My Goings On in November:
- I’ve been working on finishing up my first draft of the YA novel I wrote last NaNoWriMo. (This past year I focused mostly on editing the MG book I’m now querying and doing more writing workshops and study.) As of writing this post, I’m almost there. My goal was to finish in November, and I was so close last night, but I wasn’t feeling all that well, and I realized I was basically rushing so I could say “Done!” And that’s sort of silly. I hope to finish this weekend. (But this is a rough, rough draft that’s going to need LOTS of edits, so don’t get too excited for me. 😉 )
- I attended my local SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) monthly meetup. This month our group leader did a talk about her picture book small print publishing company, which I thought was really interesting.
- My oldest got her driver’s license, which gives me a bit more freedom (though I’ll actually miss the time that I got to actually talk to her in the car—she was a captive audience).
- My younger daughter finished up the high school swim season and joined high school gymnastics
- Things I watched:
- I’ve been watching Sabrina’s Chilling Adventures and enjoying it for the most part.
- I watched a bit more of the newest season of iZombie with my mom. It’s not one I binge, but I think it’s a fun diversion.
- My younger daughter and I just finished season two of The Great British Baking Show, and she was inspired to make puff pastry from scratch on Thanksgiving. She’s a brave girl. (It turned out great!)
- My daughter and I have also been keeping up (mostly) with the current season of The Good Place. It’s our favorite show to watch together!
Instagram:
Okay, so I literally just rushed off to Instagram to post something so I wouldn’t have to admit I hadn’t posted at all in November. I’ve been horrible about posting my received books to Instagram lately. I did also schedule three more posts to go up, though, so there will be more in December!
Features & Discussions:
Top Ten (Million) Backlist Books I Want to Read
November Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – This is your last chance to link up your November posts and enter the giveaway
Fun with SPAM! #5 – What would you say if you were going to respond to your spam comments? The results can be pretty humorous!
November Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up & Make Me Read It Giveaway
Looking for a List of 2019 Reading/Book Blogging Challenges? Look No Further!
My 2018 Reading Progress:
I’ve read 140 books so far this year, well over my goal of 100.
November 2018 Reviews
- The Adventurers Guild by Zack Loran Clark & Nick Eliopulos | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Twilight of the Elves by Zack Loran Clark & Nick Eliopulos | Review | Rating: Devoured It
- Umbertouched by Livia Blackburne | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Meet the Sky by McCall Hoyle | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Furyborn by Claire Legrand | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Reclaiming Shilo Snow by Mary Weber | Review | Rating: Devoured It
- Amber & Dusk by Lyra Selene | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- The Camelot Code: The Once and Future Geek by Mari Mancusi | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston | Review | Rating: Absolutely Addicted
- What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- The Hotel Between by Sean Easley | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret by Trudy Trueit| Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
November Best of the Bunch:
(Best of the Bunch is hosted over at Cocoon of Books. We link up our favorite reads of the month!)
Another month where it was easy to pick. The Lying Woods had me twisted up in its mystery!!
2018 Reading Challenges/Goals Progress:
If you didn’t see my update awhile back, I decided to stop doing most of my challenges. Priorities.
Status: 26/31-40 Discussions Posted
I didn’t post any actual discussions this month. One TTT and a Fun with Spam post, but no discussions. Obviously I’m not making my goal for this challenge.
Epic Reads Meet-up Recap
The Dear Evan Hansen Tour Recap
Anderson’s Bookshop’s 15th Annual YA Literature Conference Recap
Things I Didn’t Know About Publishing (And Things I Know I Still Don’t Know)
Book Box Subscriptions. Yay or Nay?
Goodreads’ YA Books Lists.
I Love Me Some Purple Prose.
Where to Find Book Series Recaps. (Since most books don’t have a synopsis.)
The Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag
The WIFYR Workshop Experience
Goodreads’ Mid-Year Book Lists.
A Break in Our Regularly Scheduled Programming (& Reasons I’m Excited for WIFYR)
Some Changes Around Here
My Personal Connection to Pride Month, Some Recent LGBTQ+ Reads, and Integrating My Faith and LGBTQ+ Issues
Top 10 Writing Tips I Learned at WIFYR
My Newly Organized Bookcases!
My First Time Switching Between an Audiobook and a Print Book.
The Rain on Netflix: Danish or English? (Subbed or Dubbed?)
Why Is Voice in Writing So Hard? And Do You Think About It When You Read?
Expectations About POC Names in Books.
Great Reasons to Get to Know Your Bookish Friends Better
Top 10 of 2017: Books I’m Looking Forward to in 2018
2017 End of Year Book Survey
My Writing & Reading Goals for 2018
My Book Outlet Weakness (& Why My Latest Haul Is All Your Fault)
Which Types of Reviews Are Most Effective? Let’s Discuss!
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Feed Your Fiction Addiction & It Starts at Midnight
My 2018 Goals Progress:
Complete a second edit of my MG novel. Done!Attend a writing workshop. I went to WIFYR in June and to the SCBWI Prairie Writer’s and Illustrator’s Day in October.- Read more writing craft books/materials. Yep. I’m definitely doing this, though I didn’t read any more actual books in November.
- Finish the first draft of YA novel. I am SO close. So close.
- Read one review book for every one that I request/receive. ) I thought I was in trouble because I received 10 books for review this month (including some surprises from Blink). But it turns out I posted reviews for 10 as well! And since I also read 3 others that I decided not to review, I’m even more ahead. (So far for the year, I’ve received 82 and read 87, so I’m 5 ahead!!)
- Read more middle grade. I reviewed 5 MG books this month. That might be my biggest MG month ever. (I’ve read and/or reviewed 30 MGs so far this year.)
- Work out! Um, I don’t know what happened, but during Thanksgiving week I totally fell off the workout wagon. Writing this is shaming me enough that I might go work out right after I’m done with this post. (UPDATE: It worked. I worked out.)
Wrap-Up Round-Up!
Don’t forget to link your November wrap-up posts up to the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up. And enter the giveaway!
Sounds like a pretty good month! <3
Your younger daughter is so athletic, and she does sports that require some serious skills. Awesome! You really have me interested in the Lying Wood. I have seen a lot of good reviews, but you calling it the best is high praise.
I love that she’s able to be involved in a lot of different things in high school. It’s been really good for her.
You had a good month it sound like. I can’t believe we are in December now. Thanksgiving was a great day for use. We spent it with family. Have a wonderful week and happy reading!
This month has slipped by me almost without me noticing it!
Wonderful month of reading! All the best in December.
Thank you!
Good luck with finishing the book! I’ve thought about making some of the stuff I’ve seen on Baking Show, but I’m not that motivated. A lot of it looks too time-consuming for me. I’m also terrible at posting on Instagram. I think I posted 3 times last month. Happy December!
My daughter is much more adventurous and industrious when it comes to baking (and cooking) than I am!
I’m in awe of your daughter’s puff pastry success. Shortcrust I can manage, but puff just ends up splodgy 🙁
I was pretty in awe of it myself. Color me impressed!
I had a little trouble getting back into working out after my October vacation. I did get back into the cycling class (I haven’t returned to yoga though). There are only 2 weeks left of classes (I work at a University and go to the gym there). I’m hoping they will offer the express cycle free again for staff next semester because I really liked it. Much more than I thought I would. I should check out your discussion challenge as it has been a while since I wrote anything that wasn’t a review.
You should definitely consider joining us for the Discussion Challenge—the sign-ups for 2019 are up now!
Good luck on finishing/editing/drafting your book. 🙂
Wishes of a happy December!
So many interesting reads for you last month. Have to check some of them out on GR. Happy December!!
It was a great reading month!
I walked a ton in NY, so I’m counting that, but I do start dance up again tomorrow so that’s good. It’s tough to exercise this time of the year; so much going on and the weather isn’t always cooperative.
-Lauren
I made a pledge to myself that I was going to start working out again. I planned to do it today, but now I’ve had so much cleaning up to do after Christmas (my daughter’s having a friend over this afternoon so they can bake together), I’m not sure that I’ll manage it. See, this is how those goals keep getting pushed off…
Okay, I’m glad I’m reading this comment right now because I’m definitely going to make time to work out today.
Awww its sounds like you are advancing through your goals slowly but surely. You read so fast too!! I guess I have more and more filling my time that I push reading out. >.<
Yeah, this year has been a bit less reading than usual, but I still do read a lot, no doubt about it.
As soon as I saw you loved The Lying Woods, I added it to my birthday wishlist (next Friday!). I’m trying to read more middle grade this year too. My daughter also loves The Great British Baking Show, so I’ve seen many while cooking meals (not a good show to watch when I’m hungry!). Great book month for you!
I ended up buying her a cookbook for Christmas from the show. The measurements are all in metric (by weights), so I’m not sure how useful it will be, but I think she’ll still like it. 🙂
I did really well with instagram in October, posting daily but after that I struggled to post things in November as well. The grey, dark skies isn’t helping much for photo taking either!
I can’t manage natural light in my pics because I just don’t get enough in the room with the bookcase (even in the summer). I’ve pretty much given up completely on natural light now that it’s gloomier out.
I always have a moment when I read ‘Great British Baking Show’ where I’m like… what?! Then I remember that that’s the American name of The Great British Bake-Off. I’m not personally a fan of Bake-Off, b/c several reasons, but I’m glad you enjoy it! XD
Yes, I don’t know why they changed the name here in America. I assume there was some sort of issue with the rights or something.
A rough, rough draft is still a draft, so sending you a huge congratulations! And another congratulations to your oldest for getting their drivers license, what an exciting accomplishment! Ohhh I’ve been bad and haven’t exercised since Thanksgiving so I finally did it last night and now it hurts to walk today, whoops. So that means I can skip today lol ;).
My working out has really been sporadic lately. I need to get back into a good routine! And I did finish that first draft and … yeah, it’s rough. But, I’m stepping away from it for a while and jumping into something new. Hopefully I’ll come back to this one at some point, but if I don’t it’s still another full draft under my belt. 🙂