Welcome to Closing the Chapter! I hope you had a great reading month?

England have been in lockdown again and we are inching closer to Christmas 🎄🎅 In fact we put up our Christmas tree on the 21st for a bit of joy!

You would think being in lockdown would give me more time to read but after a great start to the month I had a slump! But I did read 5 books, 2 audio books and 1 dnf so that’s not too bad!

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Fable by Adrienne Young

See my review here.

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Love Song by Kylie Scott

See my review here.

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Dream Bites Cookbook by Kristen Ashley

See my review here.

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Memento by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

See my review here.

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Blood and Honey by Shelby Mahurin

See my review soon!

Touched by Elisa S Amore was a DNF unforts 😦

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Obsidio by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

See my review here.

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Truelife by Jay Kristoff

See my review soon!

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What did you read in November?

Title: Blood and Honey

Series: Serpent and Dove #2

Author: Shelby Mahurin

After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Dames Blanches, Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and church—fugitives with nowhere to hide.

To elude the scores of witches and throngs of chasseurs at their heels, Lou and Reid need allies. Strong ones. But protection comes at a price, and the group is forced to embark on separate quests to build their forces. As Lou and Reid try to close the widening rift between them, the dastardly Morgane baits them in a lethal game of cat and mouse that threatens to destroy something worth more than any coven.

The truths are out there so now it all hots up. Alliances must be won and the war is on like kong.

I set in and there was love and light…

‘In truth, there’d been no choice at all. There never had been. I loved her. And if I had to run, hide and fight for that love, I would. For the rest of my life, I would.’

But then evil in all forms started chipping in to everything I loved about Serpent and Dove. This book was much darker and even though I love the darker side, this book gutted me! At one point my face actually blanched….and it never does that!

Oh the emotions and not all of them good. But I did love that the dirty songs were back!!!

If I’m truly honest I was here for Lou and Reid and their relationship, I loved those bits! One exception to that is a new character, Claud. I loved him!

But then ending hit me like a wrecking ball! Never saw that coming! Next book please!

I have no self control and I have no chill. See below for my blatant disregard of my 3 books a month  pledge!

For 2021 I need to either set a budget each month or basically just keep away from new releases and recommendations….but I can’t do that so setting a budget it is!

How much do you budget in each month for book buying?

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The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

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Memento by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

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City of Bones, Glass and Ashes by Cassandra Clare

(don’t be alarmed Bones isn’t here, it’s in my car!)

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📑 Arcs

Dream Bites by Kristen Ashley

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🎧 Audio

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

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🧚‍♀️Fairyloot

Blood and Honey by Shelby Mahurin

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

Hiya!

I thought I’d do some tags and just like magic I was nominated for the Sunshine Bloggers Award by Cherry Blossom Books (thank you!) and go check out her blog!

These are the questions that Cherry Blossom Books asked (and my answers!)

What is your favourite book?

Oh gawd, just one? That’s hard! I think I’ll go for one of my faves from this year. Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco.

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What is your dream job?

I’d love to work for a publisher coordinating events!

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What is your most anticipated release of 2021?

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

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Morning or night?

Morning. I’m defo a morning person, up with the larks and getting stuff done!

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Who is your favourite fictional character?

Manon Blackbeak. She is everything! I really need a reread of the ToG series!

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Favourite food?

Chilli con carne. But not any chilli. My Mums chilli that I can never seem to replicate no matter what I do!

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Where do you want to travel?

I’d love to see Egypt, see the pyramids, soak in all the history!

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City or Country?

I used to be city but am now turning country!

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What is your favourite object ever?

My earphones. I couldn’t live without them 😂😂

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Where do you want to live?

I really like the thought of living in America but….I’ve never been there so would the reality be the same as my expectation?

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What is your favourite aesthetic?

Currently white and lilac although with Christmas coming up I’m thinking of white, red and lilac!!!! Living life on the edge!!!

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I won’t nominate anyone but here are my questions to you should you wish to join in:

– Series or standalone?

– Coffee or tea?

– Bookmark or piece of paper?

– When do you put up your Christmas tree?

– Which book do you reread?

– Do you burn your bookish candles?

– Favourite witch from a book?

– Favourite TV series

– Do you review every book you read?

– Dogs or cats?

– What are you currently reading?

Top Ten Tuesday is featured by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Theme – I’m Thankful for…

We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in England but I wish all my American friends a very happy Thanksgiving and hope you have a day of love, laughter, family and good food!

Lets be honest, this year has been a humdinger hasn’t it! I think that because it has been such a shitshow that its made me appreciate things more, think of others more and that’s something I want to take with me when everything turns to normal (if it ever does!)

So not really 100% bookish but here is my list:

• My son ❤
• My family 💓
• Good health 🩺
• Laughter with my friends and work colleagues 🤭
• Good books (and not so good books!) 📚
• My bookish friends (also with laughter!)📖
• NHS staff and key workers who battled and continue to battle through this pandemic 👩‍⚕️👨‍⚕️
• And finally, a special shout out to coffee! ☕

What are you thankful for this year (or any year!)

I totally pinched this idea from Destiny at Howling Libraries! Go check her out!

The idea of this post is to look at your haul from the same month but from last year to see how many of those books you have actually read.

I thought, more to keep myself accountable, that this would be a great! Last time I did this I managed to get to half read which I thought wasn’t too bad!

Here is my post from my November 2019 haul.

Supernova by Marissa Meyer ✔

The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White – STILL ON TBR

The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah – STILL ON TBR

Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater – DNF

Wicked Hexes by Amelia Hutchins ✔

Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw – STILL ON TBR

I’ve only been doing these posts for 3 months and I dread doing them already!

I need to do something about this so I have joined the Beat the Backlist challenge in 2021 and try and tackle some of these!!!

Firstly I just wanted to shout from the rooftops that I hit my Goodreads challenge!

I’m doing Blogmas in December so thought I’d post this a little early!

I saw this tag on Fangirl Fury and knew I had to do it!!

End of The Year Book Tag

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

No…taaadaaaa! I’ve either finished or decided that they weren’t for me full stop this year!

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Do you have a book to transition into the end of the year?

I have a reading list for December but a very loose one. My reading list for November was to finish off my arcs for the year and to finish off a couple of series…and I did it!

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Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer Armentrout. I have no idea why I haven’t got it yet!

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What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

• Famine by Laura Thalassa
• The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
• Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year?

Maybe Ninth House?

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Have you already started making reading plans for 2021?

Oh yes! I’ve joined Beat the Backlist and I’ve already made some ‘rules’ for me to follow (which will probably be broken by February!!!)

Well that’s me!

Title: Memento

Series: The Illuminae Files 0.5

Authors: Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

AIDAN is the AI you’ll love to hate.

The advanced AI system was supposed to protect a fleet of survivors who’d escaped the deadly attack on Kerenza IV. AIDAN was supposed to be infallible. But in the chaotic weeks and months that followed, it became clear that something was terribly, terribly wrong with AIDAN…

AIDAN and his beginnings aboard the Alexander.

I felt so bad for Olivia Klein. Gone though so much, finally seeing a way out and she speaks the truth: ‘The benefits of reading include, but are not limited to, stress reduction, vocabulary expansion, stronger analytical skills, and memory improvement.’

This tidbit just goes to prove that AIDAN is a sick, twisted, creepy thing that should never have been released on this fictional world! I’m actually angry!