November was a whirlwind of emotions.
I had a small work retreat earlier in November which was fun to plan for 2019 with my coworkers
outside of an office setting. I also got some really good advice from a colleague about what schools I should consider for my MLIS which was exciting. I also attended my cousin's baby shower and my other cousin had her baby who is just the most precious thing!
On November 14, Matt's grandmother passed. It wasn't a surprised as she had been over living for about a year and her health was steadily deteriorating to the point where she couldn't do anything herself. Even though it wasn't a surprise, it was still incredibly emotional. Matt's grandma was an absolute badass. She died at the age of 96 and did so much in her life. She lived through the Great Depression, fought her way into nursing school, and served as a WWII nurse to find her brother who was MIA. My mother went into planning mode immediately and I'm not sure she got any slept from the time that her mother passed until the funeral one week later. We had family fly in from California, so it was good to see family that we haven't seen in years but also exhausting because there were 7 babies (ages 2 - 12) in tow.
My sister-in-law planned a spa day for her and her mother and invited me and my mommy which was a good day to just get away and destress. I can't say that Korean spas are my jam, but it was cool to do it at least once.
Lastly, my grandma turned 87 in late November so we gathered to have cake and ice cream. Even though the stroke changed her a bit, I'm happy that she's still her sassy self. When we sang "how old are you" she just stared at us for a full two minutes until she yelled at us for forgetting her birthday. #Goals
I think I had another mini reading slump in November. I read some pretty good books, but I was never really drawn to read anything. Mostly I was just trying to get through review copies which I think made reading less exciting for me. I told myself that I was going to request far fewer books in 2019, but that hasn't proven true so far. One day I'll find a balance.
Black Friday Read-a-thon was fun even though I was at a wake for most of the day. Thank you for everyone who joined in and I hope next year will be a bit more chill.
I read 10 books which wasn't my goal of reading 12 books, but ya know, shit happens.
My favorite read of November was A Study of Women in Scarlet (4.5 stars).
My least favorite read of November was Rhapsodic (2 stars). I've got a mini rant scheduled for this week about this book. In short, you're not getting "diversity brownie points" if your only POC character is a caricature who only exists for the main character. Jesus, I'm getting mad again.
I'm hoping that November will be chill, I just need to wrap up a few things and prepare for 2019. I gotta buy another bujo it would seem!
I only need to read 6 more books to meet my goal of reading 140 books this year so that's my goal for December. I expect to start organizing my "End of Year" post and decide what my favorite books of the year are. Ugh, I can feel the stress already.
I plan on taking next week off from blogging, just go get some reading done and plan out my reviews going forward.
How was your November?
Did you read any of the books I read in November?
What are your plans for December?
Are you close to your 2018 reading goal?
Labels: monthly recap, monthly wrap up, recap, wrap up
On November 14, Matt's grandmother passed. It wasn't a surprised as she had been over living for about a year and her health was steadily deteriorating to the point where she couldn't do anything herself. Even though it wasn't a surprise, it was still incredibly emotional. Matt's grandma was an absolute badass. She died at the age of 96 and did so much in her life. She lived through the Great Depression, fought her way into nursing school, and served as a WWII nurse to find her brother who was MIA. My mother went into planning mode immediately and I'm not sure she got any slept from the time that her mother passed until the funeral one week later. We had family fly in from California, so it was good to see family that we haven't seen in years but also exhausting because there were 7 babies (ages 2 - 12) in tow. 
Lastly, my grandma turned 87 in late November so we gathered to have cake and ice cream. Even though the stroke changed her a bit, I'm happy that she's still her sassy self. When we sang "how old are you" she just stared at us for a full two minutes until she yelled at us for forgetting her birthday. #Goals
