Monthly reading review – November 2023.

This November I have read:

Les Adolescents troglodytes by Emmanuelle Pagano ★★★

Stone Heart (Dark Olympus #0.5) by Katee Robert ★★★★

The Cat Who Taught Zen by James Norbury ★★★★★

The City & The City by China Miéville ★★

Desperate Measures (Wicked Villains #1) by Katee Robert ★★★★

Slay (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #30) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★

Elves: Castennroc (Elfes #11) by Jean-Luc Istin, Kyko Duarte(Illustrator) ★★★★

The Layover (Three Player Grind #3) by Allyson Lindt ★★

The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1) by Lemony Snicket ★★★

Zmaj vražjih firova (Refesticon #7) short story collection by various Balkan authors ★★★★

1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?

This November I’ve read ten books. Ten is a great round double digit number I can only be happy about! I was trying to read less books in number and focus on the carryover books I have been logging from before and it did not turn the way I wanted…

2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in November? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?

Best book for me in November was definitely The Cat Who Taught Zen by James Norbury. I needed something to slow my pace down and to try and relax before the end of the year so I can focus better on things to come. This book I’ve purchased was not even for me but for my BF. I liked the illustrations and the very quotable bits.

3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?

The City & The City by China Miéville was a difficult one to read trough. This book was my own suggestion for this years Buddy Readathon with Vivone ( you can see the whole list HERE) I am so sorry I have burdened her with reading this book that I am thinking on giving her a pass on it and think more carefully on my future picks. My goal was to read an author my BF liked. He did not read this book but one other, but I already own this book so it made the cut. I was reading my own copy in Croatian translation and the idea of two different cities existing at the same time in the same space was very confusing to me. The book itself was a crime mystery with fantastical elements so the fact that I don’t usually read crime and mystery without something else added to the mix – romance, erotica, compelling characters…

The Layover (Three Player Grind #3) by Allyson Lindt was a digital book I wanted to read to spice things up a bit and relax in between the more difficult books I had on my plate. Sadly I could not vibe with this book and it did not relax me at all. The story and the characters were just not that interesting and the spice part was not special or my thing.

4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?

I made my reading plans for November lighter than usual with a goal to focus on clearing out some backlog books – mainly dealing with The Count of Monte Christo and The Great Book of Amber. I made a right choice of the books for that but my mood reading kept pulling me to something more fun. So instead of five planned books I ended up reading double that amount and very little of the backlog.

5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?

I made progress on two book series I am reading by getting the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter up to date by reading the last published book and reading the next in line volume of digital graphic novel The Elves. I guess I started two (!) new book series by Katee Robert by reading the Prequel to Dark Olympus and the first book in the Wicked Villains series. I also read the first book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events which I will not be continuing. I love reading book series and I am glad to have another month with some busy development in that includes book series I already read and new ones to try out.

6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?

November was a month I wanted to reflect and catch up on some things before the end of the year. It looks like I will need more reflection and more plans for mood reads. My recommendation and a lesson from November is using more time to reflect and be kind to oneself by reading the books and authors you know you already love without the fear of trying out something new.

Final thoughts on November 2023 reading

I did not plan to read this many books in November. I wanted to read less and clear out the RIP (reading in progress) books I have been logging along for to long. I managed to make a deal with myself regarding The Great Book of Amber (The Chronicles of Amber #1-10) by Roger Zelazny. I did not like this book and most of the time while I was reading it I got irritated by something trivial making my reading experience even worse. I managed to read the first book in my big brick volume that collects all ten of them and decided that was it. I finished that first part of the series and I might never come back to it or I might challenge myself with reading the second some time in the future. Making a chore of reading a 1000+ pages book without even liking it is not what I want to do and will not make myself suffer in that way.

My second hurdle and the bane of my existence The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas has finally had some progress – not much mind you, just a bit to get me into the possibility to read it whole one day. That day, sadly again, will not be this year. I managed to pass the 500 pages mark and it will have to be enough for this time. My mood reading is taking swings at me and at this time I need to have some happy energizing books in order to focus better on some stuff in RL. Progress has been made in November which is more than I can say for the whole rest of this year.

The rest of the month passed more or less smoothly. I am more focused on preparing for the Reindeer Readathon and can’t wait to start reading books from the list since I got myself into a large pile of books from which three are making me panic.