November Wrap-Up and December ANNOUNCEMENT!

Tomorrow it's officially December! Which means it'll officially be OK to listen to Christmas music (or at least to admit it!) and wear Christmas jumpers etc. Good times :)

This month I'm doing my wrap-up very slightly early so I can begin an EXCITING THING in December... But more on that in a bit! Let's get wrapping up shall we? (Appropriate to be wrapping up when it's nearly Christmas, eh???) (I'll show myself out)

What I wrote:

This month I've been doing a mini catch-up of some classics that I've always meant to read, so I put up a little TBR of books I'd like to try and get to (obviously not all of them, I'm not that ambitious!). I mentioned in my October wrap-up that I'd started reading The Great Gatsby, which I then finished at the start of November and absolutely LOVED! It actually reminded me a lot of Breakfast at Tiffany's, in that both books feature a central character who is a source of fascination for the much less charismatic narrator.

I also posted a couple of reviews, for The Catcher in the Rye and Ready Player One (the latter being a review that had been sitting half-finished in my drafts since July - oops!).

What I read:

I covered The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye above, but on top of that, I also read The Hound of the Baskervilles, which I also intend to review shortly (Spoiler Alert: I loved it!). Next, I started Frankenstein by Mary Shelley but got halfway through and fancied something else, so I picked up my new copy of The Hobbit that just arrived from Amazon.

I will finish Frankenstein at some point (hopefully soon), but I was finding it too hard a slog for my current mood. You know how it is, I'm sure! Anyway, I'm still on The Hobbit and loving it so far! I don't think I've read it since I had it read to me as a child, so it's definitely a much needed re-read.

What are you reading?

What I watched:

I've been continuing my love-hate relationship with Dr Who, as well as continuing my Merlin spree. I also watched a couple of films: Spectre (pretty good but SO violent! I couldn't believe it was a 12a!!!) and About Time (on my friend's Netflix). I was also given season 1 of Gilmore Girls on DVD, which will get watched in the coming weeks (/days/hours).

What I did:

Well, halfway through the month I had a birthday, which was nice. :) Apart from that I've been generally just chugging along, seeing friends, playing Frisbee and getting more and more cross with the weather as it tries to blow/rain/storm me off my bike on the way to work.

I've also been listening to the Pentatonix Christmas albums on repeat, particularly this song:

I'm obsessed...

Finally, my wonderful friend Carly introduced me to an app called Neko Atsume - Kitty Collector, which is basically Crazy Cat Lady: The App. But it's so adorable and I'm hooked! Just look!!!!

ONE OF THEM IS IN A HAT!!!

So yeah, I think that's all I wanted to mention for that.

Now onto an EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!

Yesterday, I was having a read of some blogs, and I came across this post from Sophisticated Dorkiness in which she mentioned that some bloggers are doing a 'Month of Faves' blogging event throughout December. I had a quick look, and immediately decided to get involved.

I fully intend to stick to it at least most days! Hoorah! Take a look at the link above for the daily themes and let me know in the comments if you fancy getting involved too. Could be fun!?

So, how was your November?

Exciting Announcement: Armchair BEA!

So I've decided (rather belatedly, since it starts today...) that I'm going to be participating in Armchair BEA. I've heard and read people talking about Book Expo America for a while, but sadly since I live in little old Britain and have no money, it wasn't something I ever thought I'd be able to get involved in.

But then I stumbled across a link to Armchair BEA on someone's blog (I've totally forgotten where, but if I manage to find it I'll link it in this post!), and made a spur-of-the-moment decision to participate. This might not be the best idea since I had a horrific exam this morning and the one tomorrow is set to be even worse, but hey, I've gotta do something to cheer myself up!

Fab logo designed by Amber

Apart from sounding like a lot of fun, this just seems like such a great way to get to know other bloggers and make friends as well as get a whole load of book recommendations. What's not to love?!

Today's post is supposed to be an introductory one, so I've chosen five questions from their list to introduce myself to the ABEA communtiy. Here we go!

Who are you and where are you from?

My name's Rachel and I come from Winchester in the south of England, but I currently live in Bristol.

How long have you been blogging and how did you get into blogging?

I've been book blogging on this site for nearly a year now, but I'd been writing a Year Abroad travel blog for a year before that, and had been experimenting with other blog ideas since about 2009. I was originally inspired to start sharing book reviews when I stumbled across Black, White & Read Books, which is a blog documenting one woman's attempt to read every book mentioned in the TV series Gilmore Girls. I thought it was so inspired, I just had to give book blogging a go.

What is your favourite genre and why?

I really enjoy classics, specifically older classics. I love reading through the eyes of someone from a different time and learning about their different attitudes and assumptions. Lately, though, I've started reading more modern classics and books from other cultures. I have also developed a taste for sci-fi in the last few weeks, which is something I'm also very OK with.

What book are you reading right now?

This is actually two books (and more, if you count the ones I'm in the middle of but haven't picked up in a while!), though one is very very tiny, so probably doesn't really count as a book. The first one is A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, which I'm thoroughly enjoying but sadly can't spend as much time on as I would like (stupid exams!), and the second is The Beautifull Cassandra, which is one of the penguin little black classics featuring early writings by Jane Austen. I'm really looking forward to reviewing it soon because it is hilarious!

What are you most looking forward to reading this summer?

I'm super excited to finally read To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (I know! Isn't it shameful that I haven't read it already??), mostly because everyone seems to be talking about it at the moment and I'm looking forward to getting involved with some juicy bookchats.

And to round it all off, here's a couple of piccies of my bookshelves. Enjoy :)

Hope you enjoyed #ABEAShelfies! Except they don't have me in them so they're actually just pictures of my bookshelves. I have a horrible cold right now and don't relish the idea of putting my face on the internet! I hope you understand :P

Let me know in the comments if you're participating too! Or just to say hi, I'm not fussy :)