November wasn’t quite as awesome as October but I finally managed to get some reading done again and read almost as many books in the past 30 days than in the three previous months combined. I’m still a bit behind on my Goodreads challenge and really trying to reach my 2016 goal without having to cheat, so I hope December will be as successful as last month.

Books & Audiobooks

I did not only read a lot of books but also managed to almost read only good ones, so I’m definitely quite happy with how my reading month went. Almost all the books I’ve read could live up to my expectations which really helped to get me out of my little autumn reading slump.

• Das Paket – Sebastian Fitzek: I didn’t have the highest expectations for Fitzek’s new thriller but I have to admit that I found it quite addictive and didn’t even mind the typical flaws that much.
• Die Akte Zodiac – Linus Geschke: A surprisingly good German thriller about a copycat of the Zodiac killer – suspenseful plot, likable characters and based on good research.
• Monster 1983 – Season 1: Couldn’t resist re-listening to the first season before starting the second and it was so much fun looking for details that I might’ve missed the first time.
• Monster 1983 – Season 2: Almost as good as the first season, I just had hoped for it to be a bit more mysterious – but oh my god, the cast of narrators was SO. FREAKING. GOOD.
• Library of Souls – Ransom Riggs: Maybe my favorite book in the series since I really digged the dark and ugly Devil’s Acre setting even though the ending was a little bit too simple in my opinion.
• Rivers of London – Ben Aaronovitch: Disappointment of the month. Loved the setting (London, obviously…) but had hoped for more magic and a less boring plot.
• Verwesung – Simon Beckett: Not my favorite book in the series and a bit too predictable, but still entertaining and with a great narration.
• Star Wars: Das Erwachen der Macht – Alan Dean Foster: Reminded me once again why I usually don’t read movie novelizations since it was just a pure re-narration of the film and added nothing to the story or the characters.
• The Naturals – Jennifer Lynn Barnes: Had hoped for a YA version of Criminal Minds and that was exactly what I got. Didn’t really need the love triangle but the thriller plot was surprisingly gripping.
• Time Salvager – Wesley Chu: Not quite the time travel story I had expected (meaning very little science and no mind-fucking time paradoxes) but still entertaining and I especially liked the setting and the characters.
• Der Schlaf und der Tod – A.J. Kazinski: Far away from being a typical nordic thriller and that’s a reason why I enjoyed it so much – interesting characters, a really fascinating story and a thought-provoking spiritual touch.
• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda – Becky Albertalli: Christmas is probably the only time when I’m in the mood for shippy YA novels and this contemporary was just as cute as expected but maybe a little bit too „ordinary“ to be emotionally overwhelming.

Movies

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM: I was a little bit shocked when I went through my Trakt history but I indeed watched only ONE (!) movie last month – I can’t even remember when that happened the last time.

But after all the praise for „Fantastic beasts…“ I just had to watch it on the big screen and I actually did enjoy it a lot but to be honest I had hoped for a bit more connections to the Harry Potter universe – or maybe I just didn’t discover them 😀

I also found the plot a bit too simple since it was mostly just Newt Scamander trying to catch his escaped magical creatures – but Kowalski was awesome! 😀

TV shows

• TWIN PEAKS: I still can’t believe I managed to finish this show and while I was at first wondering why they even continued the show after the reveal of Laura Palmer’s killer I ended up being quite intrigued by all the crazy mysteries around this weird town.
• TBBT: Does this show ever stop being funny?
• AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.: I like that this season has such a continues storyline but I’m currently a bit worried I might get tired of the Ghost Rider plot soon…
• MODERN FAMILY: Currently watching season 7 and turning on episodes always feels a bit like coming home.
• DESIGNATED SURVIVOR: My favorite show at the moment! I love Jack Bau- eh, Kiefer Sutherland as the US president and it’s quite painful to compare the show to reality. Also the story is really addictive and the showrunners definitely know how to work with cliffhangers.

• WAYWARD PINES: (Re)watched the first episodes of season 1 to skip re-reading the book series before starting the final book in the trilogy and while they made quite a few changes to the book plot I still find this show quite addictive and love how they visualized the setting.
• PRISON BREAK: Started my re-watch of season 3 and I enjoy it just as much as the first time – I’m so glad they’re actually working on a prison break again, that’s so much more exciting than being on the run 😀
• SUITS: I’m almost done with season 4 and glad that Harvey and Mike are back together again, it was really tough watching all the characters working against each other and not as a team.
• MR. ROBOT: Finally done with season 1 and I’m still not sure if I actually like the show, but the ending of the season definitely had me like „What the fuck?“.

Reviews

   

   

Other blog posts

• [New books on the shelves] October 2016
• [Roundup] October 2016