Hello!! β€ Wow, it seems November zipped by before I could even blink! I was hoping to get to do this update yesterday but I spent the whole day doing holiday shopping and playing with baby hedgehogs. I’m so glad to be back from my month-long hiatus, though! π I’ve missed all you marvelous people and I’ve missed blogging. I think that, although November didn’t necessarily go according to plan, it was a good month for me, and I hope it was for each of you as well. β€
So, first thing’s first, let’s talk NaNoWriMo! So, how did I do, you wonder?? Well . . .
I didn’t end up making the goal of writing 50,000 words for the month, buuut I did keep at it, even when I knew I was too behind to accomplish the NaNoWriMo challenge successfully. I didn’t give up, and I made progress with the book I’m writing so I’m not completely heart-broken. Instead of the intended 50,000 words in 30 days, I wound up with 36,595. Not quite what I’d been hoping for, but I’m not going to beat myself up about it. How about you guys? π Did you participate in NaNoWriMo this year? If so, how did you do? I’d love to hear about it!
Even though the goal was to do nothing but write this month, I found myself constantly being pulled in different directions: hanging out with my loved ones, reading, work, playing games and watching movies . . . the list goes on. My willpower was weak, but my month was full of fun and good times so I regret nothing. π
BOOKS/GRAPHIC NOVELS READ IN NOVEMBER:
The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson (I got side-tracked when I started this in October for Halloween but ended up finishing it in November.) 4/5 stars.
Parasite, by Mira Grant (November’s book club pick for Sci-fi month, courtesy of my real-life BFF and blogging buddy Cupcakes & Machetes. You can read her review of the book here.) π I’m hoping to do a review for it myself soon as well. 4/5 stars.
Strange Candy, by Laurell K. Hamilton (a collection of Paranormal/Urban Fantasy short stories.) 3/5 stars.
Rat Queens Special: Orc Dave #1, a standalone issue of the Rat Queens comic featuring the character Orc Dave. Definitely an enjoyable little read. 5/5 stars.
Rat Queens, vol. 2, so glad to finally be reading this series again. (Review for this and the Orc Dave special to come soon!) π 5/5 stars.
Saga, vol. 9, the latest volume of the series and the last we’ll get for a good while as the series takes a hiatus. As per usual with this series I had ALL THE FEELS! (There’s a review for this one coming soon as well.) 5/5 stars.
A Darker Shade of Magic, by V.E. Schwab (my first time reading anything by this author and I will definitely be checking out more of her books!) β€ 4.5/5 stars
Spread, vol. 4 and vol. 5 (Woohoo! Finished the series.) I liked it. Didn’t love it, but I liked it. π 3/5 stars.
I didn’t plan on reading much this month, but with the frigid early winter that has hit my home state, I was feeling the cozy-stay-in-and-read vibe and I just went with it. Michigan got ripped off when it came to autumn this year so I’m rebelling in the only way I know how: isolation under blankets with good books and comics. π
Looking forward to catching up on everyone’s blogs, but it might take me a bit, so feel free to tell me about or link me to any of your posts if you wanna share some of your own recent updates/news. β€
Welcome back! I’m sorry things didn’t quite go to plan, but it’s good you still had a decent month and I think you should be proud for carrying on writing (rather than getting disheartened and giving up!) xx
LikeLike
You still did really good! You can’t shake a stick at 36,000+ words. Plus, after our little chat, I’m super fucking excited for this book! So, it needs to happen and I can’t wait to read it. π
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aw, thanks, luv! β€ I really appreciate the support. I can't wait for you to read it, too. π
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome back! π
You wrote a lot during NaNoWriMo! Congrats on that. π I really want to read Haunting of Hill House, so I’m happy to see that you enjoyed it. I hope you have an amazing December!
LikeLike
36595 words is a mammoth effort mate! Well done to you. What I love most is that you kept going even when you knew you might not reach your goal. That shows very good character. Sounds like you had a good and busy November. You were wel missed.
LikeLike
OMG, i want to be that hamster π π
You did really well on NaNo!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! π And I agree, that hamster definitely has the right idea. It doesn’t get much better than snacks and being cozy, especially if both things are achieved simultaneously. π
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you didn’t give up too – welcome back.
LikeLike
You did better than me with NaNo! I got a little over 2k words because I couldn’t figure out how the begin. I know exactly what happens after the inciting incident, but getting there was the problem. I’m shelving the story until I know how to start it and I managed to get some book reviews down during the month as well as do some editing.
Omg Saga 9 did have all the feels. I mean I suppose nothing should surprise me with the series now, but I was NOT expecting that D:
I downloaded a sample of Parasite and it’s on my top want-to-read. It sounds so creepy and interesting!
LikeLike