November Reading Wrap-Up and End of the Year Book Tag

This is it. Last month of 2020. Last chance for me to finish all my in-progress reads, read all the books read that I meant to read this year, and figure out my reading goals and tracking system for next year. But first, let’s do a brief wrap up of what I read and what I bought this month.

Outbox

I read three books in November. They were:

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid — This novel was so good. REALLY good. Like, possibly best book I read in 2020, good. Bump it up to the top of your TBR right now. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia — Oh boy did this author nail the Gothic novel vibes. Wow. That said, the setting is a lot more English than Mexican, even though it’s set in Mexico, which wasn’t quite what I was expecting. But, if Gothic novels are your thing, definitely check this one out.
Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert — This was a really cute novella that gave me Buffy and Spike vibes, except with consent. I really liked it.

Inbox

I bought books this month! I’m not even going to feel bad about it. Here’s what I got:

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco — My October Fairy Loot box finally arrived towards the end of November (there were COVID-related shipping delays), and this was the book of the month. The stenciled edges on this special edition are so pretty, and the story sounds great. I have it in my reading nook because I want to start reading it very soon.
The Under a Winter Sky anthology — There are so many amazing authors with stories in this Anthology. I almost always neglect the short story collections on my Kindle, but I am determined to read this one soon. Hopefully while it’s still winter.
Warrior Wench by Marie Andreas — So, I’m basically a sucker for a mercenary space captain. I saw this on sale, read the description, realized that it sounded like fun and campy sci-fi romp, which was exactly what I was in the mood for, and I had to grab a copy.
Rescue Her Heart by K. C. Luck — Another sci-fi adventure involving a space captain, but this time a lesbian sci-fi adventure!
House of Scepters by Anne Zoelle — Anne is one of the writers in my Tuesday writing group, and the organizer of that group has been gushing about this book ever since she got to beta read it. This is the first book in a three book series that Anne rapid-released. Based on what I’ve heard, I probably should have gone ahead and bought all three because I suspect I’m going to want to keep reading once I start.

End of the Year Book Tag

Rather than talk about what I’m currently reading, or what’s on my TBR for December, I thought I’d do the End of the Year Book Tag that has been going around over on Booktube. I did this last year and thought I might try it again, even though the year is nearly over. The questions pretty nicely cover what I have planned for the rest of this year…

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish? YES! I like to finish all my in-progress reads before midnight on New Year’s. It’s kind of a weird quirk of mine. Right now I have three books in progress. They are:

Poseidon’s Wake by Alastair Reynolds — I abandoned this one earlier in the year and have yet to get back to it. It’s been so long that I may need to start over…
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott — This is non-fiction and interesting, but a pretty slow read. I am going to need to pick up the pace a bit if I want to finish before the end of December.
Eight Will Fall by Sarah Harian — This one I should be done with in a couple of days. I had to put it down for a bit to read The Return of the Thief (so good! more on that in my December wrap up…), but this one is pretty fast paced, and I am finding myself excited to pick it up again.

Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year? The short answer is yes. See last year’s post for which book(s) and why. I never did re-read either last year, and I still probably won’t re-read them this year, though I really want to re-read them at some point.

Is there a new release you’re still waiting for? YES! The third (and last) book in Michael Mammay’s Planetside series is scheduled to be released at the very end of December. It’s called Colonyside, and I’ve pre-ordered it so that I can read it right away. I plan to start book two in the series any minute now so that I am ready to go when book three drops onto my Kindle.

I’ve said this before, but if you like military sci-fi, OR if you like the idea of a something like the movie A Few Good Men, but set in space with a retired “one last job” protagonist, then you need to get your hands on this series. Do it.

What are three books you want to read before the end of the year? Okay, aside from all the ones I already mentioned in this post, here are the three that are calling to me the most right now:

Aurora Burning by by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff — This one is kind of a cheat because my friends and I just decided this was going to be our buddy read book this month. I didn’t love the twist at the end of the first book, but I did like the characters, especially my favorite space fae.
Stormsong by C. L. Polk — I promised myself that I would get to read this as my reward for finishing (and publishing) Hunter of the Fae. I am so excited to read this one.
Strange Love by Ann Aguirre — I’ve been super curious about this author for a while. She has a ton of books that seem like they would really appeal to me. This one is giving me Anne McCaffrey vibes for some reason, and I really want to see if it lives up to that.

Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year? Possibly Strange Love, or maybe Stormsong, or Spaceside… Huh. Apparently books that have a title that starts with an “S” are most likely to be my new favorites at the moment.

Have you already started making reading plans for 2021? YES! But, this post is already very long, so I’m going to save that for my next blog post, which should be very soon. Here’s a hint, though, it has to do with the solution I came up with for the problem I mentioned in a previous blog post…

Talk with you more soon. Until then, happy reading!