The last couple years December has been a heavy reading month for me because I am, somewhat desperately, trying to hit some reading goals. December 2022 I finished 27 books. I was hoping to finish 29 this December but with about 10 days left in the year I had to accept that that wouldn't happen and settle for 24. That does make 2023 my least number of books finished since 2016 when I finished 140. I realize that 170 is still A LOT of books. And many of these are books I read every December, a full 14 of them I read last December too and some many more years than that! But I take great comfort in doing many of the same things, year after year, at even about the same point in December. It really signals to my overly busy brain that Christmas is coming!
I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy on the 15th!
Two other book posts in December:
Christmas Picture Book Flight - Reindeer
And everything I finished!
Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel
Part of the Christmas Escape book grouping, I have now read all 7 and this might be my favorite of the whole bunch. It was one of my favorite reads of 2023! I could definitely see myself reading it again in another December. 4 Stars
Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey
It was library due dates that had me reading identically titled books back to back. This one is a modern retelling of Christmas in Connecticut, an old movie (1940s) that I then watched with my boys while we did our Christmas thank yous (they had a lot of questions). It was charming and fun. Also, a surprising amount about Legos (which should not be called LegoS but I am going to anyways). 3.75 Stars
Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel adapted by Mariah Marsden, illustrated by Brenna Thummler
This was so much fun to read. I reread the whole Anne series a few years ago although the first is definitely the best book. This was a fun, quick graphic novel retelling that was very accurate. Which I mostly know from repeated viewings of the Canadian tv version from the 1980s that PBS seemed to air often. 4 Stars
A Not-So Holiday Paradise by Gracie Ruth Mitchell
Not my favorite of the Christmas escape books, set on a Caribbean Island over Christmas. I just like to be home at Christmas and traveling over that just seems odd to me although I know plenty of people do it. It was fine. 3.25 Stars
Finding Father Christmas, Engaging Father Christmas, Kissing Father Christmas by Robin Jones Gunn
This was my 8th December in a row reading these, it's the series I read towards the beginning of December every year. Set in rural England, just a charming cast of characters and a sweet romance. I wrote a post about the series here. 4.5 Stars
A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
I had A LOT of Christmas-ish set books on my TBR and got through most of them in December! This one was very much winter set and not so much Christmas. New York City but the author wrote a pretty authentic sounding NYC book never having been there! That was impressive. A lost recipe and long family secrets that you knew were going to cause some problems when they came out. Those types of books always make me a little anxious reading them. 3.25 Stars
Yours Forever, Starry Night, and A Promise is Forever by Robin Jones Gunn
These are the Christmas-ish set Christy Miller books that I have been reading for nearly ¾ of my life. I haven't read the whole saga in a few years, I remember finishing some later books when Sam was tiny, but I still pop in and read these in December. Particularly helpful because they are fairly short and I'm always trying to hit a goal. I wrote a post about the whole saga here. I own ALL the books in all the series (there are 6) but had lent the original 12 to my sister before I realized I wanted to read A Promise is Forever...so I had to read that one on my phone. 4.5 Stars
A December to Remember by Jenny Bayliss
I almost gave up on this book because it was dragging. It was reading this when I realized I couldn't get through another 5 because of how long it took me to read this. Three long separated half-sisters come together after the death of their shared father to complete his will and final wishes. Small village in England. Very much solstice set and not Christmas. It didn't need to be 400 pages. 2.75 Stars
Fields of Joy by Ruth Chou Simons
This is a fairly short devotional with maybe 58 entries? My sister had sent it to me as part of a little care package when Sam started kindergarten. Luckily I had finished my other devotional in October so I read a page of this every morning and that got me through much of the rest of the year! 4.5 Stars
Winter Street, Winter Stroll, Winter Storms, and Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand
The other Christmas series I read every year. Personally, I think the first book is the best and they go downhill but the Goodreads rating go in the other direction. This was year #10 for Winter Street and then one year less for each of the next. I LOVE my annual time with the Quinns and I am always trying to finish these about Christmas Eve or Day (which means I start them about the 22nd). Although I was a few days past that this year. Wrote a whole post about these here. 4.5 Stars
The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas by Ann Voskamp
My advent specific devotional that I've read for many years now. It goes through the Jesse Tree and the coming of Jesus. A nice pause in December crazy. 4.5 Stars
Cabin Crush by Kasey Stockton
One of the authors of the Christmas Escape series wrote a book in a new series that came out this year that I just found out about in late December. This was about 175 pages about two families who do Christmas at Lake Tahoe every year. Girl from one family has long been crushing on the boy from the other family but it's been a secret since they were kids. Then things happen. 3 Stars
A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams
The book I've read around New Years for 10 years now (finishing it ON New Years Eve the past 3, at least). It has Summers in the title but is largely set around New Years (and...also in the summer) and, if pressed, might be the book I'd name as my all-time favorite. Set in the early and late 1930s, telling the story of early romance and love lost and a giant hurricane. I love it. 5 Stars
Read with my boys (10 and 5)
The Lucky Snow Leopard and The Pesky Polar Bear by Amelia Cobb
Part of the Rescue Zoo series that I've been reading with my 5 year old this fall. He LOVES them and would demand I give them 5 stars. The library only has 4 in physical copies and another 6ish digitally...we're blowing through these fast but if it likes them I am happy to keep reading them, at least the ones we can get our hands on! 3.25 Stars
How Winston Delivered Christmas by Alex T. Smith
This is at least the 3rd year I've read this to both boys. It's a chapter a day, adventure story of a mouse trying to get a boy's letter to Santa through the snow in a big city (London?) on Christmas Eve. It's charming and my 5 year old was especially insistent about reading it every day in December. 3.5 Stars
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
I've read this to my older son for many years and now my younger one too. This book is near perfection (maybe don't need all the fat camp stuff towards the beginning...this was written in a different time) and I get choaked up at the end every. single. year. We read my childhood copy! 5 Stars
After so much rereading in December it's been fun to get back to new (to me) books in January. What have YOU been reading lately?
No comments:
Post a Comment