#SBS November Monthly Wrap-Up

Welcome to our monthly feature where we talk about what we read, adopted into our libraries, and what’s on our minds. After hosting #SignedBookSundays on instagram for 4+ years, we are transitioning to this format as a way to share signed books and talk about bookish (and personal) highlights. Join us the last Sunday or last day of every month (or whatever day today is…we are busy!)!

In Case You Missed It

• What even was blogging this month? BUT we are going to do some fun End of Year things with lists of favorite books and giveaways too!
• We curate a Bookshop page with most of the YA New Releases – please consider supporting us by buying books through our links or shop, or we have a Ko-Fi!

What We Read

Kelly: I read 8 books in November and that was pretty good for me this year, and I managed to finished my reading challenge of 75 books for the year and am starting to pass that goal already.
My standouts were:

• Little Thieves by Margaret Owen – NEW FAVORITE BOOK! This morally gray retelling lives up to the hype – buy & read ASAP!
• The Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco – well if you were following along, I pretty much read these two books back to back…very dark and fun reads (also gets quite smexy!).
• Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao – WOW non-stop action and tear down the patriarchy, sci-fi mecca vibes, oh and well balanced polyamory!

Christy: OMG what even is this SLUMP I am in?! I literally read 5 books this month. November was a mess but I snuck in a few good ones…

• If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy – I’m going to both Disneyland and Disney World in December so OF COURSE I had to sneak in this romance. I really loved how Julie flipped Lady Tremaine and the wicked stepsisters. I went into it knowing it was a Cinderella retelling but not that it was about a dating show. Really enjoyed this.
• My Contrary Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows – Look, I waited to long to read this and if you’re still waiting, I highly recommend you pick it up. Especially for all you Reign fans out there. The first of the Marys kept my attention the WHOLE time and it was as funny and charming as the other books in the series.

What We Hauled

You too can be obsessed with signed books, look here for where to buy a copy from your favorite author’s local indie or preorder incentives that include bookplates.

Kelly’s Highlights

ARCs:

• And They Lived by Steven Salvatore – Queer, nonbinary, first love, self-acceptance/body image, new adult/college freshman… March 8th (courtesy of Bloomsbury YA)
• Forward March by Skye Quinlan – Queer, marching band, catfishing leading you to your actual crush, conservative father running for President… February 1st (courtesy of Page Street YA)
• All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle – reality dating show with your Mom, humor and falling in love… – February 15th (courtesy of Simon Teen)

Finished Copies:

• I’m Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas by Tiffany Schmidt – a signed copy from Doylestown Books!
• Other Boys by Damian Alexander – bookplate copy from Porter Square Books
• Briar Girls by Rebecca Kim Wells  – signed copy from Porter Square Books
• ExtraOrdinary vol 1 by VE Schwab – I may have purchased like 6 different copies of this one…

Christy’s Highlights

• The All I Want for Christmas series by Chelsea Bulbuski – TY to Chelsea and Wise Wolf Books. I loved Remember Me by Chelsea and am EXCITED for all four of her Christmas books!
• I’m Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas by Tiffany Schmidt – Every dream came true when Tiffany wrote this book.
• The Coldest Touch by Isabel Sterling – IDGAF that it’s not spooky season because I will be reading and obsessing over this one. TY to Penguin Teen for sending me the vamps of my dreams.
• All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle – TY to Simon and Schuster!! I can’t believe it’s time for Bethany to have another book out!
• the Silent Night collection by R.L. Stine – It’s not Christmas without a little horror and it’s been so long since I read these that I thought I’d give them a reread.
• A Date from Hell by Gwenda Bond – Did I cry a little when this showed up? I did. I LOVED Not Your Average Hot Guy and I can’t wait to read this! TY to the queen herself for sending it.

What We Hope to Read

Kelly’s TBR

I am never great with a real TBR, but most of the books I have are hopeful reads…I read 2 of the 4 I listed last month…not bad! November is usually the time I get into cozy fantasy stories, and I sure hope I get into the fantasy mood this year, because I am so far behind, but as the month progresses I will want to read some Holiday specific books and you will see the blog post soon, but for now you can check out the Bookshop page we made.

• Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer
• The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta
• Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Christy’s TBR

I read exactly none of the books on my list last month so here they are again with an update YIKES.

• All I Want for Christmas is the Girl Next Door by Chelsea Bobulski
• I’m Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas by Tiffany Schmidt
• Witch Please by Ann Aguirre
• The Coldest Touch by Isabel Sterling

On the Top of Our Minds

Kelly: LIKE SERIOUS DITTO TO LAST MONTH: “I am still in a time-warp vortex of days passing too fast and at the same time working feels like its forever…My blogging and bookstagramming are on my back burner but I have lots of great ideas for posts and one day if it’s still relevant maybe they will be drafted or hosted. I still have stacks of books to ship to people and I still find myself with a gigantic mental block for some reason and its like when will I find the time?! Ugh must do before this year is up.”

I have done nothing…not a single thing. Feeling like a failure, but I keep chugging along.

Christy: I am so ready for school to be on break. Of course, I say this and I still have two 15pg papers to write along with a variety of presentations and assignments. Sigh. Hoping that once I am on break I’ll feel like reading again!

We are nearly unpacked, which feels really good. This was the slowest unpacking process I’ve ever been through. We were trying to fit everything we custom ordered from our last house into this one and it’s been….a challenge. But we are nearly there. Just need to decorate the guest room and then do some upgrades (we are building a pedestal for our washer and dryer [curses to the previous owners for their front loaders] along with a few other things including a new Little Free Library!). I even made my first reel, featuring my library. It was a total accident – I took the video to show Kelly and she’s like, put this in a REEL YOU FOOL. sigh.

As I write this (not knowing when we will post it haha), my first Ironman 70.3 is this Sunday. I’ve trained so long for it and am ready to complete it! I have two multi-race weekends in early 2022 so my training won’t be done but will be more focused on running. I also fell in love with the Peloton ecosystem and have been working out remotely with friends. Super fun and I highly recommend doing a free 60 day trial (I can send you one, if you message me! I get nothing but joy from you getting a free trial lol). There are workouts for literally everyone, ranging from 5min to an hour and including just about everything you could ever want. And they’re updated DAILY. So there’s new stuff to enjoy all the time.