Month in Review: November 2020

We’re getting so close to the end of the year! November ended up being a pretty good reading month and I’m hoping that carries through to next month cuz I’ve got a ton of books on my TBR that I won’t be able to move with. Here’s what I got to this month and a recap of my discussion posts on the blog! Template based on Jenna’s series at Falling Letters.

Books finished:

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
Miles to Go: A Collection of Poems by Robert Frost, illustrated by Evan Robertson
Archibald Spider and his Paper Glider by Nina Fowell
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Please Pick Me by Reina Regina
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Books reviewed:

Book cover for The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen. Illustration of a young Vietnamese-American boy reading a book and wearing a patched jacket. The background is green and has an illustration of a mermaid in traditional Vietnamese clothing.

Book cover for This Is Not the End of My by Dakshana Bascaramurty. Image of a grey hoodie with a bouquet of flowers coming out of the hood.

Book cover for Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning. A streetlight is in the foreground in front of a river and city buildings behind. A flash of lightning comes down from clouds overhead. White text on the blue sky background reads "In the night, all rules are forgotten".

Book cover for Fable by Adrienne Young. A close-up illustration of half of a teenage girl's face. The right side of her face is visible with long, curly red hair, blue eyes, and freckles. White text reads "Trader. Fighter. Survivor".

Book cover for Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro. Illustration of a shadow of a young girl's face against a sandy hill with a red sun above the hill.

Book cover for Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead. Shows a red and white beaded buffalo in the center against a black felt-textured background

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
This is Not the End of Me by Dakshana Bascaramurty
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
Fable by Adrienne Young
Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

Actionable Reads:

Book cover for Transcendant Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. Half pink and half black background with an illustration of a young black woman's torso turned away from the reader and knelt in prayer.

I’ve started donating to organizations each month (when I can) inspired by the books I’m reading, thanks to @reading_theend who shared this initiative a couple months back. See my Instagram post for more about it. My aim in posting about it is to encourage others to do the same if they’re able and highlight some organizations doing great work!

Loveland Foundation Therapy Fund (inspired by Transcendent Kingdom): provides financial assistance to Black women and girls seeking therapy.

Discussion posts:

Shared some life updates and scheduling plans for the month (which I mostly followed through on!)
Led a tour of my bookshelf, showing off some Manitoban reads and gifts from my sis
Did a check-in with my reading with WWW Wednesday
Finished up my organization series with some tips on writing and scheduling reviews
Another Top Ten Tuesday, this time on bookish pets!
Shared my Shattering Stigmas post with an anxiety MG book rec

Challenges check-in:

5/10 books read from my chosen TBR
0/2 Austen books read (Northanger Abbey and Lady Susan)
17/10+ read from books I own
16/10+ read from my TBR
194/150 books on my Goodreads TBR

In the book community:

Jenna @ Falling Letters put together a gift guide featuring 2020 middle grade titles.
Rebecca Mahoney, author of The Valley and the Flood (2021 release), after my own organizational heart with her strategies for managing mental health as part of the Shattering Stigmas blog event.
Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den with a guest post for Shattering Stigmas on her experience of trauma as a Black women.

Upcoming in December:

Some cookies and books!
Joining a book tour for a beautiful collection of poetry
More of my bookshelf tour

Well my Goodreads TBR keeps growing but I did read a lot more this month than I expected, even though it didn’t feel like it. I also caught up on a bunch of reviews! I don’t expect that to continue next month as I have more fun things planned but I do hope I get a lot of reading done.

What are your plans for December?
Any favourite blog posts of yours from last month?

Cover images from Goodreads.