Hello friends, happy Friday and happy December! Today is supposed to be reviewing day, but what the h*ll, I am changing things up every once in a while, so… here goes for everything you might have missed this month!
I ended October and started off November in a great way: by being away from the blog for a week, off work and traveling a couple days with the people I love. I had a really great time and was reminded by how much I just love traveling and, well… being on holidays, ahah.
Otherwise, it was a pretty non-eventful month. Work, sleep, read, blog is basically my motto at the moment, ahah. It’s getting colder and colder and I really hate winter, making working-days a teensy bit longer and weekends shorter than ever. Have I mentioned how much I HATE winter? I just wish I could skip all these months and go straight to March of next year.
As always, I’m ending this small recap with my instagram pictures of the month. Pictures from Heidelberg, where I went traveling, food and home.
Remember in October, when I said I wouldn’t buy books until Christmas? Well… I actually managed NOT to buy a single book this November. WHO AM I. Also, I won’t hold on until Christmas anyway, but I am pretty proud of myself right now.
I had quite THE contemporary month when it comes to reading, I think I might need more fantasy for the months to come, you know, in order not to get into a reading slump or something. I don’t really know if I can, I love contemporary so much I could probably read that a whole lot longer, but… I like changing things up. IF YOU HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS, send them my way!
Books I read
What a surprise, it’s a John Green book and I loved it. You can already read my full review here.
This is the novel from the movie and let’s face it, it made me want to watch the movie again.
This one was quite the adorable contemporary you all need in your lives during the winter / new year’s season. Full review coming soon!
I carried this book around with me everyday to work. I have a hardcover copy. It weighted TONS. I work really far away. BUT IT WAS WORTH THE PAIN.
It had been a while since I got SO disappointed in a book. Layover had the potential to be a fun read, but the relationship was a MASSIVE NO NO NO and I didn’t connect with the characters. Ugh. Full review coming soon!
Currently reading this – will probably be done with it by the time this post goes up. For now it’s what I’m expecting: a fluffy, fun contemporary.
Last you’ve heard of my writing, NaNoWriMo time was coming around and I said I would try and edit my WIP.
Pretty much nothing happened since then #oops. I’m really hoping to have something to say by next month for this, but December, winter, Christmas and new year coming… well, it might not work out. Or it might. Maybe I should just give up? I don’t know. I’m just confused lately.
Or I might end up writing something completely different. You know, take out the thousand ideas I have drafted somewhere on my computer…. Hm. That sounds like something I’d want to do right now.
I celebrated my THREE YEARS of blogging this month – on November 29th, actually – and I am feeling a bit weird about it, but mostly proud to have sticked around for so long. I am also hosting an amazing giveaway for one of my latest favorite book, it runs until Sunday so don’t forget to ENTER HERE! (yes, it is international. obviously).
Book reviews
Click on the book covers to be redirected to my reviews.
Discussions
Book Blogging
- On blogging stats, letting them define us, popularity and so on.
- Celebrating THREE YEARS of blogging!
Bookish tags
Writing
Nyx’s Corner
Here it goes again, time to share a little bit of love. Here’s a glimpse of some posts I really loved reading this month. There are SO MANY POSTS, it’s so hard to choose. If you let me, I’ll write a 2 000 word blog post with everything I loved each month someday. SO many cool and talented bloggers.
- Shannon talked about the Seasons of Book Blogging. Whether you’re new or old to this, you’ll recognize these phases, I AM SURE OF IT.
- Valerie shows us some GORGEOUS book covers of amazing releases you will want and need to add to your TBR right this second.
- Cait zooms on a couple of YA tropes and mentions why and how they’re not always that bad.
- Ioana talks about common types of authors….I know the one I aspire to be. Do you?!
- Sophie is back (YAY!!) and telling us all about her trip to China.
- Marta shares the struggles of international book bloggers and oh, how I can relate to them all.
- May is being SO POSITIVE about blogging and I LOVE IT. We all need to be like that.
- Shana asks us if we read reviews before buying our books. My answer is, aerm…yes.
How was November for you? Did you have a great, fun month, or not so good?
What was your favorite book this month? Did you buy books or do you manage to have some self-control? (I don’t). Are you ready for Christmas to come?! Let’s chat in comments!
What a great month and I’m so, so excited to see what you think about Romancing the Throne because I’ve seen mixed things about it and the plot could go either very well or very meh. I’ll be waiting here (not-very) patiently for it! <3 I'm so glad you took a much deserved break and fell in love with travelling again, I have some plans to travel (not too far) for New Year's Eve and I'm very excited because I never spent it at the seaside and I'm so excited about it.
Also, I can't believe you mentioned me here??? Thank you very much, Marie! I'm glad you liked the post and you sharing it makes me really happy! <3
Well…you won’t have to wait for too long, I’m going to post my review for it next week 🙂
Ohhh this is so great that you’re going to spend New Year’s close to the sea! Travelling always makes me happy and it’s quite great to take a break from the routine every once in a while and discover some new places. I hope you will have an amazing time!!
You’re so, so welcome, I really loved your post – well, I’ve been loving all of your posts, it was hard to just pick one, ahah 😛
Thank you!! <3
Here is my obligatory ‘MARIE THAT FOOD’ part of the comment because I feel like there is ALWAYS some kind of food on your Instagram feed here on the blog and it just always makes me hungry – no matter if I’ve just had something to eat or not. xD Your food photography (and general photography for that matter) is so on point!
I’m so happy to hear that you had a nice time traveling! And you’ve been to Germany! Woohoo! I’ve never been to Heidelberg myself, but it seems like you had a great time traveling which is fantastic! 🙂
AH! That new John Green book… I still haven’t gotten around to it (or some other newer releases) but I can’t wait to read it at some point! I loved both Looking For Alaska & TFIOS so I’m positive I’ll enjoy this one too!
My November has been pretty good overall and I did quite some reading which is always great! And my favorite book I read this month was hands down Simon VS! I read it for the second time in about 4 months and still loved it just as much! And I didn’t buy any books either! I received a review copy of Empress Of A Thousand Skies and that’s the only new book that made it’s way onto my shelves this month which is good! I still have so much I want to read and don’t really need any new books at the moment. 🙂
Aww thank you so much ahah – I am one of these annoying people taking pictures of everything I eat. I’m not instagramming everything ahah, but… well, I love food so I can’t help it 😛 I’ll make sure to have food pictures each and every month, just for you 😛
I hope you will love Turtles, it was a bit different from his other books overall, but still amazing <3
Ohh, you will have to tell me what you think of Empress of a Thousand Skies. I have been hearing A LOT about this book lately, and I've been wondering if it's worth a read or not. I'll be waiting for you review 😀
Thank you so, so much for stopping by and for your sweet comment!! <3
AAAAAAAAAA that is the sound of me screaming because you linked to my post. Does my level of freak out in excitement show? I tried to articulate it but caps lock and letters seem to be the best I can do atm. I’M GLAD YOU LIKED IT ❤?? Thank you so much??
I bought books this month I am so happy (hopefully they’ll get here in time for Christmas). Seriously I maybe went overboard but there’s no such thing as too many books!!
I still have yet to watch or read Your Name but I’m already in love with it those graphics stole my heart and I already know I will cry.
And your pictures are so so pretty. I wish I could travel there now.
Awwwww, well your excitment shows ahah, of course I would link to your post, IT WAS SO GOOD, I loved it so I wanted to share the love!! <3
You're so right, there is no such thing as too many books! I hope you ordered GREAT ones – and by the way, I can't WAIT to hear your thoughts on The Accident Season, you'll have to let me know when you got it and read it 😀
Aww thank you so, so much! <3 <3
You’ve had such a fantastic month Marie! I’m so proud of you for not buying any books this month XD like wow, I’m actually so amazed because whenever I think it’s going great for me, I somehow end up buying another book (or five!). And a big yes to contemporary months!!! I usually tend to read more contemporary books in summer but I really want to start reading more contemporaries again—all these fantasy books can get quite tiring :’)
AND 3 YEARS OF BLOGGING??????? WHO EVEN ARE YOU. Like wow, that is actually so incredible and I’m so happy and proud and just hsajjshahsh CONGRATS. AND HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY ❤️
I forgot what else I wanted to say?? Huh, anyway! I hope your December will be another great reading month for you! And omg I hate winter too because it’s so COLD. WHYYYY.
Hahahaha, well… you won’t be proud for too long. It’s December 2nd and I’m about to buy like, 5 books. I held of ALL OF NOVEMBER but I just cannnnn’t do it anymore hahaha.
Aww thank you so much, Jackie!! I don’t know how I have been blogging for this long, I feel so old right now ahah. <3
I hope you'll have an amazing December as well! Let's get ALL THE WARM AND BLANKETS AND PILLOWS and build a warm pillow fort to stay in until spring.
Hahahaha that is SO relatable honestly so…. GO BUY THOSE BOOKS YOU DESERVE IT AFTER HOLDING OUT FOR SO LONG!!!
omg YAYAYAY I love blankets and pillows and candles and hot chocolate and fuzzy socks and ajsdajhsdjfs LET’S HAVE A SLEEPOVER <3
Hahaha, I’m going to be BROKE this December, I can feel it coming 😛
YEEEEES, hot chocolate and fuzzy socks are my faaavorites 😛
Hey! Did you read Heartless by Marissa Meyer?
Hi! 🙂
I didn’t read that one just yet, no 🙂
I hope you read it, its an amazing book! ❤️
Ohh well I’m glad to hear it, I’ll have to read it at some point then 😀
I ALWAYS NEED MORE CUTE WINTER BOOKS
I really enjoyed Turtles all the Way Down too!! So glad you liked it, Daisy was hilarious!
Looks like you had a great month! Good luck with december!
Yeees, Daisy was a whole lot of fun, I loved he! 😀
Thank you, hope you’ll have an amazing December!! xx
Congrats for hitting 3 years! I have been so happy to follow you for the last few months or so. You are one of my favorite people to go to for book reviews. As Always I added Together at Midnight to my wish list! It still didn’t come out yet in the states, so I’ll have to wait a little over a month for it. Great post Marie xxx
Melina | http://www.ivefoundwaldo.com
Aw thank you so, so much Melina, this makes me so happy. I hope you will keep on finding great books to read thanks to my recommendations 😀
I can’t wait for you to read Together At Midnight once it is released, it was such a cute book 🙂
Hope you’ll have an amazing December! xx
you too marie! xxx
Ohhh! I really enjoyed this blog post. I LOVE winter. I’m a cold weather gal because I love layers. But I totally understand hating that biting coldness. Gah! I read TATWD! I really liked it and I’m still thinking about it. I don’t normally reread books, but I might just reread Turtles All the Way Down. Happy December!
Oh thank you so much, so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Ahah, I’m more of a summer person, the only moments I love winter is when I can just stay home under the covers, with tea and a book :O
So glad you loved TATWD – it was such a good book and one that stays with you fo sure. I hope you’ll re-read it soon 😀
Thank you, have an amazing December as well! 🙂
Happy blogging anniversary 🙂 You look like you’ve had an awesome month with reading and other fun stuff! I hate winter too, luckily it doesn’t last forever. Hope this month is also great with reading!
Oh thank you so much! I hope you will have an amazing December! 🙂
Hello Marie <3
Glad to hear that you had a relaxing month! Sometimes we need a month or two like that! That's awesome that you were able to stay away from buying books this month. Honestly, I haven't been great at keeping track (oops!) These days I am mainly borrowing from the library and buying a few books used to save on costs. However I did buy one book full price, which is Here We Are Now (ebook edition), since I had to read it right away when it was released!
Otherwise it's been a hectic month for me. I've been running around like a headless chicken :')
As for writing- I'd say you write whenever and whatever you feel like! It's more fun when we are in the mood to write, right? 🙂
Wishing you a good December!
Hi Sophie! <3 <3
Thank you so much! It is so hard NOT to buy books ahah, actually I'm going to be buying books soon, because… well, one month with nothing was enough 😛
I hope that December will be a little more relaxing for you, Sophie! <3 Sending you all the love! <3
It IS so hard to not buy books! Since I am moving soon, I’ve also been trying to not buy any more books. I have to force myself to not go into bookstores or walk through the book section of the supermarket because I know if I see books, I will buy some :’)
Aw thank you Marie <3
Ohh you’re moving? I hope everything will go well <3 Ahah, it's so hard NOT to buy books, they're just SO TEMPTINNNNNNG ahah.
Thank you Marie 🙂
Haha! My reasoning is that being addicted to buying books is more healthier than other forms of addiction (it is probably THE healthiest addiction!)
Haha YES, you’re right about that 😀
Me tooo!! I managed not to buy any books this month either! Anyway, looks like you had a pretty good bookish month as well as a productive blogging month!
Hope you have an amazing December Marie!! <3
YAY, GO US!! This is such an accomplishment haha we should be proud. And now embrace December and beg everyone to buy us more books for the christmas season, am I right? 😛
Thank you, I hope you’ll have a fantastic December as well!! xx
Exactly!! Haha… 😀
You too! <3
You had a great bookish month and Happy three year Blogiversary! I hope you have a wonderful December! 🙂
Thank you so, so much Raven! I hope you’ll have a great December as well 🙂
I’m glad you had a fun time travelling and it’s so good to see that you loved Turtles!! Also, it’s summer here in Australia and I HATE it. I’ll gladly trade you for some colder and shorter days ?
Hahaha, let’s trade places for a while, you can have the cold and scarves and I’ll take the summer for a little while 😛
Congrats on 3 years of blogging!! That is an awesome achievement ?
Aww thank you so much, Bridget!! 🙂
I am sorry to hear you hate winter. I don’t mind it as much, I even used to love winter. Now that I am older and more pragmatic, I winter isn’t my favorite anymore either. I like mild weather, but I think I would always rather leave the house when it’s snowing than when there’s a heatwave going on.
I hate heatwaves as well ahah, but I don’t know if I’d rather be too hot or too cold. I just want to be… okay and warm hahaha. Only thing I love about winter is getting my big sweaters and big covers out and reading my book inside where it is warm ahah 😛
I think with heat and cold it’s like that for me – I can always put on more clothes but there is a limit to how much I can take off ?
Hahahahaha that’s exactly it. We can’t walk around naked , well… not outside ???
I am so disappointed to hear about Layover. I was looking forward to that one. =/ I was in love with the first half of Romancing the Throne, then it got all angsty, but the ending was really great.
I was so looking forward to that one as well. The story was fun and quick to read, I liked the idea overall, but…I just missed a connection with the characters, and the romance well… it wasn’t for me at all. I hope you’ll enjoy it better than I did! 🙂
Sounds like you had such a great month! Well done for not buying any books,how did you manage it?! XD. Turtles All The Way Down is so high on my tbr, and I can’t wait to get to it! I love the fact that it’s #OwnVoices OCD rep, I’ve never read anything on OCD before. How does it compare to some of his other books?
My November was quite good in terms of reading because I FINALLY got out of my reading slump which I’m so happy about! I’ve read a mix of children’s classics and contemporaries just because I wanted something light and didn’t want to end up in another slump/book hangover.
I love the start of Winter just because it means CHRISTMAS is coming up which I’m super excited for! I can’t believe it’s almost 2018 though – this year has gone by so fast!
I don’t know… but you won’t be proud. It’s December 3rd and I bought 5 books haha, November was too hard without buying anything, I couldn’t wait longer 😛
I can’t wait for you to read Turtles, I hope you will love it 🙂 The rep was so great and, personally, I found it a bit more… intense than his previous works, probably because it’s own voices and a bit more personal?
YAY, so glad you got out of your slump, I’m so happy for you! <3 <3
Hope you'll have a fantastic December! xx
Quite an achievement. Congrats on your 3 years blogging.
Aw thank you so much! 🙂
hehe totally relate about winter! Your trip looks like it was great though 😀 Looks like you read a lot of great books-
glad to know Book of Dust was worth it!! And never give up on your writing!
YES, The Book of Dust was really good, it made me so happy to get back into that world. It just made me want to re-read the whole series, actually, hahaha.
Thank you so much for your support <3 <3
Ahh brilliant!! I haven’t had the chance to read it yet, but I’m PSYCHED 😉 And me too actually 😉 You’re very welcome!! <3 <3
So many awesome books. I can’t wait to read TATWD, after hearing how much you loved it. Wonderful wrap up, Marie <3
Megan S. @ http://wanderingsofabookbird.blogspot.co.uk/
Oh, I hope you’ll be able to read it soon and will love it, you’ll have to let me know when you do 😀
Thank you so much, Megan! <3
Agh, I always love your recaps! <3 Those pictures are so pretty GAHSGGAGGH. ? And oh, I'm so sorry that you didn't get around to editing your WIP, but I'm completely sure that you'll figure everything out! And if you write a completely different story and come back to this one later, that's fine too. ?
And omg I LOOOOVE winter because it is extremely hot in Texas and that's the only time it's slightly cold, but I hate the short days & how dark it gets at like, 5 pm!!
THANK YOU FOR LINKING TO MY POOOOOST. ?
Thank you so much for your sweet words ??? I think I’m in a massive slump and it scares me, ahah. I hope to get back to writing something, anything, soon. Thank you! <3
Your winter isn't the same winter as mine?! I know nothing about Texas weather ahah, but here it is WAY too cold and it was snowing the past few days and it's dark at 4 p.m it's the worst hahaha. I'm glad you're enjoying the colder weather, though! 😛
You're welcomeeeeee, I shall link to your posts always and forever because you are always too awesome <3
Wow it sounds like you’ve had an incredible November Marie. I’m definitely in awe of the fact that you’ve managed to go a whole month without buying a single book, I’ve never managed to do that despite how hard I’ve tried.
You got through some great books as well, I’m not really surprised you loved John Green’s new release but I’m glad to hear you enjoyed The Book of Dust (I’ll be looking forwards to seeing your review for that one for sure!)
Congrats again on three years of blogging I know I’ve probably said this before but it’s an incredible achievement and one you should be so so proud of. And I’ll also wish you good luck with either editing your current WIP or starting a new one, which ever you choose.
Great recap, and I hope you have a great December as well. 🙂 <3
I don’t know how I did this ahah, I bought books again obviously, now, but… I’m pretty proud of myself for that 😛
Thank you so much for your sweet words, Beth, I hope you’ll have an amazing December xxx
You should definitely be proud of that. It’s a major achievement for a bookworm I feel! 😀
That’s all right, and thanks Marie. 🙂 ❤️
Oh I’m so sorry to hear you don’t like winter… I don’t deal well with the cold either but I love the whole feel of it! (Christmas/New Year/snow etc.)
I was expecting you to say you had failed in your book buying ban hahaha But hey, you did it! That’s huge for a bookworm xD
I cried so much and was so angry at Your name. because it made me feel things I didn’t even know I could feel. I was so relieved at the end that I cried some more hahaha Glad the novel is just as lovely!
I’m thinking Together at Midnight might be a nice addition to my December TBR, although I was focusing more on Christmasy books, I think it’d be cool to finish off the year with something like that.
I CAN’T WAIT TO READ THE BOOK OF DUST!! Pullman is such a genius T_T
Romancing the Throne sounds so cute as well. I love fluffy contemporaries when I’m in the mood.
So nice to hear you had fun traveling and being with friends/family! That’s certainly what life is about, after all <3
And congrats on three years blogging! <3 That's amazing, and I hope many more will come because I love your blog to bits 😀
November was super busy for me but not a bad month at all. And I'm super ready for Christmas, for sure!!!
Ahahaha, to be honest, I think everyone, me included, expected me to fail this book buying ban, but… I DID IT. Also, I bought books now and I feel much better hahaha.
Together at midnight is such an adorable book, I hope you’ll read it when you can! it’s a great book to start off the new year with <3 AND YES for the book of dust!! Pullman is A GENIUUUUUS and it feels so good to get back into this world. I can't wait fo you to read it! 😀
Oh thank youu, Sophie, this makes me so happy <3 I hope you will have an amazing December xx
Hahaha ? Well, as fellow bookworms we know the struggle and we simply expect everyone to be as weak minded as us… It’s always a big deal when someone sees the light, though! 😛
I knoooow! I miss his writing so much!! I was so happy when I found out he was releasing another one, you have no idea ^^ I’m sure
I’ll love them both!
You’re very welcome! Thank you, Marie, and you too <3 <3
I am not a great fan of winter either 😛 Plus, we don’t celebrate Christmas so while the whole world is talking about Christmas and holiday season, we Indians (who don’t celebrate it) have to still pass these days working and be jealous of the whole world 😀
I can see you had a great month. And I am so glad you loved Turtles 🙂 My month was quite busy with my Sister’s marriage and all the travelling and shifting stuff. I am yet not able to write any new post (though I just came back yesterday 😛 ) but I am hoping to catch this train again 🙂
I have literally no self-control when it comes to buying books 😀 Though because of this whole travelling, the count od purchased books in November is less than usual, but still that count is not small 😀 What can I say, I can’t control it 😀
Oh that has to be SO bothering ahah, I get it. I celebrate Christmas, but… I live in a very, VERY touristic area at that time and well… I’m fed up with the whole Christmas thing mid-November already, haha 😛
I hope you had a fantastic time travelling and at your sister’s marriage! And yes, the book-buying is SO hard to control, we do our best haha 😛
I’ve heard lots of great things about Turtles all the way down, I’m glad you enjoyed it Marie! I’m definitely not a fan of Winter as well, lucky I live in a sub-tropical part of Australia. I love all of your travelling pics!
Oh thank you, Jeann! <3
It's so funny, it has to be so different to have hot weather this time of the year, I'm so used to cold weather in December and for the Christmas season 🙂 I'd love to experience what it's like to have hot weather like that ahah 🙂
Oh thank you! I hope you'll have a fabulous December <3
Wonderful wrap-up Marie! You’re the reason I have a copy of Turtles all the Way Down currently in my Amazon cart lol….I am very curious about The Book Of Dust but haven’t picked up a copy because I hear it’s based in a world from a previous series & I’m not sure if I have to read that to read this…Hallllp! lol, Also, I seriously admire your ability to not buy a single book this past month, smh I’m already failing terribly in Dcember & it’s only the 8th lol. Congrats on your 3 year Blogoversary!!! <3 <3 <3
AHHHHHHHHH this makes me so happy, Lilly, you have no idea ahah. You have to click on ORDER IT, now 😛 I hope you’ll read it soon, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts about it 🙂
Oh, to be honest, I’d recommend to read the His Dark Materials series, first. There are tons of references you’ll have to get, in order to read The Book of Dust right. ALSO, His Dark Materials is one of the BEST series there is, YOU HAVE TO READ IT NOW?? <3 <3
thank you so, so much!! <3 <3
All the talk about The Book of Dust make me want to go back and finish the trilogy I had forgotten about.
AHHHHH YES, please do! I can’t believe you haven’t finished it?! It is so good, that last book had me crying for so long haha. It was so great. <3
I just listened to the audio book of the first one so I could remember what was going one…I’m preparing to continue
Yay, I’m so glad to hear it 😀
I SHOULD HAVE COMMENTED BY NOW BUT BETTER LATE THAN NEVER RIGHT
November was draining for me. I won NaNoWriMo and read like 5 books or something? or 4 books? Who shall know. Did you have a great, fun month, or not so good?
My favourite book out of not many would be Blue Lily Lily Blue. The Raven king was a tad disappinting but still good! I didn’t buy any books actually? I did get sent quite a few ARCs though which was great! I don’t celebrate Christmas but i love the festive feel! Glad you enjoyed Turtles and The Book of Dust xxx
CONGRATULATIONS on NaNo again, I am SO PROUD OF YOU for writing all the words, you are THE BEST! And 4, 5 books is still soooo awesome! 😀
November was a… “meh” month, I’d say. I just need summer again haha I’m so not a winter kind of person.
YAY for the ARCs, that’s so great, I hope you’ll enjoy all of them 🙂 and hope that you still have a little break / some holidays, even if you don’t celebrate christmas 🙂 xx have an amazing December!! xx
I’m so happy you had a great November, Marie ?
I absolutely love your Instagram pictures! They’re so pretty and that burger looks delicious! I’m so happy you enjoyed Turtles All The Way Down, I know you’re a big John Green fan and I’m so happy he didn’t disappoint you!
Also congratulation on Three Years of Blogging – I’m so sorry I missed it! I’m so happy that you’re here in the blogging world and that we became friends, you are one in a million and I hope you never stop blogging ?
Aw thank you so much, Michelle! <3 <3
I am so, so happy that you're slowly getting back into blogging, we missed you so, so much around here <3
Aaaaw! I missed you guys SO much too ?