November 2017 Month In Review

Posted December 6, 2017 by Cristina (Girl in the Pages) in Features, Month In Review / 16 Comments

Books I Read This Month:

Honestly I was SHOCKED when I was looking back to see how many books I read in November for this post!! I took the week of Thanksgiving off which I think helped boost my numbers, and I also read a lot of ebooks (4 of the 8 were on my Kindle) which always helps me to read faster!

Books I Reviewed This Month:

A Cure for the Common Breakup (3.5 Stars)

New Uses for Old Boyfriends (2.5 Stars)

Put a Ring On It (5 Stars)

Once Upon a Wine (4 Stars)

The Name of the Star (4 Stars)

The Madness Underneath (3.5 Stars)

The Shadow Cabinet (3.5 Stars)

Moxie (4 Stars)

Stats:

Total Books Read: 8

Total Novellas Read: 0

Rereads: 0

Favorite Book Read This Month: American Panda was just a phenomenal portrayal of a protagonist navigating two cultures. Plus, it takes place in college!

Least Favorite Book Read This Month: Bittersweet was a bit of a disappointment.

Book that Most Surprised Me This Month: Far From the Tree blew me away! I was not expecting it to be so emotional!

Reading Challenge Updates

Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge Progress: 73/60

Other Posts This Month:

I discussed my end of 2017 priority TBR.

I recapped my first Amazon bookstore experience.

I shared what I’ve been watching lately.

I launched my new Beyond the Books feature.

I reflected on our last trip to Disneyland for a while.

Personal Updates:

Pretty much the only picture of me from Thanksgiving. The hostess life is hard!

November was the month I didn’t know I needed. It was the tail end of my busy season at work, so the first few weeks were pretty busy, and then things sort of came to a screeching halt in some ways when I took the week of Thanksgiving off work. It was SO WEIRD to be on a “staycation,” but I absolutely loved it. I didn’t relax/read as much as I had hoped, but I did get a LOT done around the house- we cleaned out our garage, donated a bunch of things, unpacked more boxes, caught up on LOADS of laundry (although I fear I’ll never be fully on top of my laundry…) and just generally did a TON of things around the house that we had been meaning to but had put off. Thanksgiving itself was madness if a bit of a change, as we hosted this year! It was fun but stressful and I was all set to take a ton of pictures but was too busy running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off to take any- and when I finally corralled all of the members of my family to the table, I was too hungry to wait for any photo taking! Also, if anyone is interested in a vegetarian/vegan stuffing alternative, Max and I made this rice based stuffing from Gimme Some Oven and it was FANTASTIC (we skipped the mushrooms though since we’re not huge fans of them).

We also both did quite a bit of black Friday holiday shopping (the sales were SO GOOD) and completely had our Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving even happened- yes we’re THOSE people (#iregretnothing). We just use our Christmas decor for Thanksgiving! I thinking of doing a post showcasing our Christmas decorations if people would be interested!

How was your November? Have you ever hosted Thanksgiving at your place before? Did you do anything exciting for the long holiday weekend? Let me know in the comments!

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16 responses to “November 2017 Month In Review

  1. I can’t wait to read Prince in Disguise, it looks so cute! We’ve been hosting Thanksgiving for the past several years for my husband’s family. It’s only three people, but it’s still kind of stressful! My husband does most of the cooking, but I do all the planning, cleaning, etc. I would love to see your holiday decorations! We had so much fun decorating outside for the first time this year.

    • Prince in Disguise is adorable! It felt like watching an ABC Family/Freeform family movie honestly lol. We only had 5 people over for Thanksgiving (my parents, brother and grandparents) but it definitely was stressful (just the stress of cleaning the house before people come over is enough, and then you have to add the cooking and hosting into the mix lol). We’re the same way- my bf does all the cooking and I do everything else lol.

  2. Looks like November was a productive month! And I definitely know what you mean about the laundry! 73 books in your challenge is amazing too..I am so behind on my reading this year! Wishing you a happy December of reading and a great Christmas too! 🙂

    • Laundry never ends!!! I look forward to the (probably impossible) day when ALL of my laundry is washed, folded, and put away ALL AT THE SAME TIME lol. I was doing well with my challenge and was hoping to hit 80 by year end, but December has been so busy with holiday things! (I haven’t finished a new book since this post!) I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

  3. I’m dying to read American Panda! That one looks so cute! And I’m so glad you read Dark Triumph because now you can read my favorite book in the series, Mortal Heart! I’m glad you had such a relaxing November! I love doing a major cleanout during that month so I’m ready to start fresh in the New Year!

    • Ok so as you saw on GR I am reading Mortal Heart and I’M DYING and shipping Annith and you-know-who SO hard. I can’t believe this is the last published book, and that there’s been such a gap between Mortal Heart and when the next book is being released. I can’t wait for the next one in 2018!

  4. Strangely enough, November was exactly the same for me! The first two weeks were insane in terms of exams and presentations and projects. And then Thanksgiving! I’m glad to hear you found some good sales on Black Friday! I also went shopping but I only bought a few things. Haha my mom wouldn’t even hear of putting up any Christmas decorations until after Black Friday; her mother is VERY into snowmen (and they’re out ALL the time) so I think she was a little Christmased out in her early years and now wants to keep it confined to December. I love listening to Christmas music over the Thanksgiving holiday, though! I hope you have a lovely December, Cristina 🙂

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

    • Thank you, Laura! That’s interesting about your mom’s family’s interest in snowmen- I can’t imagine having decorations like that out past January! I hope now that it’s December you’re finally enjoying some Christmas decorations at home! 🙂

  5. Bummer about Bittersweet. I’m a huge Sarah Ockler fan and really loved that book (even though I HATED the mom). The brother and Mr. Napkins were just too adorable. And I loved the hockey boys.

    I’m super happy to see you liked AMERICAN PANDA. I’m helping with the blog tour for it and I’m pumped to read it. Also, FAR FROM THE TREE is on my list bc I LOVE Robin Benway– and since it won the National Book Award.

    • Her brother and Mr. Napkins WERE adorable. But UGH her mom annoyed me SO MUCH I think it was a major factor for the low rating for me. I’m so jealous you’re on the American Panda tour! It’s AMAZING! Seriously, I’ve never read anything like it!

  6. Ebooks help me read faster too, I’m not sure why! That’s awesome that you had such a good reading month! Prince in Disguise was very cute and I’m looking forward to American Panda. It feels so good to get house stuff done! I’ve never hosted Thanksgiving (our apt is too small) but I made sweet potato casserole for the first time this year and it was a big hit! My parents came up to visit and we had Thanksgiving at my aunt’s house which was nice 🙂 Hope your December is going well!!

    Morgan @ The Bookish Beagle recently posted: Fall Bookish Bingo and November Update

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