November Wrap-Up
IT’S SANTAAAAAAA!
Obligatory pic of doggo looking like a confused lion.
Jk, it’s almost Santa time. I can’t believe it’s already December though, holy moly! How is everyone’s holiday shopping going? I’m glad I got most of my shopping done on Black Friday, so now I can relax until my big holiday cookie bakefest. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, do you have any other fun traditions you do or celebrate other holidays around this time of year?
Regarding my reading this month, I managed to read 5 books and listen to one audiobook. I’ve been super behind with reading all my (e)ARCs, but I’m still super excited to get to them all. I am aiming to get more reading done this month, now that I have a new office setup (yay for cozy spaces), so will hopefully get to finish the plethora of books I have laying around half-read.
Also, how was NaNoWriMo for everyone who participated? Did you meet your goals? I love hearing everyone’s manuscript synopses! Everyone is so creative 😍 I’d love to hear your synopsis in the comments below!
My Library
I’m still reading A Queen of Broken Realms by Brynne Weaver. I’m still loving it a ton, I just haven’t had much reading time 😅 I’m SO CLOSE to finishing it though! I swear, I’m also lowkey trying to drag out the story because I don’t want it to be over. I love Ashen and Lu so much. I also love Ediye, but I’m glad we’ll be getting more of her in another book! Yay!
Netgalley eARCs
The Twig Man by Sana Rasoul
Review:
I was super excited about this MG horror and thought the plot sounded really interesting. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected. Ari was such a sweet younger brother and he had lots of adventures in the woods. I loved the lore of the Twig Man as well, along with Timmy’s backstory. I knew there was something off about Timmy, but I thought it would have been that he was somehow in cahoots with the Twig Man lol. Now that would’ve been a plot twist. Some of his and Ari’s arguments felt a bit random, like Ari would just lose his temper out of nowhere. I felt like he overreacted a lot, but then again, he is a kid who’s in a stressful situation. I also felt like this book was a bit too long, especially the plan to defeat the Twig Man and then the fight scene, and I ended up skimming a lot of it. The story definitely had some creepy elements which was great, but I feel like the plot could’ve had some refining.
2.75/5⭐
The Anime Chef Cookbook by Nadine Estero
Review:
I thought this was such a fun recipe book, especially since I’ve always wanted to try food from all the anime I watch. I really liked how there’s a list of Asian ingredients listed at the beginning of the book which explains what everything is. This book includes recipes from famous anime and each recipe includes a short blurb about what anime the recipe is from, down to the episode it’s featured on, and also includes some quotes from the anime. There are also some tips of where you can find certain ingredients in your grocery store, which I think is super helpful. The ingredients for the recipes are written out by measurement not weight (teaspoons not 4.2 grams), which I love because I hate weighing out ingredients 😅 The instructions seem pretty straightforward as well. There are simple recipes and more complicated ones, so every level chef can try making something from this cookbook. There’s recipes of everything from appetizers to desserts and drinks. Every anime fan will definitely find something they’d want to try making, for sure. On a side note, I also loved the illustrations and the design of the recipe pages. Everything was easy to read and all information was easy to find. I’d highly recommend this cookbook and I can’t wait to try making something from it!
5/5⭐
Death for Dinner Cookbook by Zach Neil
Review:
I was super excited to read this cookbook because I love horror and would love to make horror-themed food. However, I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. My main issue with this cookbook was that the font was super difficult to read because of the lack of contrast between the page color and the font color. I wish the designer picked colors that stood out a little more so I wasn’t going cross-eyed trying to decipher the recipes. Another issue I had was that many recipes in this book had mini recipes included, such as sauces, where you would have to flip to another section of the recipe book so you could make that recipe before you made the main recipe. This would be quite complicated if you’re trying to cook a meal but you have to keep flipping back and forth to make the mini recipes first. Granted, everything looks super delicious and I love the tips included on how to make your dish look scarier. Also, most tools and ingredients are things people would typically already have in their kitchen/pantry, which is helpful. The recipes also include vegan options, so I’d definitely recommend this to any vegan people out there. And if you love making cocktails, I’d also recommend this to you! There’s some really awesome-looking drink recipes included. I don’t drink alcohol, but I’d love to try finding a way to make non-alcoholic versions of these recipes. Overall, I think this cookbook has lots of great recipes and everything looks delicious, however, the font definitely lowered my final star rating a bit.
3.5/5⭐
Other (e)ARCs
From Edelweiss and Tor
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Review:
I freaking LOVE this book and I will recommend it to everyone I know. If you love cozy, slice-of-life books, then you should definitely check this out. Also, you should definitely have a coffee and pastry while you read this because you will be craving. This story is just so heartwarming and it makes you feel all warm and cozy with the atmosphere. It’s such an inspiring story about living your dream, and includes the found family trope, which I love. I was a huge fan of Viv’s character development and I loved her relationship with the Madrigal and Tandri. Thimble was also just such a wholesome and precious character. I want to try all his pastries! It was such a joy to see the café grow over time and see the relationships that developed. I had just finished the book and already wanted to reread it. That’s how much I love it. Seriously, go read it.
6/5⭐
From HCC Frenzy
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
Review:
💢Content Warning: Racial segregation, racism, police brutality, gore, death, bullying, passing white, and child abuse.💢
This book was absolutely amazing and I could not put it down. I was shocked to hear that there are still places that have racially segregated proms and I think the discussions about it in this book are really important to have. The characters were all very compelling and you learn a lot about them since this book is written in multiple POVs. This book also has some bits formatted as a podcast script which was an interesting addition. There are some parts of this book that were quite hard to read due to their emotional impact, like the part of what happens to Kendrick after prom. Overall, this is a really poignant retelling of Carrie and I highly recommend it! I hope Tiffany writes more horror cause everything she writes is 🔥
5/5⭐
Audiobooks
The Crooked Sixpence by Jennifer Bell and Karl James Mountford
Review:
I thought it was a pretty fun MG story! I initially picked it because it’s narrated by one of my fav narrators, Jayne Entwistle. I LOVED the worldbuilding and would totally visit Londonall (excuse my audio to print spelling 😅). Ivy goes on so many adventures trying to solve the mystery of the crooked sixpence while trying to save her parents. The uncommon objects and their uses were so creative and it would be so cool to have some of those in real life. I was a little confused with the characters and who was who though. But overall, I think kids would definitely enjoy this story!
3.5/5⭐
That’s all for my wrap-up. What’s on your TBR for December? I know I will only be reading one holiday book, thanks to @princessreadsalot! Do you like reading holiday books during December? Let me know your favs in the comments! Anyhoo, until next month, my bookworms.
Happy reading 😊
