November Wrap Up | 2016

november-wrap-up

November has just been an all-around lazy month for me. I’ve just been putting of doing certain responsibilities I should be attending to now that my schooling days are over, but like the responsible person I am, I haven’t done much of that. I also have quite a few book reviews to write and a massive backlog still so watch out for some of those in the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, November has been a productive reading month – I hit my goodreads challenge goal of 50 books, and extended it to 60 just so I could feel m0re satisfied at the end of the year. I read a total of seven books – three of which were rereads.

Valley of Embers by Steven Kelliher

This was a book I started reading way back in August, and I finally got around to finishing it this month. Quite an enjoyable read, although there were aspects that I didn’t enjoy as much.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

This is a book that I really enjoyed – it was heartwarming and a really cute read. I loved everything about it including the plot and the characters, but the only thing that prevented me from giving it 5 stars is the writing itself.

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

I had to have a long discussion about this book with my friend because although it was addressing a very sensitive subject, there was something about this book that just made it so good.

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

I read First & Then last year when it came out, and I really enjoyed the writing so I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book for a while now. I wasn’t disappointed at all – I liked how realistic the relationships between all the characters were, and although chasing down a painting isn’t something everyone would do for love, it was still a really interesting journey to read about.

Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

For me, this re-read only happened because I repurchased the first book (in the same edition as my other books in the series) and it was staring at me in a box at the end of my bed. After re-reading it though, there were some very interesting things that I picked up on, the most notable thing being how dark the books were. The last book was especially difficult to read, with Katniss’ PTSD (for the lack of a better term) and the general nature of how serious the themes surrounding the characters were. I think now that I’m older and re-reading this for the hundredth time, I had a deeper, more emotional understanding and sympathetic attitude towards what the characters were going through.

Currently reading: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I’ve wanted to read this for ages, but now that I’ve actually picked it up, I’m taking so long. I have now resorted to reading a little every day, which is helping, but waiting for the plot to pick up right now.


Book Haul


I actually bought so many books this month, it was actually ridiculous. Including the books I got as a part of a sale, I got seventeen books. Seventeen. I swear, this is actually a record for me, because I’m usually good enough to place a self restraining order on myself, but since I’ve started working, I’ve just been spending so much money. I was actually going do a separate post for a book haul this month but let’s face it – I’m too lazy too do that.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

I bought this after I purchased The Boy Most Likely To last month, and like I mentioned before, I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely worth getting since it was such a sweet and cute story.

Girl Online Going Solo by Zoe Sugg

I’ll be honest, I only bought this because I wanted to finish the series to find out what happens to the characters. Although I didn’t really like the writing in the first two books, I really do love the design of the cover.

Tales of Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare

I read all the novellas as they were being released in ebook form, but I wanted to get a physical copy of all the novellas. I absolutely adore these novellas, especially Born To Endless Night, because they are all so freaking good.

Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart

I actually got this from the publisher (thank you Allen & Unwin!). I hate to admit that I’ve never read any E. Lockhart books, but the time has finally come and I’ll be reading this soon.

Lost Stars by Lisa Selin Davis

This is another book that I got from Allen & Unwin, and firstly, I love the colour. It features constellation patterns and silver lettering, set on dusk-coloured background. The actual plot itself sounds interesting to me – it’s a contemporary story of some sort that features romance, so I’m totally keen to read this.

The Light That Got Lost by Natasha Carthew

The final book I received from the publishers this month – it’s another contemporary that apparently has to do with troubled teens, so it’ll be interesting to see how this goes.

The Locksmith’s Daughter by Karen Brooks

I picked this up on a complete whim, because I read the blurb and thought it was really interesting. It’s written by an Australian author, and if there’s something I haven’t read enough of, it’s Australian authors. It’s a historical fiction set in Tudor England, and it sounds really interesting so I’m looking forward to when I get a chance to read this.


Scholastic Children’s Book Sale

So every year, Scholastic always host a children’s book sale in Sydney, but every time it’s on, I could never go because I was still in school. This month however, I actually did go because I finally had the liberty to do whatever I wanted, so I dragged my friend along to see what they had on offer and after much digging around, we managed to find some really good deals. Because it was a children’s book sale, it took us quite a while to find stuff that we actually wanted that was more aimed towards YA, but here’s the books that I purchased.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I actually already own a copy, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to by this specific edition (the first UK edition) in order for my collection of Hunger Games Books to match. I am now very proud to say my collection now completely matches with each other.

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
A Little In Love by Susan Fletcher

This is apparently a retelling of Eponine’s story from Les Miserables. If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you might know that I absolutely lovet that musical, and hence the reason why I picked this book up since Eponine is one of my favourite characters from Les Mis.

When My Heart Was Wicked by Tricia Stirling
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

I’ve been meaning to read the Northern Lights Trilogy for ages now, and I’ve been tempted to buy the series many times as well. I found this gorgeous edition of The Subtle Knife and I knew it was a keeper. The only hard part was finding matching hardcovers for the other two books (which I eventually did on book depository).

Foundling by D.M. Cornish
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Maggie Stiefvater is an author I’ve been meaning to get around to reading for a while now. I picked up Shiver last year at a secondhand book sale, and this time I picked up The Raven Boys. Now that I actually have it, I hope that it means that I’ll read this sooner than if I didn’t own the book.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner

This is another YA series I’ve been eyeing for a long while (although I won’t deny that it’s partly due to how pretty these covers are). I’ve heard so many good things about this trilogy and when I saw this it was instantly in my trolley.

Crown Mountain by Lucy Inglis
Another Day by David Levithan

I read Every Day a while back, and I wasn’t going to purchase the sequel/spin-off, but I saw this and I decided to just get it anyway since it was such a bargain.

The Things I Didn’t Say by Kylie Fornasier

Another book I’ve been eyeing since pre-release. I was so happy when I found this book, mostly because I wanted it for so long but never bought, but actually got it for such a good deal here.

They have these sales several times a year, so if you want to find out more information on what exactly the event is and when the next one is, check it out here. The best thing is that I only spend $30 total on all of these books which if you ask me, is a fantastic deal. It’s also one of those events that you have to get in early, or else all the good stuff will be gone.


In conclusion, while there wasn’t much going on in my life, there was apparently a fair amount of reading and lots of book buying. Now that I’ve gotten it all written out it’s actually blows my own mind how many books I got this month. I actually ordered quite a lot of books off book depository that are still yet to come, so look forward to December which will also be an insane book buying month!

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