November Wrap-Up! | 2019 | Upside-Down Books

Oh boy, I had such a great feeling going into November – I was HYPED for reading. So naturally I ended stuck in one particular book for tHrEe weeks and that ruined all my magnificent reading plans. If that isn’t a metaphor for life then I don’t know what is.

That aside, the four books that I did get around to were really good! I soldiered on valiantly through the month to try and get through the small TBR I set myself over on Instagram and I read two of the four books. Which I’m definitely counting as a win. So let’s take a look!

The Fry Chronicles
by Stephen Fry

Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Author: Stephen Fry
Published: 2010
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Pages: 438 {hardback}

Will I continue the series? YES

I adore Stephen Fry and this memoir was even better than the first. I love listening to his audiobooks as he’s such a damn good narrator. I would highly recommend listening to his memoirs if you’re interested in his life (which is honestly just so fascinating). I can’t wait to read More Fool Me.

Review to come

Throne of Glass
by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Published: August 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 404 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

This is obviously a re-read for me and I loved it! It’s been such a long time since I first read this book. I’m planning on re-reading the whole series before I continue where I left off because so many things have become hazy in my memory – which meant I wasn’t enjoying the series as much as I should’ve been. Re-visiting the story has been so much fun though!

My review

Stalking Jack the Ripper
by Kerri Maniscalco

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Published: September 2016
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
Pages: 327 {hardback}

Will I continue the series? YES

I loved this! I’d been wanting to read this for such a long time that it was so exciting to finally get around to it. This was another audiobook read for me and I thought the audiobook was fantastic. We had some awesome characters in this too and I will definitely be continuing the series via audiobook!

Review to come

Salvation Lost
by Peter F. Hamilton

Genre: Science-Fiction [Hard]
Author: Peter F. Hamilton
Published: October 2019
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 468 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

This was sent to me for review by Pan Macmillan so a big thank you to them for that! This is the sequel to Salvation and was a really fun addition to the story. It was quite slow to get going and I found that really hard because I got stuck on the book for so long because of it. But as always, Hamilton ends it on a ripper cliff-hanger that guarantees my reading of book three!

My review

I reviewed some books:
I participated in Top Ten Tuesday:
- 8 Things I’ve Learned Blogging
- Autumnal Books
I did my October Wrap-Up
I combined my September and October Book Haul
Books to Buy This Month! (November 2019)

Genres Read:

Pages Read:

Total: 1,637

Progress Towards Goodreads Challenge:

96%, or, 48/50 books

November was an exceptionally normal month for me. There were very few things on but mostly I plodded through my weeks as usual and saw Jayden through his final university exams – exciting!

I saw two shows in November, the first was a stage production of the musical Cats. This was done at an outdoor amphitheatre and was absolutely phenomenal. Technically, the group was an amateur group but they’re so professional and talented it’s unbelievable!

Another show I saw with a good friend was Dylan Moran. Moran is the main character from a TV series I loved so much I actually re-watched the whole thing (this is a big deal for me) and that is Black Books. He did stand-up and I haven’t enjoyed a stand-up show so completely for such a long time.

Other than that it’s been working and hanging out with the family on weekends for some good movies and company. Jayden and I also celebrated our two year anniversary and it’s amazing how fast the time has gone by.

I really struggled to find my groove with blogging in November and that has spread over to December too. I’m finding it really difficult to find the time to sit and write posts. But, surprisingly, November was one of my most consistent months for uploading videos on YouTube!

So let’s see what movies I got around to watching . . .

Movies

The Space Between Us, 2017: 6/10 stars

This was just something I wanted to watch one night because whilst I’ve never heard any particularly good things about it, I was curious. It wasn’t . . . great. Honestly, this is a film you just have to watch for the entertainment, so much of the science is highly questionable and the plot is cringy and predictable.

Schindler’s List, 1993: 10/10 stars

This film is unbelievable. I’ve been meaning to watch it for such a long time but it’s so long and famous for how sad it is. But I spread it out over two evenings and whew. This is some heavy stuff. But so well done! I couldn’t believe Schindler’s story, it was truly inspiring!

Lady and the Tramp, 2019: 7/10 stars

I must confess that I wasn’t actually expecting this to be good. I’d been so excited for the release of Disney+ because this was exclusively released on the streaming channel rather than the cinemas. But I was surprised! I actually really enjoyed and liked this. It’s not show-stopping but I thought they did a really good job recreating such a great classic.

Ralph Breaks the Internet, 2018: 7/10 stars

I’ve had this one on my radar for quite some time too and was excited to be able to watch it with Disney+’s release. I really liked it and thought it was quite good. Both the first film and this surprised me because I didn’t expect to love either of them. But I thought this was well done for a sequel!

Charlie’s Angels, 2019: 7/10 stars

Honestly? I freaking loved this. And I thought it was going to be rubbish! I went in expecting just to enjoy it for cringy laughs but I was hooked and surprised by how good it was. I can’t recommend enough that you actually go and see this, you will love it and it’s super funny too!