Heya friends! Happy November! (And NaNo, to those doing it! *raises hand*)
I probably won’t be blogging much this month, due to trying to write 50,000 words of a novel, but you never know. XD
Meanwhile, here’s a book ishness update, featuring this month’s releases, a free short story, a cover reveal, and what’s been up in my bookish/reading life!
NOVEMBER RELEASES
Here are a handful of books releasing sometime this month that I have to share with you!
- Burnt Silver (H.A. Titus) — Celtic urban fantasy with fae! This series is on my very-excited to read list. 😀 Currently on preorder.
- Death Warden (C.J. Stilling) — YA fantasy about a reluctant assassin girl. This is from a Realmie author and sounds really cool. Also, that cover! ❤
- Head in the Heavens (E.B. Dawson) — AWK! So, this is a collection of all the sci-fi short stories from this author, which I binge-read and shrieked about on my blog earlier this year. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Even though I’m not a huge sci-fi person! They’re now collected in one beautiful anthology which released this last weekend and I’M SO EXCITED! You can find it here!
- Thirst (Jill Williamson) — Apocalyptic and dystopian stories aren’t my favorite, but look, a new Jill Williamson book! 😀 *cheering* It’s part one of a prequel duology to her Safe Lands series!
- A Very Bookish Christmas — This is a limited edition anthology of four bookish Christmas novellas from four authors: Sarah Holman, J. Grace Pennington, Rebekah Jones, and Kate Willis. I’ve loved books from all these authors! In this collection, I read Gingerbread Treasures by Rebekah Jones (since I edited it), and it’s an absolutely delightful Holmes-inspired cozy Christmas mystery, with a modern desert town setting and characters I adored. It was utterly charming! Also, the mystery/treasure hunt was SO unique! I’m sure the rest of the stories in the collection are just as fabulous. 🙂 It’s releasing on Thanksgiving, I think, but it’s up for preorder now!
- Kate’s Christmas (Sarah Holman) — I beta-read this and I LOVE THIS SERIES! Christian FBI mysteries with characters who stole my heart and a good dose of fun mixed in throughout the mysteries and questions of faith. And this one has cozy Christmas parts which make me happy! Releasing on Thanksgiving. (Preorder.)
And the next middle grade superhero novel from Bryan Davis is supposed to come out this month too! It’s not on Goodreads yet but there’s a preorder up on his website. My younger brother and I are really excited to read this one! (Read my review for book one.)
SHORT STORY FREEBIE!
Kyle Robert Shultz has this short story available for free on his newsletter! Check it out!
It features Nick Beasley and Cordelia Beaumont encountering the Afterverse versions of certain Asgardians, including a version of Thor and Loki, who are masquerading as Nick and Cordelia! It’s hilarious and I love it so much. XD
RECENT READS
- Ghostlight (Rabia Gale) — I mentioned this in my last bookish news but it was sooo good! Regency-esque fantasy, fun and witty but spooky (but just short of too spooky for me), and with characters I ADORED. I’m hooked and can’t wait to read the next book! *bumps it to the top of my wishlist* I had a bit of a book hangover after this one. Ghostlight was the book of the month for my favorite bookclub, Fellowship of Fantasy. ❤
- Pumpkin Spice Pie-Jinks (Selina J. Eckert) — This novella I edited is the ABSOLUTE ESSENSE of Fall! It’s so cozy and I absolutely adored it, with the magical pies and the dash of Hansel and Gretel and the modern setting mixed with fantasy and the fae prince and the harassed magical baker heroine and a smidge of adorable romance. It just FELT like autumn and was absolutely delicious — plus, it made me want to eat delicious pastries. XD Check it out if you’re a Fall person!
- Dark is the Night (Mirriam Neal) — *SCREAMING* A new Mirriam Neal book is out! I won’t make you go through all the squawking I did in my review again, but I’m Very Pleased that Skata and Angel’s book is out in the world now! ❤ So much snark, my word. 😀
- Magician’s Gift (H.L. Burke) — I got to beta-read this delightful short story featuring Jericho and the other characters from the Spellsmith and Carver trilogy! AWK! It was so fun and full of magical shenanigans and a dash of “aww!” and it made me sooo happy to see Jericho, Auric, and Rill again, years after the end of the trilogy! ^_^
- Strayborn (E.E. Rawls) — This one was SO fun and exciting, and a tiny bit spooky, and adorable, awesome, and totally unique! I had so much fun reading it, and you can check out my review if you missed it!
- Dancing and Doughnuts (Rachel Kovaciny) — This one was my rather small attempt to do something for Twelve Dancing Princesses month (!!!) since that was the fairy tale of the month in October over at The Fairy Tale Central. It was a fun, non-magical, western novella retelling of the 12DP story, which was definitely unique! It also made me want doughnuts. 😛 I had won a copy from the author and finally read it and it made me smile! The only other 12DP thing I did last month was write a flash fiction for a prompt, and I posted it on my other blog. It was so fun but now I want to write a whole book about it! Oh well. At least I did two small things to celebrate my favorite fairy tale! There just was NOT enough time in October!
- Dear Author: Letters from a Bookish Fangirl (Laura A. Grace) — Scroll down for the cover reveal for this one later in the post! It’s her first book, releasing December 3, and I’m SO EXCITED! I read an ARC of it and it’s short and sweet, fifteen letters to writers/authors (and including ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE illustrations by Hannah S.J. Williams!). I loved it and hope to review it soon. 🙂
- (Re-read) House of Many Ways (Diana Wynne Jones) — October was stressful, and I went on a short re-read stint since cozy favorite re-reads were how I coped with all the stuff going on. I had a blast re-reading this one (aloud! with the voices!), especially rediscovering Charmain and Peter, and TWINKLE. XD
- (Re-read) The Boggart (Susan Cooper) — If you haven’t checked out this contemporary fantasy, set in Scotland and modern-day (ish; ’90s, when it was written) Toronto, you are missing out! This was the first time I read the physical book, but I’d listened to the audiobook twice before and I LOVE IT. It’s so much fun and one of a not-very-long-list of modern fantasy I love. I devoured it in an evening, sitting by a campfire, and it was a delight. ^_^
- Highway Robbery (Kate Thompson) — I actually read this in November, unlike the October books which are all the rest pictured. It was a short, quick read, with illustrations that were half quirky, half realistic (LOVED the horse art! GORGEOUS), and the story was very intriguing though I wanted more of it and wished it’d had somewhat of a different outcome. Still, it was cute. (I got it at a libary sale and ended up reading the whole thing the night of the 1st of NaNo, which says something about how curious I was to know what happened. XD)
- Not pictured, I also edited or beta-read some books and novellas and short stories — all good! I’ll have to share about them when they’re available. 😀 (Watch out, Afterverse fans! There’s an epic storm coming. *cackles*)
CURRENTLY READING
- I just started The Scorpio Races, FINALLY. Everyone has been telling me to read this for so many years. XD I keep meaning to read a Maggie Stiefvater book (goodness knows I own like seven of them. XD) and I finally started one. I’m only a few chapters in but it’s very interesting! I figured November is the right time to read it. 😉 We’ll see if I can get through it and also keep up with my writing!
- I’m really enjoying Strange Waters (Phoenix Fiction Anthology — see my spotlight for more info!) and Mardan’s Anointed (part of the Mardan series I reviewed)! Both are review books and I hope to finish them this month, but we’ll see. I’M EXCITED. ❤
TBR
It’s always dangerous having a To-Be-Read list during November, because between writing a 50K novel, going to writing events, having Thanksgiving, and all the other things life throws my way, I often find myself with no time to read.
But here are some that are up next on my radar!
- Death Warden — This YA fantasy about an assassin is releasing this month and I have an ARC and it sounds super interesting! Can’t wait to dive in!
- Sword of Soter — Sequel to Armor of Aletheia (read my review), and I’m suuuper excited to read this one! (Also an ARC. I know, I’m behind on review books!)
- Green Dolphin Country — Actually, this is also on my currently-reading, I just hadn’t put it on that shelf on Goodreads. XD It’s really interesting so far, just HUGE, so I haven’t had time to finish it yet!
- Beyond the Shadowed Earth — Releasing in January! I have an ARC and I’m sooo excited to read it (THIS AUTHOR WROTE ECHO NORTH! And Beneath the Haunting Sea! And I love her writing so, so much!), but also nervous because the main character is someone from Beneath the Haunting Sea who I didn’t like. XD But I can’t wait to jump in when I have some time! Possibly not in November, but December for sure if I don’t. 😀
BOOKSTAGRAM: 5 Straight Months, 500 Followers, & Phone Woes
I just hit 500 followers on my bookstagram and I’m so excited!! Thanks to everyone who follows me there! ^_^
I also posted every day on there from June 1 to October 31, five straight months of posting (only skipping one week while I was away for Realm Makers) and I’m pretty excited about that. 😀
However, my phone died and I haven’t gotten the replacement in yet, so I’m currently cameraless, and after I post a couple of books pictures I still have ready, I’ll not be posting on there for a bit. Also, since it’s NaNo, I’m stepping back from posting anyway. XD
So that’s what’s up in my Instagram world!
COVER REVEALS
Here are a few cover reveals I’ve shared recently around my social media sites but want to share here as well — including one reveal from TODAY, namely for Dear Author by Laura A. Grace!
Dear Author: Letters from a Bookish Fangirl
Laura A. Grace
Genres: Self-Help, Motivational
Publication date: December 3, 2019
About the Book
Think your words might not matter? Think again.
Words have the power to change lives, especially when they are used to create meaningful stories. In this collection of letters, bookish fangirl Laura A. Grace addresses topics related to every writer’s journey. From “character conversations,” to embracing one’s unique writing style, to celebrating a release day—there is a letter for every author no matter where they may be in sharing their story with others.
“Dear Author” includes six illustrations by Hannah S.J. Williams.
Signed Paperback — Amazon — Barnes & Noble — Book Depository (Coming soon!)
Pre-Order Goodies Form
About the Author
Laura A. Grace had a lifelong dream of getting to know authors behind the covers of her favorite reads. Little did she know that one day she would become an author too! Now an avid book blogger at Unicorn Quester and writer of clean, Christian manga, Laura creatively balances her passions of supporting indie authors and feeding her readers new stories. In between, she wields plastic lightsabers with her children and binge-watches anime with her husband. Join her quest to find wandering unicorns for your favorite authors at unicornquester.com!
Website — Newsletter — Facebook — Twitter — Instagram — YouTube
More covers
I had so much fun taking this picture for Burnt Silver!
My old review of Retrieve!
Merchant of Menace on Goodreads!
NANOWRIMO
It’s not super bookish but it is somewhat — even if it’s writing instead of reading. XD As I mentioned, I’m doing NaNoWriMo! I’m writing a secret project under the codename Operation Foxtail, which I shared just a little about on my other blog, here and here.
So that’s what I’ll be busy with for the rest of November! If I’m around less, or don’t read as much, or take awhile to reply to things, it’s just because I’m busy writing! 😉 *hangs sign: Busy Writing a Novel; Will Be Back in December* XD
It’s going well so far — I’m at 5K at the time of writing this (hopefully more when this posts) and having a blast so far! I’m just waiting for it to turn difficult. 😛
If you are doing NaNo as well, I’d love to be buddies over on the site — you can find me here! GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE! YOU’VE GOT THIS! And I hope all of you who are not doing NaNo have a beautiful (and sane) bookish November!
Whew! That’s all the news I have for you today. Anything here you’re excited about? Thanks for reading!
*disappears back to writing and pretends this post wasn’t a full NaNo day’s worth of words, because that’s just awkward since they don’t count toward my goal* XD
The Page Dreamer (Deborah O'Carroll) 