Thursday, December 7, 2017

November Wrap-Up


November Snapshots












1. Adulting level: maximum. November started with a letter from my health insurance company. They informed me that they are raising the price of my insurance to $417 a month next year. Um . . . What?! No! Not going to happen. That’s hundreds of dollars more than I’m paying now. Do insurance companies realize how many books I could buy with $417 a month? So, I spent most of November in the mystifying world of insurance. It all worked out in the end, but this is the third time I’ve had to buy entirely new insurance since I got kicked off my parents’ plan. Is this what adulthood is? Just constantly buying insurance? I can’t handle it, guys. It’s too boring. Kill me now.








2. I ran out of stuff to read, but it’s okay, I fixed it. You know that goal everybody has of getting their TBR pile down to 0? I actually accomplished that in November. The day after I accomplished it, I acquired 59 books. That’s not an exaggeration. It was a perfect storm of Black Friday sales and a year spent hoarding used bookstore credits. My TBR went from 0 to 59 in one day. I planned on being reasonable about my TBR, but nope. I basically walked into a store and started flinging credits everywhere. “Noble book merchant, I will take all your finest used books.”



My new TBR pile.






3. Tweet more. I read some articles about how to increase your blog traffic, and they said Tweet more! Share your unique thoughts! I tried to Tweet more, but I came to the conclusion that my thoughts are better off staying inside my head. Most of them are . . . profoundly dumb. I apologize to all of humanity.









4. Aversions and the 21st century. If you’re a hardcore stalker of this blog, you may have noticed some intriguing new buttons over in the sidebar <--. One of them is for Instagram. I finally entered the 21st century and got myself an Instagram account! Unfortunately, I don’t think I can post anything on it because I don’t own a phone or any mobile devices. I guess I haven’t gone very far into the 21st century. I am able to look at other people’s accounts, so leave your info in the comments if you want me to follow you.





<-- The other new button is a tip jar (or money mug? It’s supposed to be a coffee cup, but I’m not allowed to drink coffee because it makes me squirrelly, so we’re calling it a tip jar.) You can put money in the mug if you like my blog. I honestly feel awful about asking the Internet for donations, but there are two reasons I got the jar:

Reason 1: I want to do more giveaways on the blog. The tips will be used to fund giveaways.  
Reason 2: I work volunteer and low-pay jobs. My dad says I’ll be broke forever unless I get over my aversion to being paid for my work. If I get tips, I can point to them and say, “See, Dad? I don’t have an aversion! I’m a perfectly functional human person!” Silly dad. He thinks people are supposed to get paid for work.









Books I Read


Health insurance websites don’t count as books, so I didn’t get much reading done in November. I only read 6 books. A few of them were massive, though.




Perfect Little World – Kevin Wilson
The Forest of Hands and Teeth – Carrie Ryan
Marrow Island – Alexis M. Smith
The Odyssey – Homer (reread)
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
A Game of Thrones – George R.R. Martin

I also made progress on my reading challenges. Click here to see how I've done.









Best Books of November




1. The Secret History – Donna Tartt
2. A Game of Thrones – George R.R. Martin
3. The Forest of Hands and Teeth – Carrie Ryan









Most-Viewed November Reviews













Most-Viewed November Non-Reviews











All The Things!


All The Things! (AKA number of unread books on my TBR shelf) = 58 books.

I'm currently rereading A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab.














What did you do in November?












37 comments:

  1. Health insurance is basically the worst thing ever. Luckily, we get it through my husband's job, so I make him deal with it.

    I have some of the same problems with social media! I know they could help grow my blog, but I don't really get Twitter, and I also don't have a smart phone, so Instagram doesn't work for now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It’s good to know I’m not the only one who’s terrible at social media. I don’t have a smart phone, and nobody cares about my idiotic tweets.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  2. Dealing with insurance is the hardest aspect of adulting. Student loans is a close second.

    I'll be finding you on Instagram nowww!

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    Replies
    1. I’m so happy I don’t have student loans. Dealing with insurance is enough!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  3. gah! Health insurance... I think that no matter what country you live in, November is not a good month when it comes to health insurance (apart from the countries where it's covered by people's taxes). Our health insurance is increasing again, too. Adulting is never less fun than when finding out bills will take space on our book budget!
    I love your nature photos, AJ!
    And I think your tweets are pretty funny. I have to make sure I follow you on Twitter. Even if they, too, don't let you see everyone you follow anymore.
    How did you manage to get to zero books on your TBR? I don't think that will ever happen to me, as I have hundreds of books on mine...
    Have a great December and happy reading.
    Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tried to be really responsible about book-buying in 2017. That went well until Black Friday. Then all my self-control suddenly vanished.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  4. As for insurance, in a way I feel luck (and hope the luck holds out till I'm 65... It is long past time for national health insurance, in my opinion.

    As for tweeting, you write: "I tried to Tweet more, but I came to the conclusion that my thoughts are better off staying inside my head. Most of them are . . . profoundly dumb." My only response is that being profoundly dumb thoughts don't seem to stop other people from tweeting, not that you should strive to emulate him.

    November was busy (as well be Dec, Jan and Feb)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, you’re right. There are some REALLY dumb people on Twitter.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  5. You had a greatly productive November! And health insurance? Yeah... I hope that you have a great December!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Health insurance sucks! I'm sorry you had to spend all of November worrying about it- but at least you got it out of the way now! And WOW, CONGRATS ON GETTING YOUR TBR DOWN TO ZERO!!!! (Let's just ignore the fact that it went up to 59 in a day ahaha). Hope you have a great December! xx

    Ruzaika @ The Regal Critiques.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, yeah, getting rid of my TBR felt great. For a day. Then I ruined everything.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  7. Wow, that insurance thing is crazy! In the UK it`s free, though I normally like to go home to Romania and pay. It`s very cheap and you get better treatments with private doctors. Anyway, I hope it works out in the end.

    I can`t believe you finished all the books on your TBR. I still buy 20 times more books than I read, so my TBR is safe for the nest 2 years:))

    Carmen`s Reading Corner

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have gotten that many books. Especially because I’ve spent most of December rereading old books.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  8. Ugh, that's so frustrating about your insurance. It can be such a pain most of the time. :/ It also sounds like you've had an incredibly busy and productive month! Hooray about polishing off your TBR, and now you have many, many more to read and enjoy! I also really need to start tweeting more, but I'm just so bad at remembering.

    It looks like you red some truly fantastic books this month--The Secret History and The Odyssey are some of my favorite. I hope you're enjoying A Darker Shade of Magic. :)

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    Replies
    1. I loved The Secret History. It’ll probably be on my ‘best books of 2017’ list. Whenever I get that done.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  9. I am so sorry you've had to go through all that with health insurance. That must be so frustrating. That kind of price hike is insane. Who can afford that?!

    I had to chuckle at your instant TBR mountain after having hit zero. There's no keeping a book lover from books.

    I hear you about Twitter. I think your tweets are great though.

    I hope December is free of insurance woes and full of good books read. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I’m crossing my fingers that all the insurance problems are fixed now.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  10. Those healthcare costs are higher than what I have to live on each month so that scares me! Oh to have a tbr of 59...*sighs*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, $417 a month is a stupid amount to pay for one person’s health insurance. Luckily, my new plan costs a lot less than that.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  11. Yup! Adulting sucks! I pay out about that much a month, but I have myself and my 4 kids on my plan. Of course, my employer shells out about $500 a month on top of what I pay for my plan (it is good to work for the federal government sometimes). Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble with finding a good plan.
    You completed 2 of my goals this past month: getting my TBR pile to 0 and reading The Game of Thrones. I am sure you will zip through those 58 books in no time.
    You are hilarious! I love your tweets. My insta is @karenblue_fbg if you want to follow.
    Have a great December!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Insurance...fun?! I am sorry you had to deal with that. I do hate that kind of stuff. Taxes are another fun adult thing. I can't believe you had your tbr down to 0. That will never happen to me. I don't think I could finish the books I own in my lifetime. Love your photos. Have a great December!

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  13. I LOVE that you got your TBR down to 0 and then promptly filled it right back up to overflowing! Good little booklover. And don't feel bad about Twitter. I'm pretty much a fail there too. Most of what I do is retweet other people's interesting thoughts.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I couldn’t resist the book sales! I mostly retweet on Twitter, too. Other people are way more creative than me.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  14. Like Nichole, I pretty much just re-tweet on Twitter. It's how I keep up on what people are talking about without actually having to talk to people. Introvert bonus, for sure.

    Insurance is ridiculous. I used to think it can't get any worse, but in 2017 I've realized that yes, it can ALWAYS get worse. I'm sorry you're dealing with it.

    I hope you like ADSOM!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love ADSOM. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve reread it. I’m rereading it now because I (finally!) got the last book in the series.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  15. Sorry about the health insurance thing. Insurance is always a royal pain. This year - for no apparent reason - our car insurance firm decided to increase our annual premium by over £100 for no apparent reason - so Himself had the unlovely job of trawling for a new firm:(. I think your tweets are awesome btw...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ug, that’s annoying. I’m learning to seriously dislike insurance companies.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  16. I'm so sorry about your health insurance. I have been putting that off, but I need to reasses ours soon. It's one of the few things I hate to do as a grownup.
    Oh my gosh, I can't believe you got your tbr down to 0! I'm SO impressed and I don't think I'll ever be able to accomplish that. But acquiring 59 books in a day is awesome! How exciting to have all of those books to read yippy! And LOL at the Pennywise tweet, I love it and thought it was fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Acquiring 59 books in one day is definitely awesome. Now I have to read them before they break the shelf and fall on my head.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  17. Wow... it must have been a struggle with the health insurance. I was adulting this month too and it's not the most fun and is often a lot of work. But hey, we need that book money! And I am SO impressed you got your TBR down to 0. I mean, it's not that way anymore but you can tell everyone you accomplished it once!

    Oh, and I'm on instagram at oliviascatastrophe <3

    I wasn't a fan of The Secret History when I read it. :/ I much preferred The Goldfinch. But I really loved A Game of Thrones. Actually reading the sequel now!

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    1. I followed you on Instagram. I just ordered the GoT sequel, so hopefully I’ll like it as much as the first book.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  18. I don't tweet because I find it hard to keep thinking up tweets. haha. and also, I don't have an account, so... but it's fun to read yours here.

    I'm thinking of joining instagram, well, I thought about a few times each time someone mentioned it on their which is about a thousand a day. but I still don't quite know how it work, too lazy to read the rules/guidelines, well, I did try once but there were too many text...

    tip jar? why not? people work hard on their blog content, they should ask for money. I don't think it's unreasonable, so don't feel bad.

    I hardly did anything in november or december, I pretty much slack off at the end of the year, that's okay right?

    thanks for stopping by my blog, have a lovely day.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Loretta @ The Laughing Listener

    You completely finished your tbr pile?!?! Wow, I'm not worthy. Good for you!! I dream of the day I'll actually finish it, but it seems so far away! *Sobs*

    And oh my god, isn't isurance THE WORST??? When I got kicked off my parents plan I just went without for a really long time because that's smart right? Luckily I have a job now that gives it to me, but it was really tough there for a while. That meme is perfect!

    I feel you about twitter. I am NOT good at it. There are long periods of time where I don't tweet anything at all and then when I do it's about something really dumb. AM I DOING IT RIGHT?? Lol.

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  20. $417 is INSANE. I'm glad it all worked out though. Adulthood isn't about buying insurance all the time but it is certainly full of constant ridiculousness like that. Sorry to break it to you. lol Next year's goal is to really focus on all my owned books. You know, the ones I actually spent money for. I keep reading library books when I've got my own inhouse library. 59 books in one day is pretty magical. Hope you got some good stuff. :)

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  21. Adulting is sometimes crazy and I often think back to carefree days of having insurance and other things not even on my radar. I love how many books you acquired in one day.

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