NOVEMBER 2017 | Wrap-Up

~ Holly

Happy December!! We are now in the middle of my two favorite months of the year: chilly November and festive December (though my November was also incredibly festive!). November has been a whirlwind of travel, celebrations, work, and more work. Now that term has officially ended for me (woo hoo!) I’m really looking forward to some rest and relaxation in December. But before that, let’s see what I was up to in November!

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In November I read a total of 3 books:

  1. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
  2. Rhetoric: A Very Short Introduction by Richard Toye
  3. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

My favorite book of the month was The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket. For some reason I never read this popular series when I was younger so I’ve never understood all of the references people make to them. I definitely regret not reading them sooner– they’re fantastic! So witty! So clever! So dark yet so funny! I’ve been listening to the audio book version narrated by Tim Curry and it’s extremely well done. I can’t wait to continue on with the rest of the series!

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I was so busy in November that it feels as though this month has stretched on forever! At the beginning of the month my friends and I took a trip to Brighton, England, which was really beautiful and lovely. You read more about it in my post here, but we basically spent one day perusing the downtown area and exploring the pier and another day admiring the extraordinary Seven Sisters Cliffs. A weekend in Brighton was definitely not enough time and I would love to go back at some point before my year abroad is over.

Seven Sisters Cliffs

In the middle of the month I celebrated my 21st birthday! Before you ask: I don’t feel older, especially since it isn’t even a big marker of drinking age in the UK. Still, I had a really great time with friends and I’m so thankful to be surrounding by such wonderful people.

Come to think of it, November has been a flood of holidays and celebrations. Not only did I have a birthday this month, but we also celebrated Thanksgiving and Oxmas. Since most students move out of their college accommodations for winter break, the city of Oxford gets into the festive spirit even before Thanksgiving. Streets and shops have been decorated for weeks now, and my college even had Christmas carol services and a formal dinner for us all. I feel like Christmas is right around the corner already even though December has just begun!

A big Christmas tree in our Chapel Hall

Of course, November wasn’t all fun and festivities: I’m finally done with all of my work for the term! An eight-week term might sound like no time at all, but the work is so intense that eventually it feels like you’ve been reading about Victorian literature and Faulkner for ages. I’ll miss the subjects I studied in Michaelmas, but I’m equally excited to launch into new subjects in Hilary. I can’t believe I’m already a third of the way through the year!

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Now that term has officially ended, I should finally have more time to actually blog on a regular basis! I’ve pretty much depleted my store of posts I had scheduled in advance, so it’s back to the blogger drawing board. I’ve got some new ideas I’ve been eager to try and I can’t wait to be able to read and comment on all of your lovely posts again. ❤

Here are some notable posts from my blog this past month:

Here are some posts that I loved reading this month:

How was your month of November? What was the best book you read? Did you do anything really fun or exciting? Let me know in the comments section below!

Yours,

HOLLY

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35 thoughts on “NOVEMBER 2017 | Wrap-Up”

  2. That sounds like a lott of work! I’m glad I guess that’s a con of Oxford (although the academic vibes do see pretty awesome). Also, happy birthday! In New Zealand, although it’s not associated with much legally, a 21st is always a big one 🙂

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  5. That photo of Brighton is amazing. So happy you got to experience it!

    I tried to read The Time Keeper a few years ago after really liking some of Albom’s other books (my favorite is For One More Day), but I could not get into it and ended up DNFing. 😦

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  6. Happy belated birthday, Holly! ❤ I'm so glad to hear you are having a great time in Oxford and Brighton and everything else – I hope you'll get to explore other cities in England soon? Are you planning on something already, or not yet? 🙂
    Wishing you an amazing December! xx

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    1. Thanks, Marie!! ❤ I don't have any more exploring planned yet, but I do want to get around to Bath, Stonehenge, and certainly a lot more of London. I'm looking forward to traveling during spring break!

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  8. I had two people share links to a couple of my recommendations posts, so thanks for sharing my classics recommendations.

    And wow, I can’t believe it is your first time reading A Series of Unfortunate Events. I also recommend the Netflix series, because it is a pretty good adaptation. I myself only read the first 8 or 9 books in the series, back in early high school, and I stopped because they started to feel a bit repetitive to me. But, I will say that I’ve been tempted to reread them now.

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    1. Hmmm yeah I can definitely see how they would feel repetitive after a while. So many people have told me to watch the new Netflix series, so I’ll have to make sure it’s at the top of my list for winter break!

      And no problem! ❤

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  9. I’ve thought about reading the series of unfortunate events again and again, but just haven’t yet. I hear that they’re great, but that the ending is lackluster. I suppose I’d better decide before I watch the netflix series, which I understand to be amazing.
    I went to the beaches in California, and it was great! Only bad part was that like 11 of the 16 people in the beach house got sick and were throwing up. 😛 Luckily, I was not one of them. Felt like surviving the Black Death or something though!
    And happy birthday!

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  11. A Series of Unfortunate Events was basically my childhood. I always was the first to have the books and then I let my cousins borrow them so we could all talk about them afterwards. Admittedly, it gets tiresome after a certain number of books, but it’s still one of my favorite series on the planet.

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  12. I hadn’t thought about the audiobooks of A Series of Unfortunate Events but it sounds like it would be brilliant, they’re books which would suit audio very well. I’m glad you enjoyed it!

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  15. Sounds like you had an amazing November, Holly! Congratulations on finishing up your term and I’m glad you had such a wonderful trip to Brighton. That place looks gorgeous. And happy belated birthday! 😀

    The Unfortunate series is a classic. So happy that you managed to finally get around to reading it. I hope you enjoy the rest of the series! And thanks so so much for the mention! ❤

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