Happy mid-December Quick Lit! Life is full and festive and mostly wonderful right now. A Christmas kind of busy is my favorite kind of busy. We're to the point of most just enjoying. Shopping done, just presents to wrap (which I enjoy), one thing left to bake, books (picture books to my boys and grown-up books to myself) to read, movies/tv shows to watch, celebrating to do, decor to constantly (and joyfully) tweak. It is the most wonderful time of the year!
I'm on Goodreads here, Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy!
Other book posts in the past month:
Picture Book Flight - Historic Christmases
Now for what else I've been reading!
Riverbend Gap by Denise Hunter
Denise Hunter writes somewhat cheesy vaguely-Christian romance novels. They remind me of Nicholas Sparks books but without the sex. I have read nearly all of hers and they always take place in quaint small towns where there are about 6 single people and they all are coupled up by the end of the trilogy. BUT, I also know I will blow through one of these pretty quick and do enjoy them as something lighter between some non-fiction or historical fiction books. 3 Stars
Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes by Jessica Pan
This book spoke to me so much, I am very much an introvert and I very much have shown up late to things I didn't actually want to attend. And have gotten excited over canceled plans. And really just enjoy being home. BUT I have been trying to be more social and outgoing lately (as long as I get some quiet time at home to decompress!) and this made me feel better about that. I know there is a lot of fun life to live outside my house and this was a good reminder of that. 4 Stars
The Pink Suit by Nicole Mary Kelby
I reread this about every other November or so and it ALWAYS leads me on a deep dive into Jackie Kennedy's actual pink suit (I have questions and Wikipedia also tells me that the whole operating room from when they tried to save JFK is in a secret storage facility in the Plains and, again, I have SO MANY QUESTIONS.). I find this to be a sweet romance about the Irish-American girl who made Jackie's pink suit and the neighborhood butcher she falls for. They live in Manhattan in the 1960s and there is talk about daily Mass and missing Ireland and it's just a story I really enjoy revisiting. 4.25 Stars
A Season for Second Changes by Jenny Bayliss
This is about when I started reading cozy, vaguely Christmas, and likely London, set books. This one counts because there is snow on the cover. This is a woman who is separated or recently divorced from her husband and ends up being a caretakers of a elderly woman's house at the edge of a cliff somewhere on the English coast. There is romance and a somewhat raunchy book club and the woman decides to open a restaurant basically because she's bored. It was charming even if I have since forgotten many of the details. 3.5 Stars
A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith, and Myself by Sarah Bragg
This is another book that spoke to me, I certainly have changed since becoming a mother, some of that due to just growing up and some of it due to all the new things I have to consider and think about now that there are kids, particularly kids who ask bunches of questions each day. I definitely feel like I know myself better than I did 9 years ago, probably something about my me time being so condensed that I don't have time to waste on things that only vaguely interest me. Anyways, this was enlightening and I appreciated affirmation of not being the only one who doesn't have everything figured out. 4 Stars
The Show Girl by Nicola Harrison
This felt like a good companion book to City of Girls although maybe they are a bit too close in topic to read back to back. This is about a showgirl around the turn of the previous century (I still credit Molly Murphy with teaching me so much about NYC around 1900) and her career ambitions and thirst for romance but also the right kind of romance. I guess I never thought of show girls as having real career aspirations? It was interesting and fun. 4 Stars
Just Haven't Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens
Another England set book even though I don't think it had anything to do with Christmastime. A woman gets herself a journalism assignment on the Channel Island where her parents met and fell in love. She wants to write about their love story but also just get away for a bit. This makes Jersey (the island, not the New state) seem super charming and a lovely place to visit. She, SURPRISE, finds a romance there. There is ALSO a kitchen named Diana. So there is that. 3.75 Stars
Always, in December by Emily Stone
This is a book that I considered having Matt buy me for Christmas (I always want a book for my birthday and Christmas and both agree it's best if I just pick them out myself) but some reviews on Goodreads had me reconsider. I am rather glad I don't own this one because the last 40 pages or so had my jaw somewhat dropped at the turn the story took. It wasn't in a good way. I don't know, I wasn't looking for sad and it felt like the rug was pulled out from me even though, from those reviews, I kept waiting for something like that to happen. 2.75 Stars
Finding Father Christmas, Engaging Father Christmas, Kissing Father Christmas by Robin Jones Gunn
These have been among the first books I read in December for 6 years now and they are a lovely and cozy way to kick off the real holiday season. I wrote a longer post about them here and even though I know exactly what happens I still enjoy picking them up. Also, the first two are about 160 pages each and the third is closer to 200. It's very satisfying to knock out one of these in a day or two, even with so much going on. Also, England, all 3 of them. Between so many British books and watching The Holiday and Love Actually ever December for many years...my Christmas media consumption is very British. 4.25 Stars
The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox
This one isn't in England! Although it IS set in the 2ish weeks leading up to Christmas with twin sisters switching places when the one filming a baking reality show loses her senses of taste and smell and thus can't really bake. They both make a bit of messes of each other's love lives and just lives in general but they are sisters and so they, obviously, make up in the end. Also, a pretty chaste story. And there is snow and people making bad decisions regarding snow. 3.75 Stars
The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams
This was supposed to be a January read for me but some of the December books I had picked are NOT coming through from the library (one isn't in circulation yet) so I picked this one up to fill a gap. A woman gets left right before the altar (to be fair, he called it off before she actually made it into the church) and then still takes her extravagant honeymoon to Australia (coming from, you guessed it, England) that her would be in-laws are paying for and she takes an old (male) friend from drama camp. Yes, please suspend your belief on a few levels. This made me want to go to Australia (more than I already did) and be glad I wasn't left at the altar. 3 Stars
Read with Luke
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
It took us nearly a month to read this because I just couldn't get into how weird it was. I know I read the next one in the series a few times as a kid but not much felt familiar about this one. It is MUCH weirder than I remembered the other one being. Really goofy and silly and, therefore, Luke really liked it. I'm sure we will pick up the next one after the New Year. 3 Stars
What have YOU been reading lately? I'd love to hear, especially if they are Christmas and/or England based because that's the bulk of my December reading!
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