Wrap Up: November 2016

Hello! I am back from my semi-hiatus, which ended up being a two-week hiatus anyway. I spent the first half of November getting read for my conference trip and the last two weeks of the month travelling to North America for the conference and various lab visits. It’s been a very busy month and I posted a measly four posts in November. I was a little bit slumpy in November and didn’t read for a whole week while I was away but I did manage to get through 13 books (no idea how!). I’m currently 4 or 5 books behind schedule for my Goodreads goal of 200 books but I’m not going to give up hope yet. I can totally read 22 books in December… *lays out all my super thin books*.

In case anyone is interested, I went to LA, Boston and Toronto on my trip. I have a recap of my time in Toronto (feat. Jesse @ Books at Dawn and Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts) up on Happy Indulgence where I am a co-blogger.

1. Moon Chosen – P.C. Cast 

Moon Chosen is the first book in a new fantasy series. It had a bit of a caveman sort of vibe, which is definitely not my usual kind of read but I still, ultimately, enjoyed it. My main criticism is that it was kind of wordy and could have been a 300 page book instead of 600 pages.

2. The Sun is Also a Star – Nicola Yoon 

I highly enjoyed Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon and I have to say that The Sun is Also a Star was even better for me. I loved the cultural diversity and I really enjoyed the romance too. While there was definitely insta-love in the book, I found that I was able to overlook it for the most part because the story was so charming.

3. The Pain, My Mother, Sir Tiffy, Cyber Boy & Me – Michael Gerard Bauer 

This is an Aussie YA novel that I didn’t really have any high expectations for, and it definitely surprised me. I enjoyed this book so much and found myself relating to the main character a lot. I liked the writing in the book and I enjoyed all of the characters and the relationships they had with each other. It was a very quick read and I would definitely recommend it.

4. The Universe of Us – Lang Leav 

I don’t read much poetry and I’m not very good at critiquing it, so The Universe of Us gets an above average 4/5 from me.

5. Gemina – Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff 

I wasn’t as big of a fan of Illuminae as most of the YA community is/was, and I feel the same way about Gemina. I liked Gemina a lot more than Illuminae but ultimately, I found it to be kind of predictable, especially having read Illuminae and being somewhat familiar with the twists that the authors use. I did like the romance between Hanna and Nik though.

6. Under Rose-Tainted Skies – Louise Gornall 

This is a book about agoraphobia that is written by an own voices author. I liked the agoraphobia aspect of it and found it to be extremely accurate, but I felt that the book lacked plot overall. It read to me as a book of symptoms and there wasn’t a whole lot that happened in the book.

7. When Michael Met Mina – Randa Abdel-Fattah 

When Michael Met Mina is an Aussie novel that tackles political issues that are very relevant to us today. It deals with refugees and racism and I thought it was a very important and thought-provoking read. I enjoyed both of the main characters and loved their relationship, but there were times when I wanted the plot and the writing to be a bit more sophisticated.

8. By Your Side – Kasie West 

I love all of Kasie West’s books and By Your Side is no exception. I loved the main character, Autumn, and I highly enjoyed the plot as well. This novel is probably one of my favourite Kasie West novels, along with The Distance Between Us.

9. Why We Broke Up – Daniel Handler 

I’d been wanting to read this book for over a year and I’m glad that I finally did because it was beautifully written and conceptualised. I found it to be so relatable and I connected with the main character and her story very deeply. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending and the ultimate reason why they broke up but that didn’t detract from how much I loved the story.

10. Tell Me Three Things – Julie Buxbaum 

Tell Me Three Things is a cute contemporary read that contains a mystery aspect to it. Our main character has recently moved to a new school in California and receives an email from a mystery person who offers to be her anonymous guide to high school. The book revolves around this mystery of who this anonymous emailer is. I predicted who it was quite early on but I still really loved the story and how adorable it was.

11. Metaltown – Kristen Simmons 

I received this book in my October Fairyloot and was really looking forward to reading it because steampunk is a genre that I tend to enjoy. However, I found Metaltown to be quite boring. Nothing happened until about two-thirds into the book and I didn’t really enjoy the ending. I found the characters to be annoying and I couldn’t get on board with the romance.

12. Him – Elle Kennedy & Sarina Bowen 

Him is a new adult novel about ice hockey that has LGBTQ+ themes. I binge read Sarina Bowen’s The Ivy Years series last month and loved it, so I thought I’d check out some more of her ice hockey themed books. I highly enjoyed this one and loved the two main characters in the novel. There is a sequel that I’m sure I’ll be picking up really soon.

13. Tales of the Peculiar – Ransom Riggs 

This is a collection of short stories that is set in the Peculiar world. This book is referenced in the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series but it isn’t linked to that series at all and can definitely be read as a standalone. If you enjoy short stories that are slightly weird and peculiar, you will love this collection. Also, the hardcover edition is beautiful!

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How was your reading month?