Monthly Wrap-Up – November 2023

December 7, 2023 Challenges, Monthly Wrap-Up 2

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Books Read – November 2023

Books

I read a lot of books in November, but 23 of them were both rereads and relatively short, quick reads (and even more so because I have read them before.) I also wasn’t sleeping well, so I had more time to read… but wanted something familiar so I could put it down as soon as I felt sleepy again. Rather to my surprise, I also managed to read 6 new-to-me books this month.

Title links lead to my reviews. Rereads are indicated with an asterisk.

  1. White Lies (Jayne Ann Krentz) *
  2. Sizzle and Burn (Jayne Ann Krentz) *
  3. The Third Circle (Amanda Quick) *
  4. Running Hot (Jayne Ann Krentz) *
  5. The Perfect Poison (Amanda Quick) *
  6. Fired Up (Jayne Ann Krentz) *
  7. Burning Lamp (Amanda Quick) *
  8. Midnight Crystal (Jayne Castle) *
  9. In Too Deep (Jayne Ann Krentz) *
  10. Quicksilver (Amanda Quick) *
  11. Canyons of Night (Jayne Castle) *
  12. The Lost Night (Jayne Castle) *
  13. Deception Cove (Jayne Castle) * – reviewed 12/02/2013
  14. The Hot Zone (Jayne Castle) * – reviewed 10/02/2014
  15. Siren’s Call (Jayne Castle) * – reviewed 11/20/2015
  16. After Dark (Jayne Castle) *
  17. After Glow (Jayne Castle) *
  18. Ghost Hunter (Jayne Castle) *
  19. Silver Master (Jayne Castle) *
  20. Dark Light (Jayne Castle) *
  21. Obsidian Prey (Jayne Castle) *
  22. Illusion Town (Jayne Castle) *
  23. Guild Boss (Jayne Castle) *
  24. Valdemar (Mercedes Lackey) – ARC
  25. Illusion of a Boar (Celia Lake)
  26. The Price of Lemon Cake (Jennifer Ashley)
  27. Christmas at the Shelter Inn (RaeAnne Thayne)
  28. The Getaway (Emily March)
  29. Balancing Act (Emily March) – ARC
  30. Silver Lady (Mary Jo Putney) * – ARC; reviewed 11/28/2023
  31. Hex and the City (Kate Johnson)

Challenges

These are the books I read for various challenges, but I have not written or posted all the reviews yet, so some will not show up on my 2023 Challenges tracking page yet. All title links go to my reviews.

Goodreads Challenge 2023: 31(!!!) books read in November (all titles above.) 189 books read so far this year, blowing past my year-end goal of 150 books.

#23in2023: This challenge is clearly not working for me; I didn’t read or review any #23in2023 books in November (titles.) For the year, I have 6 books read and 1 book reviewed so far, toward my year-end goal of 23 books.

Audiobook Challenge 2023: This was also not a good month for audiobooks. For the year, I have listened to 11 audiobooks and reviewed 5 of them, toward my goal of 6 books. My goal is still attainable (barely.)

The Backlist Reader Challenge 2023:I didn’t manage to read any books for this challenge, but I did post 1 review for a book I read earlier in the year (Hearts and Swords.) For the year, 15 books read and 6 books reviewed so far, toward my year-end goal of reading and reviewing 16 books.

Library Love 2023: Hey, I read a library book this month! (Christmas at the Shelter Inn.) I didn’t manage to review it, though, or post any reviews from earlier in the year. For the year, I have read 4 library books reviewed 2 of them so far, toward my year-end goal of 12 books.

NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge 2023: I read 1 ARC (Valdemar) and reread another (Silver Lady), but the reread doesn’t count as a book read. I mainly reread it so I could write the review — which I did, giving me 1 ARC reviewed in November. That puts me at 27 ARCs read and 9 reviewed for the year so far, toward my year-end goal of reading and reviewing 15 books. My NetGalley percentage is still 52%.

Read Christie 2023: As I said in my October Wrap-Up post, I let go of this challenge about halfway through the year. I read 5 books, but I just lost interest. I’ve read almost all of Christie’s books, and right now, my rereading focus seems to be split between fantasy and romance/romantic suspense.

COYER Upside Down Chapter 3: This challenge runs Sept. 1 through Dec. 31. To qualify, the book has to be an ebook that you paid less than $5 for, or an audiobook under $7.50. (ARCs count; library books and subscription services don’t.) To be honest, I’m not sure how many of my Krentz/Quick/Castle rereads count toward the challenge (and I don’t have time to dig through my order history to find out). They really only count if I review them, and I’m not planning to do that. But I did read at least 7 qualifying books in November (Valdemar, Illusion of a Boar, The Price of Lemon Cake, The Getaway, Balancing Act, Silver Lady, Hex and the City.) I reviewed 1 of those titles so far (Silver Lady). My 4-month challenge goal is to read and review 8 books by Dec. 31. As of Nov. 30, I had read at least 34 qualifying books for the challenge, and reviewed 2.

Overall Assessment

I binge-reread a boatload of books in November, but also managed to read 6 new-to-me books. My review ratio is still dismal, but I did get one ARC reviewed on its release date. Unfortunately, since I downloaded at least one new ARC from NetGalley, my NG percentage hasn’t budged.

I didn’t do very well in terms of reading diversely; if you don’t count fictional ethnicities, the only real diversity was found in two books: Illusion of a Boar and Hex and the City. Oh, wait, I think there are a couple of secondary or minor LGBTQ+ or POC characters in some of the Jayne Ann Krentz books.

As you might expect with all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday Kindlebook sales, my book-buying was up in November, by quite a bit over October. And December is likely to be the same… though I will try to tone it down.

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