November Recap || Nothing But A Blur of Words

Posted December 7, 2020 by Sammie in monthly recap / 11 Comments

The theme for November was basically: words. All the words. More so than usual.

Because, in case you missed it, November just happened to be NaNoWriMo on top of all the normal bookishness that goes on around this blog. PLUS I got the first round of edits back for my book that’s coming out next year, so … I had to think real long and hard about whether death by word is a thing and how it would look on my tombstone. Not cool enough, I decided, so I somehow pulled through.

It’s definitely been a month, though, and not, unfortunately, so much on the bookish side.

  • You may have noticed I’ve been a little absent lately, and unfortunately, that’s likely to become more and more common in the coming year. I figured I’d go ahead and get the bad news out of the way right off the bat. Like ripping off a Band-Aid, right? I just have been so pressed for time lately, especially with the holidays, that I’ve not had a lot of time for blog hopping and commenting and replying and even posting. I’d like to say this is going to get better in 2021, but I’ve just found out I’m basically going to still have to work two jobs while attending grad school (I had anticipated working just one full-time position, but financials being what they are means I need to keep the second part-time job on top of that). Unfortunately, because there’s limited time, the only part of that equation that really has any give is the blogging, so it might take a hit.
  • That being said … I officially have my courses for Spring 2021! This makes it feel a little too real, and I’m so not prepared. I even went on and rented my books already. Ahhhhhh! *flails* This first semester is just the basic requisites, which is kind of annoying and blah, but oh well. I was able to skip the intro technology classes, because my undergraduate is a Bachelor’s in Information Technology, so I’m taking a more advanced course in digital librarianship, and I’m kind of excited about it, since it’s definitely something different from the “norm” that I’m used to.
  • I failed spectacularly at NaNoWriMo, which means no Scrivener discount for me. If I’m honest, I really tried so hard for the discount, because I’m cheap. I managed a good 20,000 words, but the second half of the month was so chaotic that I just haven’t had a chance. Add to that the fact that my edits came back from the editor, so I ended up setting the writing aside to work on that for a week. Still, I’m 20,000 words ahead of where I had been, and I honestly didn’t anticipate even doing that many, so I declare it a splendid success!
  • My Christmas shopping is done, and I’m just about ready for the holiday, for a change! I managed to finish things a bit earlier than usual. Of course, there’s still the actual wrapping and baking that still needs to take place, but I’m going to go ahead and take a second to bask in the glory of having finished the shopping already. I take the wins where I can get them!
  • I met my second Goodreads goal of 175 books read this year! My stretch goal is 200, but I wasn’t sure how feasible that would be, so when I met my 150 goal, I set it to 175. I’m excited to say that with a month left, I’ve officially hit that! The real question is … can I read 25 books in a month in order to finish my goal?! I’ve got a couple novellas and short books on my TBR, along with some graphic novels I’ve piled up that I wanted to get to, so … maybe? I’m definitely gonna give it a go!

You know … I think that’s about it. Really, not a whole lot happened in November for such a busy month. I hope everyone in the US had a lovely Thanksgiving! Without further ado, on to the books!







Blogger Post Love

Here are some great posts this month from other bloggers:

✦ Briana and Krysta @ Pages Unbound talk about seven ways to support book bloggers, along with how to support your local library during the pandemic (a topic which is obviously near and dear to my heart!)

✦ Arina @ The Bookwyrm’s Guide to the Galaxy breaks down some sci-fi subgenres for #SciFiMonth, along with some fantastic recommendations for each!

✦ Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy did a whole series on self-published authors for #SciFiMonth, and I highly recommend checking out all of them and supporting these wonderful authors!
Self Published Sci-Fi Saturday #1
Self Published Sci-Fi Saturday #2
Self Published Sci-Fi Saturday #3
Self Published Sci-Fi Saturday #4

✦ For the writers out there, since November was NaNoWriMo, Morgan Hazelwood talks about what fanfiction can teach writers, and I recommend checking it out! I’ve taken hiatuses from original work to dabble with fanfiction, and my writing has definitely improved because of it!

✦ Dini @ DiniPandaReads talks about the pros and cons of book blogging (something I think we can all relate to!)

✦ CW @ The Quite Pond has the most amazing post filled with advice and tips about revamping your blog with examples from The Quiet Pond revamp. (You should check out the new site. It’s lovely!)

✦ Annemieke @ A Dance With Books has announced the Turtle Recall Reading Challenge 2021, which I highly recommend! It’s all about reading more Terry Pratchett books (and how can anyone go wrong with that?!). Even though I totally failed the 2020 challenge, I’m ready for another Turtle Recall! 2021 is a new year (… I hope?).





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11 responses to “November Recap || Nothing But A Blur of Words”

    • Sammie

      Spring semester is almost heeeere. Ugh. You definitely should check out Evan Winters and Warlock Holmes, though! Both some of my favorite series now.

      Reply
  3. Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits

    Sounds like November was a good—if hectic—month! Cheers on being done with Christmas shopping! I am as well (though I have to wait for some things to arrive still). Too bad about the Scrivener discount, but at least that’s something they do every year (and I think for the CampNaNos also) if you’re able to wait for the next one.
    Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits recently posted…Holiday Linkity 2020My Profile

    Reply
    • Sammie

      I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten them for past Camp Nanos, but never wanted Scrivener. But I ended up locked out of my old account at some point and I have no idea how to get back in and just started a new one because my brain is small and I couldn’t figure it out. xD

      Reply
    • Sammie

      Sleep is for the weaaaaak! I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to respond to this comment, but I saw your message, and oh my gosh, thank you so much!!!!!!! I’m so excited. I think my writing for 2021 is definitely going to be changed (for the better, of course).

      I really wish NaNo was almost any other month except November and December. xD I usually take part in Camp NaNo, which works out a lot better for me, since it’s at a better time.

      Reply
    • Sammie

      Thank you! I always feel like not meeting my goal is failure, and I have to remind myself that I succeeded in doing so much regardless of whether I met my initial goal or not. xD I’ve really been trying to work on my mindset haha.

      Reply

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