Stacking the Shelves & Wrappin’ It Up November 2014

By Rachel

Stacking the Shelves

Books I Bought:

I had a bad book-buying month, in the sense that I bought books when I’m supposed to be trying to reduce my TBR, but I had a good book buying month because I got lots of lovely new books very cheap! 😀 (For full disclosure, I should also let you know that after writing that sentence I bought a few more. It was Black Friday. It would have been a crime not to at these prices!).

November Collections Book Haul

The Scott Westerfield Collection – I haven’t read anything by this popular author, and I know that there have been mixed reviews for the Uglies series, but the four books were on offer for £6.99 and I love the premise of these novels.

Maze Runner Collection – I know, I can’t believe I haven’t read these yet either. I’m impossibly behind on all of the book-to-movie adaptations I wanted to see this year. But I did get my hands on three of the books for £4.99, which was fabulous until I realised that there are four books, and this isn’t a trilogy…

Sherlock Collection – Surprisingly, this is one TV show I haven’t become obsessed with just yet, but I have a feeling I’d love it. I’ve never read the original Sherlock Holmes stories, so when I saw the original texts with these lush covers for just £3, I couldn’t resist.

The Captain’s Daughter – As always, I needed a filler or two to bring my basket over the threshold for free delivery, and when I spotted this little gem for £2 (in hardback!) I jumped on it. Anything to do with the Titanic will usually get my attention!

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight – I read and enjoyed Jennifer E Smith’s latest release, The Geography of You and Me, so when I spotted another of her books (again in hardback!) for £2, I had to pick it up.

Of course, on top of the already great prices, I used a discount code for The Book People to get an extra 10% off, and I made my purchase through Quidco to get an extra 10% cashback too.

Current Discount Codes:

  • 15% off orders over £30 with discount code AFCRACKER
  • 10% off orders over £20 with discount code AFSLEIGH
  • Free Delivery with code AFGLISTEN

Movies and TV Shows:

I haven’t been well for a few days now (as you can probably tell by my absence on here) so at the weekend I basically stayed in bed and watched movies. I love Disney movies, but hadn’t seen Frozen until this weekend. The hype put me off for so long. I did enjoy it, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations because the hype is phenomenal! I also watched Brave and a whole lot of House (thank you, Netflix!).

‘Wrappin’ It Up!

Posts I Bookmarked:

I’ve had a really busy November, and I’ve been sick, and I’ve been in a reading slump – which has resulted in very little activity on the blog 😦 but I’m still here 🙂 and have posts scheduled for December. You guys though have been writing up a storm! I’ve included some of my favourite posts from November above, and as always, I’m linking to the latest Oh, The Books! weekly recap post so you can find more amazing things to read!

In Case You Missed It:

The Assassin's Blade Book Cover

Check out my reviews of Requiem (3/5), Life After Life (4/5) and The Assassin’s Blade (5/5).

Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Books I Want To Reread – Top Ten Characters I Wish Would Get Their Own Book – Top Ten Sequels I Can’t Wait To Get My Hands On – Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR

This month’s features included: an interview with Sci-Fi writer Ian Sales as part of Sci-Fi November, a guest post on Oh, The Books! about trying to break my book monogamy, and an interview with none other than the amazeballs Diane Chamberlain! Also, don’t forget about my EXCLUSIVE discount codes for Bookish Gifts from Etsy stores – let me know if you guys get anything!

I shared more bloggy love, responded to the Gif Tag, and shared an excerpt from Katie McGarry’s upcoming release Breaking the Rules (which includes an amazing giveaway!).

My most popular post in November (except for TTT posts) was Exclusive Bookish Gift Discounts.

I haven’t read nearly as much as I wanted to this month, I ended up in a slump and I’ve been watching more TV… I’m really looking forward to doing more on the blog in December and scheduling in lots of posts while I’m off work. What did you get up to this month?

About Rachel

Avid reader & #bookblogger. Lover of all things business. A fan of drinks & dancing. Ever optimistic. Feminist.

14 Responses

  1. Brandie

    I hope you’re feeling better and can get out of your reading slump! I’m in a Frozen nightmare every day – and it will just get even worse at Christmas when my daughter gets a crap ton of Frozen toys. 😉 lol

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    1. Rachel

      Thanks, Brandie. I’m getting there, really looking forward to time off over Christmas to regroup and chill out! Funny enough I think my reading slump made me feel worse while I was sick as I couldn’t even get into my book. House was there for me though 🙂 Haha, I lol’d at the “crap ton” – Frozen merchandise is selling out here like crazy!! R x

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Rachel

      I have to say Black Friday was always a US thing, we heard about it over here, but this is the first year that I’ve seen stores catch-on to it, though over here it’s not a holiday weekend, it usually coincides with our last pay day before Christmas and is the busiest shopping day of the year, so I think that’s why it has caught on, and then there’s Cyber Monday, which is apparently the busiest online shopping day of the year…

      Ahhh! Thanks for the clarification! I thought it was a trilogy, have you read the prequel?

      That song is very addictive though! It was enjoyable, but I wouldn’t watch it loads and obsess over it the same way I do The Little Mermaid or Aladdin. I’m not sure why it has blown up so much… R x

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      1. Selah at A Bibliophile's Style

        So, do you not get paid weekly or biweekly? I have 3 more paychecks before Christmas.

        I read The Kill Order in October, and I felt like it would’ve been better as a short story. It was very long and drawn out.

        My little girl likes it, but her favorite is Tangled, which I much prefer over Frozen.

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      2. Rachel

        Some people get paid weekly, but the majority here get paid monthly. For some it’s a set date each month (my friend gets paid on the 21st of every month) and some of us get paid on the last banking day of the month.

        Hmmm. Might not bother with the prequel then and stick with the trilogy, but at least now I know I’m not missing out on too much 🙂

        YES! I really liked Tangled too. R x

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  3. Becky @ A Fool's Ingenuity

    Oh no, I hope you’re feeling better, and Netflix is wonderful for giving me the opportunity to rewatch the entirety of House on more. Like I needed another thing to take up all my time. A good watch of Disney films when ill is always nice, though. I kind of get what you mean with Frozen, I liked it, but the hype did get to me a bit with it, I’ll still watch it again though because Disney.

    Some good book buys there, and really who can say no to a good sale, especially with the Black Friday offers that were on? It would have been silly to say no. And with a reading slump I always find buying books somehow helps kick me out of it, maybe it’s just I end up feeling bad buying books and not reading them that it motivates me to read.

    Thanks for the link up, I don’t know why you’d bookmark my ramblings but who am I to judge when have things bookmarked like why we don’t sneeze in our sleep (I sometimes can’t sleep and this is where my mind goes at 2 o’clock in the morning, don’t ask).

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    1. Rachel

      Hi, Becky! I’m getting there – I think time off over Christmas will do the trick in making me feel better! Lol I know Netflix and House are taking up a lot of my time at the minute – I’m being audited in work so there’s lots on and I just can’t focus on reading when I get home.

      I think it’s always nice to get your hands on some new books – it’s a nice pick-me-up and for bargain prices it’s even better!

      I love your ramblings!!! Lol R x

      Like

      1. Becky @ A Fool's Ingenuity

        I think time off for Christmas will be a cure for everyone, it’s gotten to that point in the year where I think everyone is ready for a couple of days rest. Netflix in general is taking over my life, I don’t know what I did before it came along. And I’m sorry to hear about the audit, we have them in at our place every year and since we’re such a big company they arrive at about the end of January and I swear they’re around for months. They always need things at the worst moments and I hate the feeling that they are judging all the work of done, hopefully, they’ll be done soon enough and you can relax a bit.

        It’s the time of year for treating yourself at least, and by the sounds of it is a well-deserved pick me up that you’ve got.

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      2. Rachel

        Yea, we start winding down from the start of December dreaming of all-night-HP-movie-marathons, don’t we?? Lol. I either become reading obsessed for a few weeks, or lose myself in Netflix for a few weeks, there is no in-between! I have to say I love our Auditor, so that’s a bonus! But they’re quite stressful! As soon as it’s over I’m free for 2 whole weeks!! Thanks, Becky! Just wait and see all the goodies I get myself in the sales! 😉 R x

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