Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly for November. This whole household has been sick since Thanksgiving and we are slowly recovering. Planning on setting up holiday decorations this weekend. Today we got snow showers, and tonight we even got some snow to stick to the ground; my son said that seeing the snow is makes him feel the holiday spirit.

I finished two series, March and Call of Crows. Turns out this month was not good for mysteries, as I DNF'd 3 cozy mysteries, mostly due to characters I could not get into or like enough to stay in their head for novel length of time.

Challenges:

BL/GR: 159/150

Pop Sugar: 4; 49/52 for the year

16 Festive Tasks: 16 points

Library Love: 4; 52/36 for the year (I definitely should have gone with the higher goal level)

1. Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love from the Great War by Various Authors (one story used for Pop Sugar prompt Set in 2 different time periods) - 4 stars

2. March Volume 3 by Rep John Lewis et al - 5 stars

3. A Taste of Chardonnay (Napa Wine Heiresses #1) by Heather Heyford (Library Love) - 3.5 stars

4. Check These Out by Gina Sheridan (Library Love) (Pop Sugar prompt Career Advice) - 3 stars

5. Love's First Flames (Banished Saga #0.5) by Ramona Flightner - 2 stars

6. A Wreath of Snow by Liz Curtis Higgs - 2.5 stars

7. The Unyielding (Call of Crows #3) by Shelley Laurenston - 5 stars

8. Through Waters Deep (Waves of Freedom #1) by Sarah Sundin - 5 stars

9. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (Library Love) (Pop Sugar prompts Recommended by a Librarian and Story within a Story) - 4 stars

10. Reasons Mommy Drinks by Lyranda Martin-Evans and Fiona Stevenson (Library Love) - 3 stars

11. The Toymaker by Kay Springsteen - 1 star

DNFs:

12. It Had to Be You by Delynn Royer

13. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

14. Death of a Christmas Caterer by Lee Hollis

Currently Reading

1. Unleashed (Love to the Rescue #1) by Rachel Lacey

2. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

3. Saga Volumes 2-4 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

4. Burning Bright: Four Chanukah Stories by Various Authors

November was a surprisingly good month for me (reading wise) I think i read more books in November than i had in any month this year, and possibly last! On top of that nearly all the books i read this month i adored!!

I suppose thats one of the side benefits of quitting your job.

My Favorite read was Vision in Silver which i rated 5 stars.

The Coolest book was definitely The Girl King which is based on a real character from history. I highly recommend checking her out, she's pretty amazing.
(I love this page personally but you can also check out this one, which while has good information, people would probably take this person more seriously if they didn't swear so much and stuck to actual quotes, and there's always Wiki, though i usually don't rely on wiki cause of previous fabrications problems. and you can also do your own research. either way she's awesome and you should check her out)
The book i Disliked the most has to be The Life of a Teenage Body-Snatcher and i still managed to rate the book 3 stars, so all in all a great month.

Here's hoping December will be just as good!
I already have a series (Cassie Palmer) buddy read lined up, and I'm hoping to finish some other library books in the time period as well. Happy Days.

I'm posting this a bit late, but they do say better late than never, so.....

I read a total of three books this month. Way less than I had planned on, but because I had read an extra book in a previous month I am still on track with my reading goal.  I've currently read 46 out of the 50 books that I want to finish before the end of the year. (Goodreads Reading Challenge)

READ: Wednesday 12th

Cinder- Marissa Meyer {4.5/5 Stars}

I quite enjoyed this book, but I couldn't give it 5 stars for reasons I discussed in my non spoiler review.  I liked the futuristic twist to this classic tale if Cinderella.  Where Cinderella, aka Cinder, is a cyborg.  I think fairy tale retellings can get a bit repetitive if they aren't done a certain way, but Cinder did not fall into this category in anyway.  I found it extremely original, and beautifully written.

 Cinder by Marissa Meyer Book Review

READ: Friday 14th

A Christmas Carol- Charles Dickens {5/5 Stars}

I think we all know the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge, if you don't, I don't know where you've been for the past 171 years.  Reading the novel was such a different experience than watching the film, seeing as I've only ever watched the film version, though I have seen many different versions of it.  The novel brought about such strong emotions, possibly even more than the movie has ever made me feel. 

Obviously I read this in preparation of the upcoming holiday season.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Book Review

READ: Tuesday 18th

Hopeless- Colleen Hoover {4/5 Stars}

For some reason I though I wrote a full review on this after I read it, but apparently I didn't... I will be getting to that soon.  I ordered the companion novel Losing Hope off of BookOutlet last week so it should be here sometime before next week.  I'll be doing a review on both books, because Losing Hope is the same story only from Holder's POV.

I really loved this book, I always enjoy the contemporary novels where someone is psychologically disturbed in one way or another.  When I began reading this I really didn't know what to expect.  I was an impulse buy.  It was cheap on IBooks.  I was staying away from home for the night and I needed something good and fluffy to read.  But this books was so much more than that.  And I'm glad that it was.

11 months down 1 to go :]

Here's what i read this month!

Hard/Paper backs Read:

1. Papertowns - 5 Stars

2. Through the Zombie Glass - 4 Stars

3. When We Wake - 5 Stars

4. While We Run - 4 Stars

5. Anna and the French Kiss - 4 Stars

6. The Testing - 5 Stars

7. Lola and the Boy Next Door - 4 Stars

8. Isla and the Happily Ever After - 4 Stars

9. The Evolution of Mara Dyer - 5 Stars

10. Independent Study - 4 Stars

11. The Darkest Minds - 5 Stars

12. Beta - 5 Stars

13. Emergent - 4 Stars

14. Deadly Little Secret - 4 Stars

15. Deadly Little Lies - 4 Stars

E-books Read:

1. Night of the Purple Moon - 4 Stars

2. The Luxe - 4 Stars

3. Prince of Wolves - 1 Stars

4. Awakening - 3 Stars

TOTAL 19!!!

Dang, i wish i finished 1 more!!!

How was your November??

I had a great reading month this month reading 19 books including two novellas.  

Here's the rundown: 

Almost Adept by Olga Godim: A fun, fantasy adventure with a beautifully built world.  Review here

Resonant (Reign of Blood) by Alexia Purdy:  Reign of Blood prequel, I have the rest of the books in this vampire series on deck.  Review here. 

Snow White Red Handed by Maia Chance: A fairy tale inspired murder mystery. Review here. 

TAG by Shari J. Ryan: A new adult thriller/romance.  I'm really starting to like some of these new adult books!  Review here. 

A Year in the Secret Garden by Valarie Budayr: A month-by-month companion book to one of my favorite movies.  Review here.

Roan Rose by Juliet Waldron:  War of the Roses historical fiction about Richard I.  Review here. 

Memory Card Full by Liz Weber: A memoir about love, loss and moving on.  Review here

Arcana by Jessica Leake:  Historical fantasy with magic and romance.  Review here. 

The Ripper's Wife by Brandy Purdy: Historical fiction about Jack the Ripper based on the journal of James Maybrick.  Review here. 

The Clever Mill Horse by Jodi Lew Smith: Historical fiction centered around the textile industry and the designing of an efficient flax mill.  Review here. 

The Luthier's Apprentice by Mayra Calvani: A unique, young adult, paranormal mystery. Review here. 

The Current by Yannic Thoraval: Literary fiction and family drama surrounding an environmental issue- rising sea levels and a sinking Paciific island nation.  Review here.

The Vineyard by Micheal Hurley: Drama surrounds three women who reunite on Martha's vineyard for the summer.  Review here. 

Neverland by Anna Katmore: A new-adult romance type of fairy-tale retelling of Peter Pan.  Review here. 

Transformed by E.V. Fairfall: Fantasy, paranormal type read about a struggle between Mother Earth and her brother, God.  Review here.  

Divided by M.J. Stevens: The second book of The Guardians series, an exciting fantasy and science fiction sequel to Bound .  Review here.

Recruitz by Karice Bolton: First book in the Afterworld series, this is what happens after the zombie apocalypse. Review here.

Unlocking the Mystery by Eden Baylee: An erotic novella, but with a mystery and very character driven.  Review here.  

Devil Music by Carly Orosz: A demon in an 80's metal band tries to solve the mystery of disappearing musicians.  Review here. 

Another great reading month!

I had a lot of favorites this month: Almost Adept, Snow White Red-Handed, TAG, Roan Rose, Divided, Recruitz, and Unlocking the Mystery were all solid reads for me.

Not so favorites this month were: Devil Music and Neverland. 

Up for next month: Seldom Come By, Lucky's Girl, Light in the Labyrinth, Of Sea and Stone and A Grave Inheritance. 

Have you read any of these or are you planning on reading any of these?