Happy December! November was a really fun month for me—I was so excited to finally take a vacation and refresh my spirit. I hadn’t realized exactly how burnt out I was becoming until I had a break from my regular life. I’ll be returning home this week, and I am really missing my pups … and my bed. Hopefully you guys had an enjoyable November, and got to spend some time with people you love to be around.

The weather here in Florida has been beautiful for the entire time I’ve been here—low humidity, cool breezes, and it feels absolutely perfect. This is clearly the best time to visit Florida, and when I get home I’m really going to miss the family. There’s only one cure for it—making this kind of trip a regular thing. My fatigue has let up considerably, but I think a big part of that is that the kids have been waking up, and I tend to go to sleep earlier here because there isn’t much to do by myself at night, the way there is at home.

Holiday shopping is almost done, and I do this intentionally every year. I’m not a fan of crowded stores, and this allows me to avoid all the long lines and Christmas music. It isn’t fun being a religious minority during Christmas. But the holidays do overlap this year, and I’m looking forward to closing the door on 2024 and hoping for a better 2025. Here are some of my November highlights:

• I currently have 978 followers, and I am hoping to reach 1000 by the end of the year. 
• I got through a good amount of ARCs, both past due and upcoming releases, and I’m hoping to stay on top of this to get myself current, as usual.
• I DNFd one book in November.
• I read one nonfiction book, and that was a cookbook that I loved.

Here’s my breakdown of monthly/cumulative totals for November: 

November Totals:

• Books read: 17
• Books DNF’d: 1
• Pages read: 3,366
• Hours listened: 97.8 hours
• Average pages: 112.2
• Average hours listened: 3.26 hours

Genres Read in November:

• Fantasy: 5
• Historical Fiction: 4
• Horror: 1
• Mystery: 4
• Nonfiction: 1
• Romance: 2

Backlist vs. New Releases:

• Backlist books: 5
• 2024 releases: 12

Fiction Vs. Nonfiction:

• Fiction: 16
• Nonfiction: 1

Format Read:

• Print: 4
• Digital: 3
• Audio: 10

Age Range:

• Adult: 17
• YA: 
• MG: 

My favorite books of the month were The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen and I Made It Out of Clay by Beth Kander. 

Here’s what I read in November:

• These Deathless Shores by PH Low (NG/Publisher ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen (Publisher ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Enchanted Lies of Céleste Artois by Ryan Graudin (NG/Publisher ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Legacy of Arniston House by TL Huchu (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• 52 Shabbats: Friday Night Dinners Inspired by a Global Jewish Kitchen by Faith Kramer (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy (The Wildersongs Trilogy #1) (Publisher ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• I Made It Out of Clay by Beth Kander (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• Hex and Hexability by Kate Johnson (Best Hex Ever Collection #3) (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• Murder at the Blarney Bash by Darci Hannah (Beacon Bakeshop #5) | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• Booked for Murder by PJ Nelson (Old Juniper Bookstore Mysteries #1) (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• Eight Very Bad Nights by Tod Goldberg (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker (Women of Troy #1) — reread
• The Women of Troy by Pat Barker (Women of Troy #2) — reread
• The Lost Queen by Signe Pike (The Lost Queen #1) — reread
• The Forgotten Kingdom by Signe Pike (The Lost Queen #2) — reread

• Modern Magic by Michelle Tea (NG ARC) 

How was your November? I hope you all had a month as enjoyable as mine.