It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas – November 2024 Overview

This month I’ve been blasting Michael Buble and trying hard not to eat all the Christmas snacks I pre bought. November 2024 has been a pretty great month but there were a few weeks where I probably planned too much and overdid it a bit. But I’m going to enjoy some relaxing time now.

I can not believe that we had a few days of show during the month. Usually we get some in January/ February, but rarely ever this early. Thankfully I didn’t have to go out in it, but it was a bit of a pain.

Things I got up to in November 2024

The month was filled with Christmas related stuff, or live music. And pretty much nothing else.

I had a few Christmas shopping trips with family. Me and my nan go out every year to do some shopping and have lunch which was nice, and I got a similar day out with my mum. I even snuck in a cheeky mid-week Bicester Village trip as I wanted to pick up some presents for Luke which was successful.

Usually I’d have had most of my decorations up by Mid November (excluding our real tree) but as our house was in overhaul due to the utility renovation I started a little later than I had hoped. But over the last week of November 2024 I decorated our whole house finishing with picking up our real tree on Saturday 30th. I love the magical feeling of Christmas decorations and my house now brings me so much happiness.

All the live music

At the start of the month I dragged Luke to see Punk Rock Factory in Milton Keynes. They’re a covers band who do Disney, 90’s, 80’s, broadway and loads more songs. The venue was a bit odd, but the show was so much fun. Who doesn’t love belting out ‘Under the Sea’?

The end of the month saw me go to four live shows within six days. And this is where things got a bit crazy. I went to see Bury Tomorrow on a Sunday evening which was such a good show, then the next night me and Luke went to see Joey Valance and Brae. This isn’t usually my kind of thing but the show was so much fun.

Then a few days later I had another double whammy. On Thursday I travelled up to Birmingham for my first night seeing Sleep Token. While the band were great the crowd were absolutely dead and it didn’t feel like there was much atmosphere. After staying at my friends and working from her house on Friday we headed down to London to see Sleep Token again. And this show was a million times better. The crowd were so pumped and it really made a difference, plus our seats were better so we could see so much more. Yes it was a tiring week but I had an incredible time.

Things I watched and read

At the very start of the month me and a friend went to the theatre to see The Devil Wears Prada. I loved the movie growing up and the show matched the energy and everything perfectly. It was such a good production and I’d love to see it again one day.

I caught up with a few TV shows during the month. I finally finished the latest season of Married at First Sight UK which felt like it had been going on forever, there were too many episodes. And by the end I didn’t really care about the people.

After putting it off for ages I finished the newest Disney adaption of Percy Jackson and I actually really enjoyed it. It did help that I read the first book during November 2024 so I had that fresh in my mind.

The latest season of the Great British Bake Off finished and it was a good season although I was slightly gutted about the final. But overall it was such a strong cast of bakers.

All things bookish in November 2024

Right in the middle of the month we had my annual pilgrimage to YALC. This year was a lot less stressful because I had a lot less signings to do. I had three I did on Saturday which were all great, and then I had just one on Sunday. I spent the weekend trying to blag as many freebies (thanks to all the amazing publishers), buying lots of bookish merch and trying to get some book bargains. It was such a fun weekend, and I can’t wait for next year.

And thanks to the extra books I picked up I now officially have a personal home library. Yes I do own over 1,000 books now which is crazy but makes me very happy.

The night before YALC two authors I loved (who were also at YALC) did a talk and signing that I went to. Karen M McManus wrote the ‘One of us is Lying’ series which has been turned into a Netflix series. Then Jennifer Lynn Barnes wrote the amazing ‘Inheritance Games’ series. The event was really interesting and a I’m so glad I did that signing separate to YALC as it saved a lot of time.

My favourite books of the month

I wouldn’t say I had a massive standout new favourite book but I did have a few solid 4/4.5 star books that I loved.

• A Dowry of Blood by S.T.Gibson is a story based on one of Dracula’s brides. It was a pretty short read but packed a punch.
• Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross was one of the biggest books of last year and I’ve finally read it. I loved the progression of our two main characters and the magic typewriters were really cool. I can’t wait to read book two.
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I never read these books as a kid so I’m trying to make up for it now. And I loved book one in the series so much.
• Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J.Klune. This is the follow on to ‘The House in the Cerulean Sea’ that I read and loved at the start of this year. I didn’t love this one quite to the same extent but I loved finding out more about the kids and all their relationships.

Things that made me happy in November 2024

The biggest thing that made me happy was our utility room finally being completed. Luke has worked incredibly hard to get the room to where it is now and I’m so thankful. There is still one cupboard to build (which should be done before Christmas). And we have some finishing touches to do, but it’s 90% done and totally useable. It’s so nice to be doing washing in a nice clean, organised space. And I love having all the extra room so our kitchen doesn’t feel as cluttered.

I treated myself to a little personal date day before a theatre trip at the start of the month and it was so nice. The day started with a pancake brunch, visited an exhibition, did some shopping and had lots of coffee shop reading breaks. I love having solo days out to do exactly what I want to do.