November Challenge Recap

If you will recall at the beginning of November I challenged myself to only read books on my TBR pile in the attempts of shrinking it down a bit. I had hoped to read around 10 books but I was only able to read 7 books (I didn't take into consideration how crazy November is with school, midterms, essays, and the likes of)- and only 6 of which were on my TBR pile (I ended up stumbling across an amazing book at the end of the month over at NetGalley that I wasn't able to pass up, "Obsidian" by Jennifer L. Armentrout).

I was able to read (and review):
"Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor 
"Lola and the Boy Next Door" by Stephanie Perkins
"Defiance" by Lili St. Crow (which was actually a re-read)
"Reckoning" by Lili St. Crow 
"Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi (which was also a re-read)
"Obsidian" by Jennifer L. Armentrout 
"Wherever You Go" by Heather Davis

I would have to say that overall November was an amazing month of reads (with the exception of "Daughter of Smoke and Bone"- unfortunately I was amongst the minority, it didn't do much for me):

• I LOVED "Lola and the Boy Next Door" (love, love, LOVED)- seriously, I cannot say enough good things about it (basically the entire time I read it I had a big goofy grin on my face).
• I also always love Lili St. Crow's books, especially her "Strange Angels" series, so obviously I was satisfied with both "Defiance" and "Reckoning" (even though I am totally heartbroken that this series has now come to a close... I soon expect to go through Dru and Graves withdrawal). 
• As for "Shatter Me"? Well, I think that we all know my opinion of it by now since I have basically shouted from the rooftops how much I love it Adam.
• I must admit that "Obsidian" took me by surprise mainly because this was the first book of Jennifer's that I had read and therefore I hadn't realized how much I had been missing out in not having read her books earlier- it was just such an enjoyable read with its unique premise and snarky characters (and after finishing it I was hooked on Jennifer's writing style and promptly went out and bought "Half-Blood"). 
• "Wherever You Go" by Heather Davis, so I kinda broke my rule of only reading books on my TBR pile for the month as this book was a review book, but I am glad that I read it- it was a cute read.

All in all, I am a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to read as much as I had hoped to, but I suppose that that is what the end of December/ the beginning of January (winter break from school) is for!

The Challenge: Shrinking My TBR Pile

I have always prided myself on reading every book that I own in a timely manner (typically I start a book as soon as I get it in my hands, finishing it in a day or two, if not in hours- especially books on their release date) and not having much of a TBR pile. However, over the past couple of months I have noticed that my TBR pile has been growing at an alarming rate (mainly because I have been reading WAY more for review than for myself)- seriously, some of the books in my TBR pile have been in there since July (it really hurts my heart). Therefore, I am dedicating the month of November to reading only books for myself (similarly to what Pam over at Bookalicious did in September), in the hopes of shrinking down my TBR pile.

I know that I won't be able to get through all of these books, especially because I have a ton more books headed my way this month including "Lola and the Boy Next Door" by Stephanie Perkins, "Drink Deep" by Chloe Neill, "Reckoning" by Lili St. Crow, "Crossed" by Ally Condie and "The Pledge" by Kimberly Derting (and I also want to reread "Matched" by Ally before I delve into "Crossed" AND I want to reread "Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi because it is the most fantabulous book of all time). However, I am going to try my darnedest to get through at least ten of these books (thankfully November isn't too, too crazy with school- compared to October/ December when I have a MILLION midterms and finals).

"Enthralled" by Some Of The Most Amazing YA Authors Of All Time (This book is HUGE. But it is entirely composed of short stories so I don't really have an excuse to not read at least a few of them).

"Wherever You Go" be Heather Davis (Okay, so this book is technically for review. But had I not received it to review I would have bought it myself and it would have ended up on this pile anyways).

"Jane" by April Linder (So I haven't had this book for all that long AND it isn't a YA paranormal, so I am not too concerned if it takes me a bit to get to it- as terrible as that sounds).

"The Demon Trappers Daughter" by Jana Oliver (It's been sooooooo long since I last read this that I don't feel comfortable starting "Soul Thief" until I reread this, hence it being on the pile).

"Soul Thief" by Jana Oliver (see explanation above. PS. If Riley doesn't end up with Beck I will be super cheesed off). 

"Wildefire" by Karsten Knight (I HAD to buy this book after hearing Rachel from over at Fiktshun love hard on it).

"Blood Magic" by Tessa Gratton (THIS IS THE BOOK THAT I HAVE HAD SINCE JULY AND HAVE YET TO READ. *Shame on me. I feel really guilty*).

"Divergent" by Veronica Roth (I feel like the last person on earth who has yet to read this book).

"The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer" by Michelle Hodkins (Like "Divergent" I feel like I am the last person on earth to read this book. I am sooooo intrigued by it- I NEED to know what the paranormal element is).

"Fateful" by Claudia Gray (EEK! This just reminded me that I have yet to read "Afterlife" yet, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE HARD IT SINCE MARCH. Can't really consider myself an "Evernight" diehard if I have yet to read the final book in the series, can I?).

"The Candidates" by Inara Scott (Like "The Demon Trapper's Daughter" I feel that I need to reread this before I start the next book in the series, "The Watchers").

"The Watchers" by Inara Scott (I think that I won this ARC in August... What in the world did I do with my summer? Obviously not read! ;) ).

"Silence" by Becca Fitzpatrick (I should probably reread "Crescendo" before I reread this,  but I don't know if I should really add another book to this pile).

"Nightshade" by Andrea Cremer (Do you see a pattern emerging? ;) It's been FOREVER since I read this book and I don't think that I should start into "Wolfsbane" without having read this).

"Wolfsbane" by Andrea Cremer (I believe that I got this book on the release date. I haven't even cracked the cover yet).

"Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor (I don't know much about this book, except for the fact that EVERYONE who has read it has LOVED it- despite it sounding totally cracked out- in a good way. Therefore, I MUST read it. And I must figure out a way to get my hair to naturally grow blue).

Here is my preliminary reading list: 

"Reckoning"

"Drink Deep"

"Wherever You Go" 

"Lola and the Boy Next Door" 

"Shatter Me" 

"Daughter of Smoke and Bone" 

"Fateful" 

 "Matched"

"Crossed"

"The Candidates" 

"The Watchers"

???

Anyone want to partake in this challenge with me? Pretty please? ;)

PS. Now that I look this pile over I have bought at least 8 of these books solely based upon reviews that I have read (reviews written by fellow book bloggers)- hows that for book bloggers not selling books? ;)