Hello, sweet peas!
It’s time for the wrap-up again. I know you haven’t heard much from me this month, so I guess you might be curious what I have been up to lately.
♣️ I went on a social media detox. At the beginning of the month I felt really tired and burned out. I just felt like I had to be present everywhere, I had to create content, I had to write and post and react and somehow I just wasn’t able to do it anymore. I didn’t want to go on twitter and take part in the drama. I didn’t want to read the news and I didn’t want to feel like I HAD TO do so many things. Which is why I went on a social media detox. I deleted all my social media apps from my phone. It worked really well. I didn’t feel the pressure anymore and while I of course care about you guys and what moves you, I also need the time to myself. I’m also gonna cut back on the blog a little and not take part in all the memes all the time. I don’t wanna feel pressured and I don’t wanna burn myself out. I wanna create good and interesting content, I wanna write meaningful stuff and I wanna give people my undivided attention and not just some of it to some of them.
♣️ I finished my Goodreads challenge. Which is nice. Usually I’m cramming the last few books at the end of December or I just give up and am glad that I came as far as I came. But not this year. Uh-uh. This year I made it. And do you know what else I made. I made my life-long dream of managing to read 100 books in a year. I never thought I would actually make it. But I did. So far I’ve read 110 books which is insane. I will probably never ever recreate that but I did it this year and I’m so happy.
♣️ I took part in a blog tour. Which is always nice. I love being part of a blog tour and the book “The Cousins” by Karen M. McManus was great.
♣️ We went into the second lock-down. Well, that happened. I’m still at work though. Same old, same old.
♣️ There was a terror attack in the capital of my country. Yeah. That one sucked. I’m happy that I live in a country that is relatively safe and that usually doesn’t have to deal with that kind of thing. It was a complete surprise. While I’m living about 500km from the capital, I still have family there and I was worried.
This month was better. Last month I didn’t read that many books but in November I read quite a few which is good. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the detox because I feel like I’m not reading anything on weekends when I would have more time. I’m just reading it all in the few minutes and hours I have while commuting or in the evening.
| Title | Author | Series | Genre | Format | Rating | Cover |
| Boy Under Water | Adam Baron | Cymbeline Igloo #2 | Middlegrade | 📱 | 4⭐️ |  |
| The House with Chicken Legs | Sophie Anderson | Middlegrade | 📱 | 3,5⭐️ |  | |
| Zombierella | Joseph Coelho | Children’s Lit | 📱 | 3⭐️ |  | |
| The Akhenaten Adventure | P.B. Kerr | Children of the Lamp #1 | Children’s Lit | 📱 | 3⭐️ |  |
| The Holiday Cottage by the Sea | Holly Martin | Sandcastle Bay #1 | Romance | 📱 | 3⭐️ |  |
| Coming Home to Maple Cottage | Holly Martin | Sandcastle Bay #3 | Romance | 📱 | 3⭐️ |  |
| Sanctum | Sarah Fine | Guards of the Shadowlands #1 | YA Fantasy | 📱 | 3,5⭐️ |  |
| Captive | Sarah Fine | Guards of the Shadowlands #1.1 | YA Fantasy | 📱 | 3,5⭐️ |  |
| Through the Moon | Peter Wartman & Xanthe Bouma | The Dragon Prince | YA Fantasy | 📱💥 | 4⭐️ |  |
| Christmas at Lilac Cottage | Holly Martin | White Cliff Bay #1 | Romance | 📱 | 3⭐️ |  |
| Snowflakes on Silver Cove | Holly Martin | White Cliff Bay #2 | Romance | 📱 | 3⭐️ |  |
| The Game with No Name | L.G. Cunningham | Jitters #2 | Middlegrade | 📱 | 2⭐️ |  |
| The Cousins | Karen M. McManus | YA Mystery | 📱 | 4⭐️ |  | |
| Greetings from Witness Protection | Jake Burt | Middlegrade | 📱 | 5⭐️ |  | |
| The Tornado | Jake Burt | Middlegrade | 📱 | 5⭐️ |  | |
| City Spies | James Ponti | City Spies #1 | Middlegrade | 📱 | 4⭐️ |  |
The most memorable books of this month – besides The Cousins which I read and loved because of the Ultimate Blogtour by The Write Reads – were defintely the two books by Jake Burt. I discovered Jake Burt by accident this month and I’m absolutely in love with his writing. I have another one of his books lined up to read in December and I’m honestly so in love, guys. I can’t wait to write the reviews and to make you all read them.
This month I read a lot of books but I didn’t review that many of them. I wrote some new mini reviews, which was also quite nice.
Blogtour “The Cousins” by Karen M. McManus
Obviously, because of the hiatus, I didn’t do much. Let’s see how many of the goals I managed.
Goal 1 – Read and review eArcs ✔️
At least that one I managed. Some of them are only mini reviews but in the end, I am happy to say, that I managed at least this goal.
Goal 2 – Read the BOTM for the Middlegrade Marvels Bookclub and stick to the sections ✖️
Yeah, didn’t really stick to any sections. And if I’m honest, I didn’t even finish it.
Goal 3 – Read the Kane Chronicles ✖️
Did not start it.
Goal 4 – Write at least 5 reviews again ✖️
Nope!
Goal 5 – Write a kick-ass discussion post ✖️
Also, no.
I’m kinda disappointed but maybe also not. I mean, I know why I didn’t reach those goals.
Well, that’s all, folks! There is not much more to tell. What have you been up to, in November?
What a nice month. I like the idea of a social media detox ❤️. Wasn’t The Cousins fantastic? I do enjoy a The Write Reads blog tour. Hoping December is as wonderful even with all the craziness outside.
Thank you, Tessa!
The detox really helped me a lot with my stress levels. I know everybody always talks about how stressful social media can be but I feel like you never really understand it until you actively avoid participating for a while. I think I really got a lot more reading done. 😉
I loved The Cousins. I might even try other books by this author. 🙂
Glad the social detox worked well! I’ve been feeling the pressure lately as well and took steps across all platforms to step back and relax.
Sorry to hear about the terror attack! I hope your family is alright.
Thank you, Sumedha! Everything is fine now, my family is fine. My mum sent me a video of my uncle being very excited about cooking the other day. 😀
I hope you are doing fine as well and enjoy your step-back. 🙂
congrats on finishing your Goodreads! hope you’re having a good December <3
Thank you, dear Kay! I wish you a great December too! <3