My Worst Month of 2020? | November Reading Wrap-Up

 Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!

So, I'm upset. I'm upset because I told myself I was going to spend all day yesterday reading to maybe finish one more book before the month ran out, and then I woke feeling horrendous and managed to do zero productive things. I watched anime in bed literally all day. 

(On the plus side, I started a new anime and fell in love? It's called Cinderella Nine and it follows a high school girls' baseball team. And since I played softball since I was like, four, up until I graduated highs school, I still have a super soft spot for the sport and therefore get ridiculously attached to any and all media focusing on girls' baseball/softball. Like, I literally dug my old glove out of my closet and just...hugged it, while watching. I was so tempted to ask my dad if he wanted to have a game of catch for old times' sake, since he was my coach most of the years I played, but we haven't worked those muscles in years and he also threw his shoulder out a while ago while playing, so I knew it was a no-go. But it was nice to put my glove on and just stretch it out, since it's been seriously neglected for the past six years. Anyway, I highly recommend Cinderella Nine if you like baseball. It's on Crunchyroll!)

I'm pretty sure this has been my worst reading month of the year. I only read six novels, and two manga. Granted, I loved every single book I read this month, so it's not the worst thing in the world. Still, I'm a little bummed that my body decided to stage a coup the last day so I couldn't bust out the last 150 pages of Dragonslayer by Duncan M. Hamilton. Oh, well. A conquest for December, I suppose. I do always like to save my epic fantasies for the winter months anyway. 

Okay, let's get into the books.

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Novels

1. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (Scholomance #1)
Star rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Page count: 336 pages
Dates read: 10.17 - 11.03
Goodreads thoughts: N/A

2. I'm Not Dying With You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal (ONE DAY READ)
Star rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Page count: 272 pages
Dates read: 11.04
Goodreads thoughts: Powerful and emotional and maybe not the best thing to read during the current political climate and yet maybe the perfect thing to read right now. This was definitely a lot but in a good way. More books like this need to be published and then spread wide so everyone can get a chance to read them.

3. Shine by Jessica Jung (Shine #1)
Star rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Page count: 352 pages
Dates read: 11.06 - 11.07
Goodreads thoughts: As a relatively new lover of K-pop I knew I couldn’t miss former Girls Generation member Jessica Jung’s debut contemporary novel about the cutthroat nature of the trainee program every idol has to make it through before their debut. Jung’s writing style is fun and bubbly a la Jenny Han while also remains true to the nature of the K-pop industry (or at least what is have heard of it). The main character Rachel is strong and hardworking while also being relatable with her camera shyness. I like that all of the dancing, singing, and acting didn’t come naturally to her. We saw just how hard she trained her talent over the course of the novel. Of course, me being me, I didn’t totally love the romance, though I did appreciate the fact that Jason seemed to understand at the end how differently he was treated vs how Rachel, Mina, and all of the other girls were treated. I have hope for him yet.

I’m really excited to see how the next book plays out.

4. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Star rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Page count: 352 pages
Dates read: 11.08 - 11.10
Goodreads thoughts: This was?? So good??? I have no words to describe how much I loved this??

5. Nightfall by Shannon Messenger (Keeper of the Lost Cities #6)
Star rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Page count: 794 pages
Dates read: 11.17 - 11.20
Goodreads thoughts: You’re killing me, Shannon! These cliffhangers will be the death of me!

Wonderful, as always.

6. Flashback by Shannon Messenger (Keeper of the Lost Cities #7)
Star rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Page count: 848 pages
Dates read: 11.20 - 11.26
Goodreads thoughts: These are like, the highest stakes we’ve had in this series and I’m SHOOK. Also, MY SHIP HAS SAILED.

Manga

1. Soul Eater, Perfect Edition vol. 1-2 by Atsushi Ohkubo
Star rating: N/A
Page count: 560 pages
Dates read: 11.17, 11.26
Goodreads thoughts: It’s called the perfect edition because that’s exactly what it is, perfect. I love this manga so much and no one can convince me otherwise.

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Total page count: 3,514 pages (ouch)

Favorite book of November: Flashback by Shannon Messenger

DNF'd books this month: The Everlasting by Katy Simpson Smith

Unfinished books this month: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
                                                  Dragonslayer by Duncan M. Hamilton

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Alright, that's it. Kind of sad, isn't it? I hope December will be better. I have to read 14 books to hit my Goodreads goal, so wish me luck!

Until next time!