Hello everyone,
We are suddenly approaching the end of 2019, and I have started to reacquaint myself with Christmas songs, but now it is time to look back on the month of November, which was productive on a number of counts.
As far as reading goes, I finished an interesting selection of books in a broad range of genres, which went a small percentage of the way towards achieving my long-term goal of taking in more books that contain diversity.
I read five books in November, and here they are…
The Gilded Wolves ⭐⭐⭐.5
Apple Of My Eye ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vox ⭐⭐.5
If I Die Before I Wake ⭐⭐⭐
The Song Of Achilles ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I also managed to make some slight changes to the appearance of my blog, such as a new logo with matching headings which I use in my book reviews. I do struggle to dedicate time to my blog design, so I shall treat this as a very small step forward.
As for writing, it was a month of steady progress! I have made it beyond 23,000 words in my current WIP, and am quite happy with the direction it is starting to take. When I tell people that I am trying to write a book, they pleasantly surprise me by wanting to know more!
November was also a good month for outings. Among other places, I went to the Exeter Literary Festival to attend a Q&A with four crime/thriller authors including C.L. Taylor, saw an amazing Troy exhibition at the British Museum, and visited the Tyntesfield Estate for first time, where I explored its magnificent stately home and became a member of the English National Trust.
I shall finish my wrap-up with a couple of recent posts that I loved:
Nikita told a detailed and very relatable story about how she became a book blogger, and how it has changed her reading habits.
Sofii looked back at some of her favourite three-star books, which I thought was a fantastic post idea, not to mention interesting!
That is everything! Have a great December, and happy reading 🙂
I still don’t know whether to read the gilded wolves or not? Great wrap up Stephen! 💙
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Thank you, Holly! The Gilded Wolves is well written and full of interesting ideas and concepts. Great characters, too. Have a lovely December!
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I might give it a go.your welcome and to you!
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I found Sofii’s post idea fantastic as well!! It’s always nice to look back on the books you somewhat liked, but don’t really talk about in favor of the books you really liked. Also, I rated The Gilded Wolves the same. I did really enjoy it, but the story was just so dense, and I wish I had cared about the characters more. I wish you a great December, Stephen! Happy writing ❤
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I agree, sometimes the three star reads get slightly forgotten lol. There were a lot of things I liked about The Gilded Wolves, but I also found the story a bit dense with perhaps a few ideas too many. I wrote a very long review for it which I am posting next week.
Have a lovely December, Caitlin!! 🙂
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Thank you SO SO much for mentioning my post! It makes me very happy you liked it and I’m super interested in reading The Gilded Wolves, I’ve heard mixed things, so I’ll go into it with few expectations to not disappoint myself, I confess that that cover is captivating, I love it!
I hope your December is incredible 🥰
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You’re very welcome, Sofii! The Gilded Wolves is a very well written book with great characters. I haven’t read Six of Crows, but it has often been compared to that.
Have a wonderful December, too!
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Thank you for the mention, Stephen!! It means a lot. I’m glad you could read diverse books this month. I’ve had The Song of Achilles on my TBR for a while. I even started it but couldn’t finish it for some reason. Your blog’s new appearance looks really good! Great post, btw!! 😊
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You’re welcome, Nikita! Reading more diverse books is important to me and I hope to keep that up. I hope you get to read The Song of Achilles in full, it is very good. Thank you! 😊
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Great wrap up, have a great December!!
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Thanks Lily, you too!
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I want to try The Guilded Wolves but I have not heard great things about it!
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I did think it was a good book, although a little bit dense in places. It gave me lots to talk about though in my review (up next week).
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Great round-up post, Stephen. It sounds like you had a very busy month. I am trying to get some diversity into my reading for 2020. Explore some genres I’ve never read before. Fantasy being the top one. With the exception of the Harry Potter series, I’ve never read a really good fantasy.
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Thank you Glenda, and good luck with your goals! His Dark Materials and Winternight are my two favourite fantasy trilogies, have you read either of them?
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I have not but I will check them out. I know next to nothing about fantasy or sci-fi. I need to dabble a bit in those genres.
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Awesome wrap-up! I hope you have a wonderful December!
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Thank you, Erica! Have a great December, too 🙂
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Such an amazing wrap-up Stephen! I need to read “The Gilded Wolves” and “The Song of Achilles” at some point 😍
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Thanks so much, Amy! The Gilded Wolves has some good diverse rep, and is well written. I think you would love The Song of Achilles, too! 😊
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