an elevator. It was horror! But. I stick to the conviction that books are better than E-books!
    And the Harry Potter colouring book looks really cool, I might get a copy myself as well! I usually tend to still buy children colouring books, as I often find the adult ones either boring, or containing too many small spaces, while I like colouring in the big spaces!
    I’m excited for Carry On, but it is not on my TBR list yet (as that is far too long already!). This month I’m hoping to finish Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (no comment), and The Fault in Our Stars (still haven’t read that yet)!

    • I live on the 3rd floor with no elevator, so I can relate to having to haul all of those books up the stairs…so unpleasant! I’ll admit it is frustrating for me to not have most of my books with me, as I really took for granted being able to view my collection anytime I wanted prior to moving to my new place. I’ll remember a book I loved and go to reread it…and then realize it’s in storage!

  2. I love your shelf. So beautiful! Enjoy all your reading this month. I think I read more over the holidays because I travel and have more time off from work. Here’s my TBR: http://www.momsradius.com/2015/11/books-i-plan-to-read-in-november.html

    Carry On is so good! I love everything Rainbow Rowell writes, but this book especially impressed me. I wasn’t sure if she could do fantasy – but it’s amazing. Lighter fantasy, like Harry Potter. As always her characters are just so wonderful. I really fell hard for Simon and Baz. Here’s my review: http://www.momsradius.com/2015/10/book-review-carry-on-ya.html

    Kate @ Mom's Radius recently posted: Painting: Before and After
    • Thank you for the compliment! I like the shelf too, although it is small! I keep hearing amazing things about Carry On so I’ll definitely be putting it on my Christmas wishlist, and I keep finding myself sneaking peeks at it whenever I’m in a bookstore!

    • I’m always so impressed by how many books you read per month, Alexa, so when you say “a few rereads” I’m sure you’ll put a great dent in any rereads challenges you are participating in 😉 It’s crazy that all of the 2015 purchases I made this year and didn’t get to will now be “backlist” books come 2016!

  3. I’m a huge fan of the fall, so I’d probably agree with you that November is my favorite month! I’ve also devoted quite a bit of time to looking for bookshelves in the past, so I’m excited to see what you end up purchasing! I know Ikea has a pretty broad selection, so it might be worth a try. And congrats on all of your challenges! Sounds like you’re doing much better than I am!

    Olivia recently posted: Review: A Tale of Two Cities
    • I’ve really been meaning to head to Ikea but the nearest one is 30+ minutes away and there’s always crowds, so I haven’t quite found the motivation to want to drag myself out to one yet. Target has some decent shelving too, so I’m looking there. I want my shelves to match the rest of my bedroom furniture (which is a grey/taupe color) so it’s a bit hard to match!

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