Hello and welcome to the Wrap Up post for November! This month flew by so fast. Was this the case for you too? I am kind of glad that it is December though – the end of the year offers a good time to relax and reflect.
Kriti’s Selection
I had big plans for November! There are so many indie books that I had on my list for this month and I am actually quite happy with the progress I made. 🙂
Total books read this month: 7 + 5 volumes of a Manga series
Number of personal picks: 5
Review copies: 3
Buddy Reads/ Book Club: 4
Indie Books: 4
Books:
- I mentioned two indie book tours in my update last month and both were amazing books!
- If you are looking for a short SciFi that imagines a world where androids may be sentient, check out Moon Rising by Daniel Weisbeck. I did a review and author interview on the blog. You can also find this book on Goodreads.
- Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons by Quenby Olson was the regency Fantasy that I had been longing for without realizing. This was a fun book. I reviewed it and also hosted the author and Miss Percy for an interview. Find this book on Goodreads.
- Another indie read that is very close to my heart is my friend SK’s Let Loose the Fallen. This is the second book in her Children of the Nexus series and I love the world so much! Full review can be found here and an awesome interview with SK too! If you are interested in a Fantasy set in the Stone Age kind of time with magic (and dragons!) check out the first book, Between Starfalls on Goodreads.
- Coming next week is the blog tour for Jonathan Nevair’s No song but silence. That is the book of the Wind Tide trilogy. I read book 1, Goodbye to the Sun in November! I don’t do space operas very often and I really enjoyed Goodbye to the Sun with a very personal review posted two days ago. Find this book on Goodreads and stay tuned for my interview with the author on the 3rd during my stop!
- I mentioned Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice in my Goodbye to the Sun review so this is a good time to mention it! Story about an isolated indeginous community, Ariel read this back in January and I finally picked it for our horror prompt for November. Lauren and I discussed it at length and I am looking forward to putting all our discussion together into one post for sometime next week! Find this book on Goodreads.
- Imposter Syndrome by Kathy Wang was a buddy read with Pam @ Pam’s Shenanigans. We were expecting more of a thriller but it was actually a drama about a Russian spy who has made the US her home. Good premise, not the most exciting execution but still an ok book.
- I did not have Viper’s Daughter by Michelle Paver on my list for this month but after Moon of the Crusted Snow, I felt like reading a book in the wild. This is the 7th book of the Chronicle of Ancient Darkness series that I read as a teenager. My brother is reading the books I read as a teen and it was very nice to go back to this world. There is a follow up book that I will be sure to get a hold of in the next year.
- Speaking of my brother, Black Clover is an anime that he loves! I prefer to read manga nowadays so I am making good progress through the series. If you are a fan of Naruto and Bleach, you might like Black Clover. It reminds me too much of Naruto sometimes with the resemblance of the main character, but overall it is an entertaining series.
Total TBR: 194 (Nov 1) → 197 (Dec 1)
I added 9 review copies and 11 personal books to my TBR in October. Some of these books I read in October itself I added 3 review copies and 8 personal books to my TBR in November. I also removed a book from my TBR and finished 7 books so that explains that increase of 3 overall! Woho! Here are a few noteworthy ones:
Commitment
- A Ballad of Love and Glory by Reyna Grande is a 2022 book I am excited about! I don’t know anything about the American Mexican war so there will be lots of learning. If you are on NetGalley, you can request a copy there or just add it to your Goodreads TBR for later. 🙂
- What Happened on Box Hill by Elizabeth Gilliland is one of my new indie connections! This book is Jane Austen academia style (just the name gives you a hint!) – I did not realize I had been waiting for that too haha. Check it out on Goodreads and IndieStoryGeek!
Personal
- River Magic by M. A. Phillips was recommended by my author friend Dan in his Indie Recommends Indie series. Since Ariel and I will be doing a romance challenge for 2022, I am collecting books like this one! Indie Fantasy romance, yay! Read what this one is about on Goodreads or IndieStoryGeek.
- Jerusha raved about this one until I added it to my TBR: Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray (Goodreads).
- After an amazing discussion of Moon of the Crusted Snow, Lauren and I will be reading Firekeeper’s Daughter Angeline Boulley in January. Have you read it yet? Find it on Goodreads.
This was the first full month when my review requests form was functional. I got over 40 requests and am really liking connecting with the authors who have found me. I accepted a bunch of these requests but until I figure out a date to review them, they won’t be reflected on my TBR pile. That is my way of preventing a burnout this time.
Reviews aside, there are many ways for authors to collaborate on the blog now! My goal is to give authors an unbiased exposure. The new book excerpt posts are already live (see Dio in the Dark excerpt) and more guest posts, Indie Recommends Indie and book excerpt collaborations are coming. I hope you will find some good indie recommendations this way. I can’t read everything but maybe the excerpts pique your interest? 🙂
Ariel’s Selection for November 2021
Notes and Summary: This month, I participated in IndigAThon, a monthly readathon in November to celebrate Indigenous Authors. While I try to read from diverse sources including Indigenous authors year round, having a readathon to focus my month’s TBR is something that I highly enjoy. My favorite book of the month was Two Old Women, an oral story that’s been passed down for generations and transcribed into written novel format. This month was also Nonfiction November, and I was able to read a few memoirs and general nonfiction like Bad Indians . Overall, even though I’ve read less than other months this year, I feel like I had a pretty successful month with a wide variety of genres.
Number of Books on Last Month’s TBR: 148
Number of Books on TBR Now: 146
Number of books on Last Month’s Netgalley TBR: 3
Number of books on NG TBR Now: 4
Books read: 10
Library Books: 9/10
ARCS: 1/10
Bookish Highlights of the Month:
Favorite IndigAThon book: Two Old Women
Notable Nonfiction: Our History is the Future
What was your favorite read for November? What kind of books did you find yourself gravitating towards?
We hope you have a wonderful and cozy December ahead!
Be First to Comment