Monthly Rewind: November

So...November wasn't a great month in terms of posting, or reading for that matter. But, it was a much-needed break type of month. I did a lot of reading for my classes and my final papers and rested over Thanksgiving break and spent the rest of this month really sorting out what I wanted to do next summer, next semester, etc. I booked tickets for a conference I'm attending, organized a huge weekend-long choir concert, and applied to study abroad. So, it's been a really busy month, socially, so forgive my limited online presence. I will definitely be getting a lot of reading done over the holidays so come January, I will actually have reviews to post! For this month, we'll probably be seeing some more mini-reviews, likely, and hopefully another post or two I can wrangle up to end off 2015. Mostly, I just want to say that I'm so grateful to have such a loyal readership despite the fact that my blogging presence has really been diminishing this past year. 

3 Things About My Life This Month

1. Thanksgiving! I spent Thanksgiving with my best friend and I had such a good time! We visited Longwood Gardens, ate some truly fantastic burritos, and made tacos from scratch. It was filling, restful, and most importantly, fun! 

2. Diwali! So I had midterms throughout the month of November (again!) and Diwali was in the middle but, regardless, Diwali was amazing. It's always such a lovely, relaxing few hours and Indian food always makes everything that much better.

3. I cut my hair! So...my hair used to be half-way down my back and now it's just by my ears. I hadn't cut my hair in two and a half years and now it's about 11 inches shorter than before, which is crazy! But, I love it.

Best Book I Read This Month

Power to Choose: Bangladeshi Women and Labor Market Decisions in London and Dhaka by Naila Kabeer. I read an excerpt from this for my class on Gender and Power in South Asia and promptly bought the book to read the entire story. Kabeer is an economist who has done extensive research on microfinance and the impacts of that on gender are powerful and compelling. I loved this book and as an economist and feminist myself, microfinance fascinates me. I've read quite a few other nonfiction books on microfinance this month so if you're interested in the issue, just let me know and I'd love to provide some recommendations. 

Obsession of the Month

Scandal! I started over Thanksgiving break, am already a little over half-way through Season 2, and am 100% obsessed. Needless to say, this will carry me over through to February when HTGAWM is back on TV. ;)

3 Things I'm Looking Forward to in December

1. Last Day of Classes! I love all of my classes SO MUCH this year--like, I cannot even explain how much I love both my classes and my professors--but I'm really excited to just be done. I'll have time to sleep in, study, and then just ace those finals and get a much-needed break. This semester has been so incredibly rewarding, not to mention a ton of fun, but it has also been a LOT of work.

2. I'm going to India! For the first time in five years I am finally going to India and I can't wait! I'll be spending New Years with my cousins and visiting the Taj Mahal, among other historic sites, with my grandparents. I've never been to North India so I'm really looking forward to spending time as a tourist in the country I was born in.

3. Reading! I'm finally going to have time to read! I desperately want to finish up Winter which I just barely started, Cam Girl, and Ilona Andrews's newest novel to say the least. I've missed reading so much so I'm really looking forward to just curling up with a book for a few hours.

How was your November? Any fun Thanksgiving stories? Any plans for December? Christmas? New Years? Vacation? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below! :)