What’s up, November?

Posted on by Jake is Reading

Hello, good bookishfolk! I hope the spirits have guided your hands to some excellent reads this Halloween.

– What Happened –

Given that I’m yet to post a review this month, I think its safe to say that, er, not much happened? Although I did FINALLY get my first cat, who is just the bestest kitty to ever saunter across the Earth. He also smells inexplicably good. Like unicorn milk. Though his breath smells like a trolloc’s buttcrack. Here is a recent photo of him looking confused and offended after farting himself awake.

Between entertaining Mephi and studying for a nursing exam in November, I haven’t had much time to read. This is ironic given that October was meant to be OcTBR, the month in which I finally make a dent in my TBR. Instead, I DNF’d a book for the first time in about five years because the content didn’t agree with me. I’m also still plodding through The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn by Tyler Whitesides, and hoping to finish it in the next week. Meanwhile, my TBR grows steadily and unstoppably, like monster blood from an old can.

– The Damage –

It might have been a busy month, but I still managed to find time to spend money on books! Here we can see my waning self-discipline, though nothing like the shopping spree I went on in August.

eBook Purchases

Physical books and pre-orders

Every so often, I politely decline to add a new release book to my TBR pile, for the sake of being realistic about my capability to read every new title. But more often than not, I end up seeing convincing reviews and add it anyway. Since I can’t discuss any of my own reviews from the last month, I thought I’d share a couple that I blame for my recent purchases.

Firstly, I would like to blame Jodie from Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub, Ollie from Infinite Speculation and AdeelReads for making me buy this special Waterstones edition of The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton. Gee, thanks a lot.

I’d also like to point the finger at Tammy from Books, Bones & Buffy, JonBob from Parsecs and Parchment, Corey from Grimdark Dad and Rin from The Thirteenth Shelf for forcing The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones into my hands. How dare you? How dare all of you?

While I did post reviews of Velocity Weapon and Chaos Vector by Megan E. O’Keefe, I will curse the names of Alex from Book Blurb (a further pox upon you, Alex), Peter from The Swordsmith and Caitlin from Realms of My Mind for making me feel justified in buying these special hardback editions of The Protectorate novels.

If you’ve reviewed any of these books, feel free to link me and I can yell at you too! As for the rest of my purchases, well, they’re on me. Including this special edition of Ready Player One to match my Goldsboro Ready Player Two!

– What’s Gonna Happen –

A boat-full of people will be participating in #Norsevember hosted by Alex from Spells and Spaceships, which sounds fantastic, and I’m looking forward to scandinavianising my TBR!

I’m also very excited about #SciFiMonth, as there are so many sci-fi books that I can’t wait to read. Here is my November TBR that I’ve had planned for a few months:

Realistically, I will probably only have time to read my eARC of Nophek Gloss. I’d love to squeeze in The First Sister since I’ve been looking forward to it all year (I even interviewed the author way back in July).

Make sure you check out both events, or even better, find a book about Vikings in space and participate simultaneously.

I also have review copies that I really want to read by the end of the year, including Hollow Road by Dan Fitzgerald, The Engineer by Darran M. Handshaw and We Men of Ash and Shadow by H. L. Tinsley.

What will you be reading this November?

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26 thoughts on “What’s up, November?”

  6. Argh, I’ve been meaning to get to The Engineer for so long! It’s the page count that intimidates me, I think.

    I read the Only Good Indians in one night and I didn’t even really like it. So good luck with that!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Yeah I loaded it up in my Kindle and it took me by surprise haha.
    I still appreciated the different take in your review, I’m curious to see whether I like it! I can test our theory of disliking the same books 😬

    Like

  8. Hehehe sorry not sorry. Hope you enjoy the absolute unorthodoxy and refusal to play by the rules of writing in The Only Good Indians. I also VERY MUCH enjoyed your Monster Blood reference in this post! Wishing you the very best of luck in your exam, though I’m sure luck has very little to do with it and all your hard work will pay off 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Pox me all you want, Lost Boy, but you’re too late, I’m a witch, a witch I tell you … and I’ll hex you with my book recommendations and reviews till you buy them all, just like you make my TBR grow every month! And wow, considering you didn’t read or review, you’ve packed a lot in here, on this post! Dang I can’t wait to get stuck into #SciFiMonth!

    As always, I’m looking forward to reading your reviews and thoughts.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Thanks so much! I’ve definitely been at the pub more than I should be, but fingers crossed I pass 😬
    I’m not even necessarily expecting to love it, but I’m very interested to experience it. Sounds like a unique book!
    And thank you, have some happy memories of Goosebumps!

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Hey thanks for the shout out! I totally stand behind my recommendation of The Only Good Indians and I hope you love it too:-) Also Do You Dream of Terra Two? was one of my favorite books the year it came out, so good choice buying it!

    Liked by 1 person

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