Welcome to the third check in for the November Writing Challenge for Book Bloggers and Reviewers! Today’s post covers updates on my writing progress from Nov 16-22. My hope for this week was to write at least two book reviews, tackling one of the books I had mentioned I was struggling with. Let’s see how I did.
Progress Update:
I wrote four book reviews this week! That brings the total to:
No. of books reviewed – 10
Total work count of reviews – 6,227 words
New additions:
- Time’s Orphan | Goodreads – 410 words
- The Teller Of Small Fortunes | Goodreads – 423 words
- All’s Fair In Love And Treachery | Goodreads – 538 words
- The Children of Chaos | Goodreads – 615 words
Additionally, I wrote two non-review bookish articles this week.
Word count of non-review article – 4,536 words
What they were about:
- November Writing Challenge Check in 2 – 752 words
- Beloved Books from Each of the Past 10 Years (2014-2018) | Keep an eye out for this article in December, where I dive into 10 years of beloved books! – 1912 words
Another major milestone this week: Ariel and I finalized the Armed with A Book Choice Awards 2024, scheduled to post on January 1, 2025! It’s one of my favorite projects of the year.
Insights:
- Last week, I reflected on struggling to write a book review. I felt so energized from reflecting on it that right after I posted my November 16th update, I took the time to work on the first of the two book reviews I had left for too long. I remembered more than I had thought I would and my highlights were quite helpful in bringing the review together. I ended up ordering the full series to read.
- I found a video from November 2023 when I was similarly struggling to write another book review, though I had just finished reading the book then. The strategies I mentioned there were to go back to the time I first heard about the book, what kept me engaged in it, and a quote or two that I really liked. There is no set structure to writing a book review and giving myself the chance to come at it from various angles – where I was when I was reading it, what was going on in life, anything I remember about the reading environment – is a great way to get started. I tried this out with the second book review. I had been struggling with it and I love how The Children of Chaos turned out. I had mentioned it to SK when I finished reading the book back in June and looking up our short conversation was very helpful.
- I finished two books this week as well! Expect to see one reviewed on the blog next week. 🙂
Looking at the next week:
How is it that the last week of November is already here? It has been an amazing 21 days of writing! With reading and finishing books, my list to review never seems to have a solid dent in it but it is also so good to see that I am making time to put down my thoughts.
What are the last few books I will review as part of the November Writing Challenge? There are lots of options and many are non-fiction.
Question – Are Non-Fiction reviews different from Fiction?
I enjoy reading Non-Fiction and so many of them have had a lasting impact on my life. Since January 2023, I have diligently posted about one (sometimes two) Non-Fiction reviews on the blog. This month, I have only been able to write one review though there are 11 that I could pick and write about. But it isn’t as easy as it sounds.
While with Fiction, I can write whatever I want and it’s more about the story than myself, with Non-Fiction I reflect not just on the content but also how I am impacted by it. If you have seen my non-fiction reviews, I typically try to present takeaways, summaries and graphics (examples – The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Getting Unstuck: Breaking Your Habitual Patterns & Encountering Naked Reality, Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking). They are deeply personal and I write them in a manner that I can return to the reviews in the future and get a refresher of ideas anytime.
What I have also learned with some Non-Fiction books is that finishing the book does not mean it is time to write about it. I read The Montessori Baby (Goodreads) earlier this month and I will apply its strategies and ideas once my baby is here. The ideas need time to percolate and also to implement and be tested. That is not a book review that can be completed this month, even if I start it. That’s a personal choice. I could very well just write about it and be done but I don’t want to. I mentioned Nancy Colier’s Can’t Stop Thinking: How to Let Go of Anxiety and Free Yourself from Obsessive Rumination (Goodreads) some months back and I haven’t gotten around to it because of the cheat sheet I want to build from it. That will take a couple sittings and since I am not yet committed to compile them together, my review will have to wait.
Do you reflect on how Non-Fiction impacts your life before reviewing it? Or do you approach it like Fiction, focusing on the plot and readability? Let me know in the comments!
Closing Thoughts:
I am really enjoying the non-review articles and I am excited to finish working on Part 2 today. I love that the excitement to read nor the amount of reading happening is not impacted by the writing. I had worried that I would need to choose one over the other and I have had to for sure, but when you want to do something, it is time well spent. Let’s see how this final week of November goes!
What was your week like? Did you do some writing?
Whether you are writing a novel, short story or book review this month, share your progress in the comments! I love that we are writing together this month. 🥰
Word count for this post: 1,028 words
Links to check out:
- November Writing Challenge for Book Bloggers – The Introduction post
- November Writing Challenge Check In – November 16
- Armed with A Book Choice Awards 2023
- New review this week: All’s Fair in Love and Treachery
- Non-Fiction reviews:
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