No Books Allowed – November 2013

Welcome to No Books Allowed. This is a monthly feature hosted by Raimy from Readaraptor, which is used to discuss things things in life which aren’t connected to books. This post can be used to talk about days out, music, TV, video games, films, etc for all those book bloggers out there who do occasionally do stuff other than read and go to book events!

Out and about

November seemed even busier – as far as travelling and days-out go – than October. A friend and I decided to visit Cambridge as neither of us have been there before and it’s relatively close to London. Funnily enough, we both expected it to be a bigger place than it actually is and were both surprised how small the ‘touristy’ area is. It is a lovely place, though, and we had a great time despite the chilly and rainy weather.

The following weekend I went to the South Bank Christmas market, which is definitely one of my favourite places to visit in winter. It has such a festive atmosphere with all the fairy lights and the lovely cinnamon scent that it’s totally worth going even if you don’t actually buy anything.

I also met up with a fellow European blogger, Petra from Hazel the Witch this month, which was really fun. We spent Saturday morning book shopping, since Petra wanted to check out the Folio Society bookshop and I wanted to stop by the South bank book market, followed by clothes shopping on Oxford Street. It was a hectic weekend but I had a great time. 🙂 (and if you’re ever in/near London and want to grab a cup of tea, let me know – it would be lovely to meet other readers too!)

Films

Last week I went to Uxbridge with a friend to see Catching Fire and had another lovely weekend. We were both dying to see the film but, to be honest, we were a bit disappointed. We both loved the first half of the film and thought it was even better than The Hunger Games was, but were a bit let down by the second half. I haven’t read the books yet (I know, I know) so I can’t comment on how accurate it was or how closely it followed the book but the ending felt a bit rushed for me. For both of us, actually. I don’t know. I’d say it all might make more sense if I read the book because I assume that’s a bit more detailed but my friend did read the books and still thought it was rushed and certain things weren’t explained properly. Apart from that it’s a great film and I can’t wait to finally pick up the books!

TV

TV-wise, I pretty much spent the entire month binge-watching The Big Bang Theory. I watched the entire first and second series in November and I’m on to series three now. I think I need help. As always, I also watched two of my favourite shows EVER, Survivor and The Amazing Race. Does anyone else watch them?

I’ve been watching Survivor ever since I can remember but I think this is one of the best series so far. Nothing beats the one with Russell and Parvati but hey I’m really impressed with Ciera’s game so far and I really hope she makes it to the final three. And Tyson and Gervase as well. Yep. I’d love to see a Ciera/Tyson/Gerv final!

The only thing I don’t like about this series (and the previous few as well) is that the whole show seems to be centred around Redemption Island and immunity challenges. Where did the reward challenges and all those footages of camp life go? They were so much more interesting than Redemption Island. I know it’s hard to fit it all into 40 minutes but I’d much rather get rid of RI altogether than cut the scenes of the Survivors strategizing. *sigh*

And… well, that was my November in a nutshell! What were you all up to last month?