Happy first Quick Lit of 2021! I've said it many times but it is a bit refreshing to dive into a new year of reading, especially mixing in more new to me reads and non-fiction after a pretty hard fiction run in December. That said, I was also making this list, writing down names of books I reread every December and thinking "Ohhh...I miss those books!"...that I read less than a month ago. This list leads a bit Christmas heavy and 7 of these are books I've read for many Decembers now (I like what I like!) and therefore have written about many times. December is a busy month, even in a pandemic (it takes a lot of time to wrap gifts and decorate the house and bake all the cookies) so it's nice to spend very little time (next to none) planning my reading! At least, that's my story!
Linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy, I'm on Goodreads here (that is very updated), and Instagram here (active but not always talking about reading).
Other book posts this month:
And now everything else!
Winter Street, Winter Stroll, Winter Storms, Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand
Among my very favorite books to read in December, I've read the first in the series for seven Decembers straight now! All about the Quinn family who run an Inn on Nantucket and their various romantic entanglements, largely set in December but the later books spread to more of the year. These are so cozy and are such a part of my December reading rhythm now. I wrote a post about the series here! 4.5 Stars
The Characters of Christmas: The Unlikely People Caught up in the Story of Jesus by Daniel Darling
This was a new read for December, in the midst of all the books I reread every year. It took some of the background characters, and some not background (Mary got a chapter), and explained more about their Biblical impact and the history around parts. It was mostly interesting although not everything seemed to line up with my Catholic beliefs. It was a helpful way to focus my December energy towards Jesus though! 3.5 Stars
The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas by Ann Voskamp
My annual "advent" (really, December 1st - 25th) devotional read, using the Jesse tree to meditate on Jesus' story. I like this enough that I've read it many Decembers in a row now! 4 Stars
HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style by Elizabeth Holmes
This was a book that I strongly suggested Matt give me for Christmas (he did). I read it that lovely week between Christmas and New Years and loved it so much that it made my Favorite Reads of 2020 List. Deep dives the fashion of Queen Elizabeth; Diana, Princess of Wales; Kate, Duchess of Cambridge; and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. SO INTERESTING the possibly meaning behind much of what they wear. We all wear clothes, might as well make it meaningful when you are in a position like theirs! 4.5 Stars
A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams
I have never been able to narrow down my favorite 3-5 books but I do know this one would be on that list. I've read it around New Years for many years now and even though I know all the plot points I still really enjoy it. Set in the 1930s, about Lily and her romantic entanglements (I read a lot of books about romantic entanglements). I love the hopeful tone and the time period, right before the war. Lily's loyalty and naivety. I will keep reading it every year for the foreseeable future! 4.75 Stars
Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl
For some reason, I blame the 1994 movie mostly, Little Women is a "Christmas" story/movie in my mind so reading this reimagining of it shortly after Christmas felt right. However, the story felt a bit less right. It's a Jo & Laurie set story that felt rather meta since in this book, Jo in between writing her two books, just like Little Women was originally written as two separate books. I just couldn't really get into it, as much as younger me though Jo & Laurie made more sense than how either of them ended up. 3.25 Stars
Adventures in Opting Out: A Field Guide to Leading an Intentional Life by Cait Flanders
I don't do many audiobooks but I did her first one like that, often listening during my 3am feedings of baby Sam (I DO NOT MISS THOSE). (And we always brought Sam downstairs for his middle of the night feedings since we needed the fridge AND the sink, both of which are downstairs. And didn't want to wake the rest of the house. Which is why I could listen to audiobooks.) This one was a paper read and I appreciated the message to step outside my comfort zone but I'm not sure all the analogies to a hike worked (maybe I just haven't done difficult enough hikes? Although I have done one she specifically mentioned). Didn't get out of it quite what I expected but that doesn't mean it's not right for someone else! 3 Stars
A Front Page Affair by Radha Vatsal
I picked out this book from a list published on Modern Mrs. Darcy. This list also had the Molly Murphy series that I read last year (maybe a post coming on that) and another historical fiction mystery series I plan to pick up next. This "series" is only two books with the last one published in 2017 so I don't feel like there are more coming. It starts around 1916, just a few years after Molly Murphy left off so I had some familiarity with that time in NYC (says the person who was born many, many decades later). The writing wasn't as strong but the mystery did pull me in a bit and I didn't get it all figured out before the characters (I might just also be really bad at figuring out mysteries). It was fun and I do plan to read the second soon. But I'd recommend Molly Murphy first.
Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade by Adam Minter
I'm not sure what made me add this to my TBR but I am glad I did. It's all about the scrap business, largely scrap metal but also paper and electronics, and what happens to all those items Americans put in their recycle bins. I said on Goodreads that I rounded up my star rating just for making it all interesting and readable. I kept summarizing parts to Matt and was astounded by what I learned (there are reasons China gets most of our reusable/recyclable waste that isn't used in the US). The scrap metal yard where Matt takes our scrap metal even got a few mentioned! I had no idea it showed up. A worthwhile read if you are interested in the topic but it was dense and took a bit to get through (under 300 pages though). 3.75 Stars
Majesty by Katharine McGee
This is an alt world story on if George Washington had been made king instead of president and then his descents continued the royal family tradition. In this book, Beatrice, is a newly crowned (although not yet actually crowned), young (early-mid 20s?) Queen, the first reigning Queen of America. She has various romantic entanglements (the young man she SHOULD marry, the one she WANTS to marry), as well as a complicated relationship with her sister and the whole business of reigning. It was fun and light and nice to counteract all the heaviness around us right now. 3.5 Stars
Read with Luke
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
I first read this to Luke during December 2019 and we both enjoyed the experience so we repeated it in 2020! It's very short (under 100 pages) but I almost tear up every time. It's so sweet and he's gotten more into it since he has a familiarity with the Herdmans since we've read (and reread) all the books in the series. 4.5 Stars
How Winston Delivered Christmas by Alex T. Smith
This was a new to us Christmas story told in 24½ chapters (although the ½ chapter was longer than some of the actual "chapters" that we managed to read nearly every day in December (a few we missed but the chapters were so short it was easy to make up the missed days). A Christmas story about a mouse who is trying to deliver a kid's Christmas letter by Christmas Eve...even though he starts on the evening of Christmas Eve. It was fun! I ended up buying it since the copy I purchase requested for the library was immediately put on hold by someone else. Yes, I was a little grouchy about that. 3.5 Stars
Betsy's Busy Summer by Carolyn Haywood
I received this book as a gift from my godparents when I was around 7-8 and I read it many times as a kid. I remembered this one more than Betsy's Little Star that I got for the same birthday and read to Luke in the fall. Takes place in the 1940s or 1950s and, in my opinion (although it might just be my familiarity with it), has the best stories of any of the Betsy books. Super charming, even as a January read about summer. 4 Stars
What have YOU been reading?
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