Turning the Page on November 2017

November positively flew by. We spent Thanksgiving week in Colorado with my family and it was so nice to get off the island for a few days (though I definitely could've done with a few more). We got lucky with the weather -- it was in the 50s and 60s, so we got a good taste of fall but it didn't test my extreme loss of cold tolerance (when every day is 80, anything below 70 starts to feel pretty chilly). Jarrod and I spent two afternoons in the mountains (and got to see some snow) and we went to a bunch of stores and restaurants that we don't have in here in Hawaii and I desperately miss (craft stores! Red Robin! Kohl's!). We also got to see two movies in the theater while we were in Colorado, "Wonder" (fabulous!) and "Murder on the Orient Express" (pretty good).

Our (rather enormous) DVR was perilously closet to being full, so I got a lot of shows and movies watched last month. We finished up this season of "Polark,"  "Broadchurch" and "Sherlock" (apparently we were in a British mood!), and watched almost all the episodes of the new season of "Stranger Things" (we have two left and I want to savor them!). I kept up with "This Is Us" and "Grey's Anatomy," and I finished season 1 of "My Mother and Other Strangers" (a new Masterpiece show this year), plus I watched some of the final season of "Switched at Birth." On the plane home form Colorado I watched the first four episodes of the Netflix show "Anne With An E" and really enjoyed it.

So basically, in November I worked, shopped for Christmas presents, took a fabulous trip, and watched a lot of TV!

P.S. If you follow the blog much, you'll know I'm in charge of a big 9-by-13-foot bulletin board in the kids' section at work, and the turkey above is what I did for November. The "feathers" are made out of kids' handprints.

Books read: 11

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas // 4 stars

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt // 3 stars (for kids' book club at work)

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman // 4.5 stars

The Blinds by Adam Sternbergh // 4 stars

Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham // 4 stars (for Non-Fiction November)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid // 4 stars

The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon (Bone Season #3) // 4 stars

Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum #24) // 2 stars

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne // 4.5-5 stars (not sure yet)

Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen (Sarah's Scribbles #1) // 4 stars

Artemis by Andy Weir // 3 stars

Favorite book: The Heart's Invisible Furies was such a gripping, hard-hitting read! I loved following Cyril Avery through his life, which was both ordinary and extraordinary.

Biggest let-down: Artemis by Andy Weir. I had so been looking forward to it, but it fell pretty flat for me -- and for a lot of other readers, I'm gathering. I felt no connection to the main character and the locker room humor was pretty over-the-top.

December release I'm most looking forward to: Saga volume 8.

Book I'm most excited to read in December: Probably Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan. I'm ready for some festive holiday reading!

Current library checkouts: The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowtiz, Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen, Rat Queens volume 1 by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan, Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin, and Escape From Mr. Lemoncellos' Library by Chris Grabenstein (for kids' book club at work).

Books added to to-read list: 7 (not bad!)

Most intriguing TBR addition: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. I hadn't been at all interested in the book because I don't watch his show, but I saw it on so many Non-Fiction November lists that I had to take a look, and it sounds fascinating -- and totally different from what I thought it was.

From Goodreads: The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.

Favorite bookstagram: The book was a disappointment, but I love the picture because it features fall colors, boots and crunchy leaves -- things I miss so much being in Hawaii! Find me on Instagram @knittinglindsay!

I've finally been knitting again! I got tons of progress done on the (ripped out and re-started) Newt Scamander scarf a friend asked me to knit ages and ages ago, and I also cast on for a hat for my Broke and Bookish Secret Santa.

Favorite post: 10 Books I'd Want My (Hypothetical) Kids To Read

Non-Fiction November posts:
Week 1: My Non-Fiction Reading Year So Far + About Me
Week 2: Five Non-Fiction / Fiction Pairings
Week 3: Be the Expert, Ask the Expert, Become the Expert
Week 5: New to My TBR

Book reviews (all in one mini review post):
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (5 stars)
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (4.5 stars)
Origin by Dan Brown (4 stars)
Setting Free the Kites by Alex George (3.5 stars)
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence (5 stars)