Monthly Rundown: November 2015

Books Read in November: 20

Feeling quite accomplished again, but MAN was it a rough reading month. I had seven 2-star reads in a freaking row. That really discourages you from picking anything up let me tell you. I also took a bit of an unplanned break so didn’t have quite as many reviews. Just wasn’t feeling it. But I just knocked out a review for the first time in a couple of weeks so I’m feeling pretty optimistic that I’ve kicked the slump but fingers crossed anyways.

Posted Reviews

• [6 Nov] Bone Gap by Laura Ruby ★★★★
• [7 Nov] Nimona by Noelle Stevenson ★★★
• [12 Nov] The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin ★★★★
• [13 Nov] Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin ★★★★½
• [14 Nov] Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman ★★★★½
• [19 Nov] M Train by Patti Smith ★★
• [20 Nov] A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis ★★
• [21 Nov] Traffick by Ellen Hopkins ★★★

Un-reviewed reads

• The Vile Village (A Series of Unfortunate Events #7) by Lemony Snicket ★★★
• Tricks (Tricks #1) by Ellen Hopkins ★★★
• Stardust by Neil Gaiman ★★★★
• Let Me Wake by Adrienne Stoltz & Ron Bass ★★
• Thor’s Serpents (The Blackwell Pages #3) by K.L. Armstrong & M. A. Marr ★★
• The Grownup by Gillian Flynn ★★
• George’s Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl ★★
• The Hostile Hospital (A Series of Unfortunate Events #8) by Lemony Snicket ★★★
• This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper ★★★★★
• The Carnivorous Carnival (A Series of Unfortunate Events #9) by Lemony Snicket ★★★

DNFs

I decided this month to start including my DNFs in my roundup. My very painful to admit list of DNFs that is much larger than normal because apparently my tolerance went out the window.

• Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
• Chimera (Parasitology #3) by Mira Grant
• Marrow by Tarryn Fisher
• Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
• A Pocket Full of Murder (Uncommon Magic #1) by R.J. Anderson

Best of the Month: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman ★★★★½
Gotta give it to the winner. This was incredibly smart and well-written with a powerful message that makes this quite an unforgettable read. I picked this as the winner for my National Book Award experiment, and it actually won!

Least Favorite(s): A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis ★★
This one almost made it into the DNF pile/mountain for the month but I stuck it out only to wish I hadn’t. This one had such an incredibly promising start only to become a massive disappointment after the 15% mark.

Biggest Surprise: This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper ★★★★★
I added this one to my TBR after seeing the trailer for the movie. It was one of those that in all reality would have sat on my TBR for ages, however, in an attempt to break my 2-star trend I picked up something wild and random (this book) and oh, wow. Loved this one. I added everything else from this author to my TBR before I was even finished.

Biggest Disappointment: M Train by Patti Smith ★★
Just Kids was such an incredible read so admittedly, it was a hard one to follow-up with anything that wouldn’t immediately be compared. I failed to be impressed at all with this all over the place read.

Plans for December

HOW IS IT ALMOST CHRISTMAS?? If you’re like me and excessively organize your Goodreads shelf, you have a wintery/christmas shelf that I always aim to focus on during this month. So I’ve got a few Christmas-y type reads that I’d like to spend some time on.

There’s also a new bingo card! I’ve made all my picks and I’ve applied my 14 review books to all squares in an attempt to start the year off on a good note. Hopefully I can stick with it. 🙂

How was your November reading month? Big plans for December?