Month in Review for November 2015: Reading Realistically During the Holidays

Backseat Barkers- Required for Every Major Road Trip

This year I had too high of expectations when it came to my Reading Challenge on Goodreads. Last year I read 105 books, and this year I thought it would be a total piece of cake to do that and a little extra (107 books). As it turns out, that was a major nope. This year was my first full year book blogging, with physical therapy for 3ish months to try and relieve my fibromyalgia (ha ha ha- didn't work that well), a change in meds (worked better than the therapy), a new obnoxious cat/medieval tyrant to boss me around, and then my mother tried to get me in on her motorhome DIY renovation (I helped... as much as I could). Then, to top it off, my grandma got ill, leading to long road trips which completely wiped me out mentally and physically. So it's no surprise I got behind with that challenge and have since set my goal to a more realistic (for me) 100 books. That means I will be trying to read 13 books this month, one that I just polished off this afternoon, leaving me 12 books for the rest of the month. I'm a bit apprehensive about it, as a perfectionist, but I think it's doable, as long as I read whatever I feel like and don't get caught in the trap of trying to finish a book I don't really feel like reading.

Statistics:
 Total Posts: 11
  Total Critiques: 5
  Genres:
    Adult Coloring Book: 1
    Out-of-Orbit: 1
    Paranormal Romance: 1
    Part of a Series: 3
    Sci-fi: 2

Most Popular Posts of November:
Month in Review for October 2015: Creepy Forests and How to Save a Life
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1)" by Douglas Adams
NQAC: Biweekly Update #22: Taking Up Genealogy and a Crazy Lazy Cat
SFF: The 5 Books You Want to Read Before 2015 Ends
SFF: The 5 Characters from Books You're Grateful For
Querkles: A Fun Spin on Adult Coloring!
"Kutath (The Faded Sun #3)" by C.J. Cherryh

Pageviews for the Month: 1058
Comments: 10!

Reading Challenges Updates:

Snowflake and Spider Silk Bingo Challenge

Applicable Books:
From January:
Song of Blood and Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles #1) by L. Penelope (POC main character)
Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger (New to me author)
Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2) by Gail Carriger (2nd book in a series)
Blameless (Parasol Protectorate #3) by Gail Carriger (female author)
From February:
Unseen (Unborn #2) by Amber Lynn Natusch (published 2015)
Written in Red (The Others #1) by Anne Bishop (Urban Fantasy)
From March:
Stardust by Neil Gaiman (written before 2000- it was first published in 1998)
Anthem by Ayn Rand (Novella/Short Story)
Moxyland by Lauren Beukes (Dystopia)
From April:
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (Humorous SF/F)
"The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil #1)" by Soman Chainani (fairy tale retelling)
From May:
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley ("classic" SF/F)
From June:
"The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1)" by Scott Lynch (Heists and Cons)
From July:
None!
From August:
"Kesrith (The Faded Sun #1)" by C.J. Cherryh (Non-Human Main Character)
"The Sleeping King" by Cindy Dees and Bill Flippin (Epic Fantasy)
From September:
"Shon'jir (The Faded Sun #2)" by C.J. Cherryh (space travel)
"The Golem and the Jinni" by Helene Wecker (debut author)
"The Martian" by Andy Weir (Audiobook- my first since 4th grade)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1) by Douglas Adams (Aliens)

From October:

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #2) by Douglas Adams (Time Travel)

From November:
None

Goal: 13 Squares
As of Now: 20 Squares, plus the 'free' one

Goal Surpassed!

Travel the World in Books Challenge

Applicable Books:
The Dragon and the Pearl (Tang Dynasty #2) by Jeannie Lin (Set in China- unfortunately no real dragons, otherwise it would add to my other challenge as well)
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre (Set *mostly* in France)

Goal: 15 books, set in 5 different countries
As of Now: I've read 14 books, set in 10 different countries

One more book to go!

Reading Stats:

Books read this Month: 7

Book Stats:
Has a Diverse Main Character: 3
Doesn't Have a Diverse MC: 4
Female Main Character: 5
Male Main Character: 1
Pair and/or Group of Female/Male Main Characters: 0
Genre:
 Fantasy Romance: 1
 Fauna/Flora Nonfiction: 1
 Paranormal Romance/UF: 2
 Historical Romance: 1
 Historical Biography: 1
 Urban Fantasy: 1
Published in 2015: 0
Published in 2000-2014: 6
Published in 1960s: 1
Self-Published, Small Press, or Other: 4
Traditionally Published: 3
Series Books: 5
Standalones: 2
Ebook Version: 6
Paper Version: 1
Favorite of the Month: Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews (obviously)
Least Favorite of the Month: Desert Bound (Cambio Springs #2) by Elizabeth Hunter (3 Stars- still a good read, just with parts that frustrated me)
From the-pile: 0
From the-invisible-pile: 5
Recently acquired: 2
Added to the-invisible-pile: 5
Books bought: 5
Pages Read in 2015 Thus Far (according to Goodreads): 25,883 pages

Ratings:
5 Stars: 0
4-4.5 Stars: 4
3-3.5 Stars: 3
2-2.5 Stars: 0

Author Stats (1 = 1 book read by x author):
Male: 2
Female: 4
Male/Female Team: 1
Diverse: 0
Not-so-Diverse: 7
Living: 7
Deceased: 0

Planning to Read This Holiday Season:

One book to finish off my Travel the World in Books Choose Your Own Adventure Challenge, but otherwise I'm putting no stipulations on myself. In other words, I'll be free range reading.

Upcoming Posts:

I expect to review Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles #1) by Ilona Andrews and Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre, although that claim is tentatively put. Nonetheless, expect some reviews floating into your feed!

Happy Reading!