December is one of my favourite months of the year. It’s my birthday and Christmas, which just makes it such a magical time for me. I had a pretty great reading month, and I got in some really wonderful books. Most excitingly, I ended up beating my previous record for most read books in a year. I read 283 books total.
Books I hauled in December:
- The Way I Am Now by Amber Smith
- Sleeping Gods by Sylvain Neuval
- Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuval
- Only Human by Sylvain Neuval
- The Family Game by Catherine Steadman
- What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez
- No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall
- The Ruined by Renee Ahdieh
- The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
- Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
- The Poisoner’s Ring by Kelley Armstrong
- Eragon (Illustrated Edition) by Christopher Paolini
- Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
- A Deal With the Elf King by Elise Kova
- Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross
- Heartstopper Volume 5 by Alice Oseman
Books I read in December:
1. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Dog of War by Mike Chen
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: eBook
Review: **Disclaimer: I recieved a free eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This was a cute graphic novel. It felt like reading an episode of Deep Space Nine. The characters felt true to the show. The story was well-written and illustrated. There were a couple of things I was a little bit confused about but that was my bad as we weren’t quite up to that point in our watching of the show. My husband did warn me to wait to read it. However, I did have a lot of fun with the story.
2. Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I loved this book. It was a lovely breath of fresh air as I delved into the worldbuilding. Roman and Iris are such interesting characters. I was really invested in their story. I wanted to see their relationship thrive and grow more. I am very eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.
3. Reign by Katharine McGee
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: At first I was a bit leery about it because I felt like we were backtracking on some character growth here. However, I should have never doubted because it really all ended up working out in the end. The story was fast-paced and engaging. The characters were allowed to grow and change and become who they were meant to be, which was great.
4. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This book was lovely and well-crafted. I really enjoyed the premise of the story and how the world was built. Toadling was a really interesting character. I liekd seeing this particular interpretation of the Fae. The way the characters interacted was quite interesting. I really enjoyed it.
5. Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: **I recieved a free eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I always end up enjoying Mindy McGinnis’s books. They are always well-written and twisty in the ways I never fully expect. The main character was really interesting and the depiction of mental health issues felt well-done. I really enjoyed the way the story played out. It really kept me guessing about how it was going to conclude.
6. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I enjoyed listening to this as an audio of the play. IT is such an interesting story that is really something to think about. It was kind of hard to put down. It’s an emotional listen in a lot of ways.
7. Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was a super cute romance. I had a lot of fun reading it and watching the romance unfold between the two characters. They were very cute. I do think that the worldbuilding needed more development, but the characters were really interesting, and I enjoyed reading them develop. It was a super cute read on the whole.
8. Taka by Ryan Jampole
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: eBook
Review: **Disclaimer: I recieved a free eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This was an interesting graphic novel. The character was quite interesting, but not my favourite on the whole. There were some interesting twists to the story. The art style represented the story well.
9. Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons by Frank Tieri
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: eBook
Review:**Disclaimer: I recieved a free eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This was a really interesting story, and I really liked the premise of fitting Godzilla into a western historical setting. I liked the art stlye and the use of full colour. I alos enjoyed the narrative style of a man telling the story from prison. Conspiracies are always fun.
10. No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I loved Kate Alice Marshall’s sophomore adult novel. It was fast paced and a total puzzle. I had to put so many pieces of the story together in the best way possible. I liked reading the various character’s perspectives and seeing the different timelines. I highly recommend it.
11. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I really enjoyed re-reading Macbeth. It was really fun to see the story play out with another class of students. I just love all the witches and murder it contains.
12. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I didn’t love the start of this. It was kind of slow at the beginning. However, once the book started to robot, it got a whole lot better, which is why I ended up giving it four stars. It got a lot more exciting. I enjoyed the dynamic between the two main characters. They really taught each other a lot.
13. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was areally interesting novel. I liked the storyline and the way it was structured with all the different perspectives. It kept me guessing as I studied the different pieces of the puzzle, trying to put it all together. I was really satisfied with the conclusion of the story.
14. H is for Hope by Elizabeth Kolbert
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: eBook
Review: **Disclaimer: I recieved a free eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This wasn’t really what I was expecting book wise. It was definitely intriguing but I thought it was going to be something else. If you want to learn more about climate change, ther I would recommend it.
15. The Inventor by Lars Henrik Eriksen
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: eBook
Review: **Disclaimer: I recieved a free eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I liked this graphic novel a lot. I found the characters really interesting. The art was well-done and the author did a really good job at building the world. I liked the characters and the turtles. I would definitely read more in this world and with these characters.
16. When I am Through With You by Stephanie Kuehn
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was an interesting read and I felt that the narration style was unique. The character had some unique issues, and I found myself struggling to put it down at times because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. This was challenging to me because it was the book I was reading during silent reading with my classes and I had to put it down a lot.
17. I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii by Lauren Tarshis
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I had a good time listening to this edition of the ‘I Survived’ series. It was a very different vibe than some of the other ones. I liked the dynamic of the story, and the elements of the mythology included in it.
18. We Are All so Good at Smiling by Amber McBride
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: There was so much detail packed into the story considering how few words were used as it was a novel in verse. The story was intricate and lovely. I really enjoyed the way it played out, and how magic was imbued into the story.
19. The Advocate by Eddie Ahn
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: eBook
Review: **Disclaimer: I recieved a free eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this graphic novel memoir. The life that the author lived is fascinating and it sounds like he has done some wonderful things. The story was well-written and well-illustrated.
20. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I never read this book during my Twilight phase, however, it was still interesting to read now. Bree is a tragic character and it does make me sad to think about how she ended up. It was interesting to read about the behind the scenes of Victoria’s plot to defeat the Cullens.
21. The Family Game by Catherine Steadman
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was such an interesting read for me. I loved the dynamic of her trying to git into this family, and how twisted things were. I really enjoyed the game elements, and all of the twists and turns. This really kept me guessing. I was pleased with the ending.
22. Mary Tyler MooreHawk by Dave Baker
Rating: 2 Stars
Format: eBook
Review: **Disclaimer: I recieved a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley. This was kind of a disappointing way to conclude my reading year. The story was just okay, and I didn’t really love it. There was a lot going on.
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