The Looooong and the Short of It + a Giveaway: October 2024 Wrap-Up Post and Looking Forward to November

Wow, October just sped past! I can’t believe it is already November! Not that October felt like fall with all the 80 degree days we had this year. Turning 52 was easy enough, had some nice celebrations, but nothing major. My family has decided to take a Disney cruise next summer. But it is a secret/Christmas gift for my niece and nephew so we have to keep it a secret till then, which is hard!

At work I still do not have a clerk even though we interviewed and supposedly hired him. But then someone else quit and so they have him filling in there until they replace that person. I’m pretty much just giving up on anything getting better at work. Just hoping beyond hope that I can find a new job for next school year. Which just means 7 more months in this job. Ugh.

I had a not so great reading month with a bunch of DNFs. I got a major reading slump where every book I picked up seem to not grab me. I’ve never had one that bad.

I got 15 books finished, that’s one less than last month.

Here is my fun monthly wrap-up image I like to make in Canva.

Here are my StoryGraph stats for October in the graphic they now provide. The only thing it’s missing from what I like to share when I get each graph separately is actually the different star ratings and how many of each, it just gives the average. Which is enough I guess!

My Reviews

Of the 19 specific titles listed last month, I got 9 read and reviewed, 5 DNFs, 2 e-galleys I didn’t get to but one may be another DNF, 1 e-galley I thought I might get – but didn’t end up getting, 1 e-galley I didn’t get done until the 1st of November, and 1 e-galley that got postponed till next month. I did get 2 audiobooks for the Gateway nominee list finished – but one other that I DNFed – not because it was bad just because I knew I wouldn’t finish it, and one audiobook novella an author reached out on Instagram to ask me to listen to.

• [3 Oct] Write or Wrong by Heidi Hutchinson ★★★★½
• [5 Oct] The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch ★★★★★
• [7 Oct] Spiced Chais and Secret Spies (The Coffee Loft: Fall Collection) by Meg Easton ★★★½
• [9 Oct] Past Tents by Stacy Travis ★★★★½
• [10 Oct] A Café Au Lait Kind of Love by D.E. Malone ★★★★
• [11 Oct] Fix Me When I Fall by Zoe Forward ★★★★★
• [14 Oct] How My Neighbor Stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn ★★★★★
• [17 Oct] All Fired Up by Allie Winters ★★★★★
• [19 Oct] Santa's Coming by Serena Pier ★★★★
• [22 Oct] How to Help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein ★★★★½
• [28 Oct] The Smell of Smoke and Ash by Patty Blount ★★★★★
• [30 Oct] Snow Is Falling, Cocoa Is Calling! by Kimberley Montpetit DNF
• [30 Oct] Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino DNF
• [30 Oct] Haunt Your Heart Out by Amber Roberts DNF
• [30 Oct] If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens DNF
• [30 Oct] Wild Goose Chase by Kilby Blades DNF
• [30 Oct] Pity Present by Whitney Dineen DNF

Challenge Check-In

My goal is 24 for the year using the prompts that are listed, and I didn’t get any. more done. So I’m still behind! Need to be at 12 by now.

1. Prompt: On your TBR 5+ years – Five Minutes Late by Rich Amooi
2. Prompt: Anthology or omnibus edition – The Natural History Novellas by Erin Mallon
3. Prompt: We all scream – horror – The Dead List by Jennifer L. Armentrout
4. Prompt: Walk through history – Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
5. Prompt: Writing about writing – The Nerd and the Neighbor by Lainey Davis
6. Prompt: STEM stan – Co-Wrecker by Meghan Quinn
7. Prompt: 4 Word title – Getting Lucky Number Seven by Cindi Madsen
8. Prompt: Coffeehouse Reads – Cleave by Boyd Bauman
9. Prompt: Creature Feature – Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix
10. Prompt: These Woods Hold Secrets – Dating and Dismemberment by A.L. Brody

My goal was 6 for the year, didn’t get any more done this past month, but I’m still on track. I got one new one posted this month, so I’m on track, just need one more before the end of the year, and I think I have an idea for that for November.

• [6 Mar] Discussion Post: Just Can’t Get Enough or Do You Also Want All the Special Editions and Book Boxes?
• [22 Mar] Discussion Post: Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now, or Do you still host giveaways on your blog or enter on other blogs?
• [14 May] Lisa Loves to Discuss #1: Do you listen to podcasts?
• [16 Jul] Lisa Loves to Discuss #2: Do You Dog Ear?

• [8 Oct] Lisa Loves to Discuss #3: Do You Talk About Personal Stuff on Your Book Blog?

My Goodreads and StoryGraph Goals of 150 books are on track with 145 books read so far, putting me ahead of schedule. I set my goal lower this year, because I just want to reach it and not be stressing at the end of the year if I don’t. I’m also still trying to keep my Netgalley percentage above 80%, and I did get it back up to 81% this month, but then I dropped to 80% again.

I decided to do the Chapter Break Bingo Challenge for October, and here are my books that fit each spot, I did not get all the squares this month.

• The Smell of Smoke and Ash: Spooky, Mother/Mother Figure, Fog/haze/smoke on cover
• Divine Rivals: In a series
• Fix Me When I Fall: Not in a series
• Santa’s Coming: New to you author,
• A Cafe Au Lait Kind of Love: orange on the cover
• Nightmare Before Kissmas: Read a physical book
• The Prince and the Apocalypse: Started the previous month, library book
• Head Over Feels: audiobook
• Past Tents: sports/fitness/exercise – bonus if character is athlete
• All Fired Up: Book lover
• How My Neighbor Stole Christmas: Award winning (does best-seller count?), start over
• Write or Wrong: Female friends
• Spiced Chais and Secret Spies: Read an ebook, Book club read
• How to Help a Hungry Werewolf: favorite monster/creature
• The Big Bang Theory: A Matter of Friendship: Free book

What to Expect in November

So I have less review books scheduled for November thankfully. Although I’m planning to do the Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon the last week. And with lots of time off, I’m hoping to get maybe some other Beat the Backlist books read. I had thought about doing NaNoWriMo this year, but I really just want to get caught up on reading right now I think.

Here is my proposed TBR for November:

1. My Darling Jane by Ilsa Madden-Mills – for the author’s review team/blog tour, should be posting my review on the 4th or 5th
2. Christmas Eve Love Story by Ginny Baird – this was an egalley that actually came out last month. Hoping to read it and post a review on the 6th, or else maybe save for the HHHRAT at the end of the month.
3. Fortune’s Kiss by Amber Clement – an ARC I have and hope to read and review by the 11th
4. Head Over Feels by Emma Lee Jayne – actually an audiobook I got read last month, but the review will be posted on the 12th for a blog tour
5. If You Need Me by Helena Hunting – will be reading for the author’s review team, I have both the egalley and ALC, but will post my review on the 14th
6. All Folked Up by Penny Reid – I think I will get an e-galley of this, and then it will either be posted on the 15th or the 21st depending on what day it actually is being published.
7. The Whispering Night by Susan Dennard – so excited for this one! I’ve got the e-galley and hope to post my review on the 16th
8. Merry Kissmas by Piper Rayne – an e-galley for a tour on the 19th
9. Santa Maybe by Carla Luna – an e-galley for another tour on the 19th too. As long as I get them both read in time I can post them both!
10. Inherited Holiday by M. Robinson – I signed up for a blog tour for this one, I’ve wanted to read this author for awhile, will see if I get this to read, and it will be perfect timing for the Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon since it will have a review post on the 22nd
11. The Duke Who Saved Christmas by Emma Hart – it seems like forever since we’ve gotten a book from one of my favorite authors, so I signed up of course, and it would fall during Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon, so hopefully a review on the 23rd if I get an advanced copy
12. P.S.: I Hate You by Lauren Connolly – an e-galley from the publisher to hopefully post a review on the 25th
13. Grouch-ish by L.B. Dunbar – signed up to maybe do a blog tour review on the 26th, which will fall during the Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon too.
14. The Only Way Out by Sarah Daniels – the sequel to The Stranded that I really liked. It’s got a different title, The Exiled, but the one I have is called The Only Way Out. Hope ot post a review on the 28th
15. Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson – I’ve been wanting to read this author since The Fake Mate, and this one set in Scotland sounds perfect. I got denied an e-galley on Edelweiss which is unusual for me, but then the publisher sent me a link on Netgalley. Should be posting the review the first week of December for this one.
16. November 21st through December 2nd is Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon, so I have several holiday reads picked out for that. I went through a lot of my Amazon freebies and sorted out the ones that were less than 200 pages and those less than 100 pages, and also which were holiday books. I know I want to try to read the Rich Amooi book Kiss Me In the Snow because I always like his books.
17. Still working on the audiobooks for the Gateway possible nominees as I get time and they become available through the library app Libby.
18. Hoping to get some BTB books in since I don’t have as many review books scheduled. The ones I have listed for this month are Under the Heavens by Ruth Fox and Love You Right by Julia Kent.

Final Thoughts

So getting closer to getting my fence replaced, got an estimate, just waiting to get the installation scheduled. Also looking at a shed, just waiting to figure out for sure the best price for what I need. My mom is helping me out with what it will cost over what the insurance gave me.

November is going to be a nice month with lots of days off from school. It starts with us having the 1st off because it is the day after parent conferences. Then the next Monday and Tuesday are not students. A meeting day and then a “work” day that we can use to go vote. Then of course at the end of the month is Thanksgiving which we get a whole week off. And I love Thanksgiving for family time. Although it will be hard this year as we start hitting all the family holidays for the first time without my stepdad.

My author friend has another book event that I am going to go help her with, so I’m excited for that!

What are you planning or looking forward to in November?

Giveaway

Still have a big ARC pile, so continuing another giveaway this month. Will keep it basic again, only open to US since I’m going to have to ship. You can pick 3 books from my giveaway pile in the picture below. By the end of the month there might be more or different ones. And I’m going to have two winners again like I ended up doing last month. Just fill out the Rafflecopter below the pictures.

a Rafflecopter giveaway