November is supposed to be Novel November, so I haven't been reading very much. More on that at the end of this blog. This blog is supposed to be a reflection of my library reading. In November I've read three books. Two were eBooks, one of them was a manga, and the third book was an audiobook. I'm currently listening to a book which I would like to finish this month. It's my November pick for 12 Recs from 12 Friends (more on that and my plans for 2026 at the end of this blog, too). The audiobook is a historical fiction which is a genre I seldom read, but I've been trying to branch out this year. To finish out the year, I am hoping to clean out some of my currently reading titles, and on that note, the trailer for Sunrise on the Reaping dropped this week, so I really need to finish reading that one before I watch the trailer. Here is the rest of my library usage for the month of November.

READ

Cat Massage Therapy Vol. 1 by Haru Hisakawa - I needed a quick, fun read at the end of last month, so I picked up this one as an eBook. It's about a stressed-out businessman who discovers a place where cats give massages. It was really cute and made me want to see how it felt to have my cat walk on my back. Spoiler alert: It's not actually as comfortable as this manga makes it look. ★★★★★ for the book, not my cat's massage skills. 😆 Read on Libby
Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller - I read this at my sister's recommendation, Reb's Recs. This book is nothing at all like most of her recommendations. Alsoa, the daughter of the Pirate King, descended from a long line of an old family of pirates. When the story begins, she is kidnapped by a rival pirate clan. Only she's really on a secret mission for her father. Her mission to find the rival clan's portion of an ancient map that leads to a legendary treasure. If only her captor's young first mate wasn't so exasperating or handsome. My sister loves action novels, but this was more about the romance than the action. I enjoyed it, but it was steamier than I expected especially considering it's a YA novel. CONTENT ADVISIORY: Strong language, violence, kissing including foreplay and attempted rape. ★★★★★ Listened to on Hoopla
Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston - The final book in the Once Upon a Con trilogy is a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Rosie is grieving her mother's death when her best friends drag her to ExcelsiCon. There she meets a masked cosplayer who prefers to be the villain and for a night she gets to forget her grief. After a perfect night, she returns home to her small town, but she can't stop thinking about him. Yet again, movie star Vance Reigns is in trouble with the press, and his parents decide he should spend the rest of the time until his eighteenth birthday away from the world. Rosie's father sold her mother's beloved book collection to help pay their debts, but when she chases a lost dog into a recently moved into castle (mansion) she finds a rare, priceless copy of her mom's favorite book and accidentally ruins it. She has to work with Vance to catalogue the library to repay her debt. I'm obsessed with these modern, geeky fairytale retellings. I wish she had written more, and I am toying with the idea of writing my own. Additionally, this book was a reread, and there is already a full review for it over on Instagram. CONTENT ADVISORY: Occasional strong language, kissing and embraces (including a reference to grabbing her bottom), and LGBTQ+ characters. ★★★★☆ Read on Libby IG Post

Currently Reading

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins IG Reel
Climbing Rejection Mountain: An Actor's Path to Success, Stability, and Self-Esteem by Nick Wyman, Michael X. Martin
The Grim Reader: A Pharmacist’s Guide to Putting Your Characters in Peril by Miffie Seideman I purchased this book earlier this month at a local author fair at my library and got it signed, so while I'm not quite done reading it, I will be striking it from the list "Currently Reading" library books. If you are a writing and need information on pharmaceuticals and toxicology, this book is a wealth of information and more importantly she tells readers what research they need to do to understand and use any sort of pharmaceutical or poison in their stories in a believable manner.
Finish Your First Novel: A No-Bull Guide to Actually Completing Your First Draft by Char Anna IG Reel
Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash
Look Out for the Little Guy! by Scott Lang and Rob Kutner

Checked Out, To Be Read

Cupcakes Cookbook: 30+ quick and easy recipes for cupcakes by Weldon Owen
Write a Romantasy: 99 writing prompts to craft a tale of heart and heroism by Erik Patterson
When It's Real by Erin Watt
Styling for Instagram by Leela Cyd
Rogue Princess by B. R. Myers

In The Reservation Queue

Famous Anonymous 1 by Morgan Baden
Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby
How to Survive a Horror Movie by Scarlett Dunmore
Some Like It Scot; a novel by Pepper Basham
The Easy 5-Ingredient Meal Prep Cookbook: Meal plans and recipes to save time by Michelle Ann Anderson
A Knight Before Christmas by Cara Stout

On Hold, To Be Picked Up

None at this time.

Returned Unread

White Fox by Sara Faring - I used this book over on Instagram for last month's themed posts, "October Mysteries and Thrillers: Part III." For three of the last four years, I've used October as a time to share different Mystery and Thriller books. It's brought quite a bit of attention to my IG page over the years since readers are often looking for these types of books during October. I returned this book after I took a picture of it to clear some space on my library card.
There's No Way I'd Die First by Lisa Springer - I also used this book for "October Mysteries and Thrillers." IG Post
Aliens (DVD) - Watched this horror movie with The Drum Show (He does great drum covers on YouTube). This was supposed to be watched in October, but I wasn't able to finish it until November. This is the sequel to Alien (1979). Ellen Ripley returns to Earth after surviving the aliens and drifting through space for 57 years. The world has changed drastically including her young daughter who had grown to adulthood and has since died. As she's dealing with that grief and the trauma of surviving the Aliens, another space colony is invaded by the same Aliens. Ripley is invited to join them as the expert when they go to rescue any survivors and destroy the Aliens. What starts as a high-tech war movie, becomes a story of motherhood and survival as Ripley bonds with Newt, a young survivor and learns more about the Alien's motivations. Ripley and Newt's relationship is my favorite part of the movie because it becomes Ripley's motivation for survival and helps her to understand the Alien Queen. Even though it's a long movie, it's well-paced and doesn't get boring, because there's constantly more danger and excitement.
How to Draw Manga Stroke by Stroke - I did some doodling from this book, but I didn't actually feel like I learned how to draw manga. I may check it out again when I feel like doing more drawing.

I've been in a bit of a reading rut. This month I tried to only start new books when I finished a book of the same reading format. I've done pretty well. The only book I added to my currently reading list that wasn't to replace a previous current read is Finish Your First Novel which I am reading to help me make a neat outline for my next novel project. This month is Novel November. I set out to write fifty thousand words on November 1st, and on November 24th, I should have written forty thousand words, but I have only twenty-two thousand. Maybe I shouldn't be too upset because in the first week of writing, I managed to finish the story that I had been working on. I keep trying to get to outlining and haven't done it. In the meantime, I've been finishing some old fanfictions. I finished one, I had already written all but the final chapter. Then I moved on to another. That one was probably only a quarter of the way through the story, so it's provided plenty of story to write. This also means that my mind has been divided between writing old stories and trying to decide what to write for my next story, and I am overthinking it. In conclusion, that it why I am so behind on my writing for this month...sigh.

Usually, I share my most recent Instagram review, but this month I decided that I should share a reading challenge that I am hosting for 2026. At the end of last year, I saw a few people on Instagram doing this challenge where, you ask on Instagram for book recommendations and read twelve. For 2025, I have been reading these books. I have found some great books this way, but one of the biggest challenges last year was getting people to leave me recommendations, so this year I decided to put a reading challenge group together. On IG, I am hosting a challenge group, and we are all sharing our posts, leaving book recommendations and engaging on each other's posts. If you are on Instagram, please check out my post and leave me a recommendation, and if you are interested in joining, head over to IG and send me a DM, I'm still accepting people through December 7th, 2025. Here is the 12 Recs from 12 Friends 2026 post.

As always, I like to finish off with a plug for another story, typically here on my blog. Here is one, that is unfinished but feels timely seeing as how this week is Thanksgiving. This one is about some of the challenges of spending the holiday with your family when you are a teenage superhero, it called Thanksgiving con la Familia. Maybe I should have added it to the list of stories to finish this month. 😉 Thanks for reading to the end. And have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

#LoveYourLibrary

Thank you again, Rebecca for coming up with this blog challenge and I have enjoyed making it an important part of my writing life. Check out her blog Bookish Beck

I love making Bookish Friends! Follow me on Instagram Skai_BooksAndBracelets

Inspirational Skai

Monday, November 24, 2025