Art · audio book · Book Haul · Book review · Books · Christmas · Discussion · Event · haul · movie · Nature · non-fiction · Opening · Review · Tag · tbr · Top 10 · tv · UKYA · Uncategorized

What I Read in December!

We are down to the last few days of 2022 and I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone. I’ve read 13 books throughout December, so far, but I am hoping to read 3 more before the end of the year. If I do that I’ll have reached 140 books read this year. I can’t miss out on writing this post though. So, I am back with another what I’ve read post which is a bunch of mini reviews for the books I read in December (so far). Here they are!

This Book Kills by Ravena Guron

When Hugh Henry Van Boren, one of the most popular and richest kids in Jess Choudhary’s school, is found dead, the student body is left reeling and wondering who the murderer could be… Jess, a student under strict instructions to keep her record clean or risk losing her scholarship, finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it’s revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote.

And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration.

With time running out, Jess knows if she doesn’t solve this mystery she’ll finally have something in common with Hugh Henry.

This one comes out in the New Year and you definitely need to pick it up! It is full of twists and turns and kept me on the edge of my seat whilst reading. I loved the boarding school setting and the variety of characters that are in this YA debut! I wrote a full review, which you can find here. I would highly recommend it!

★★★★


Whiteout by Angie Thomas, Dhonielle Clayton, Ashley Woodfolk, Nic Stone, Nicola Yoon and Tiffany D. Jackson

As the city grinds to a halt, twelve teens band together to help a friend pull off the most epic apology of her life. But will they be able to make it happen, in spite of the storm?

No one is prepared for this whiteout. But then, we can’t always prepare for the magical moments that change everything.

After reading Blackout last year, I wanted to read the next book that these six amazing authors released together. This is the perfect book to read throughout December and really put me in the Christmas spirit. The writing is extraordinary and the story and how it all joins together is truly captivating. I cannot recommend it enough!

★★★★


Snapshot Books!

Here is a little snapshot of 8 of the books that I’ve read this month along with the rating I gave them. I enjoyed all of these ones, some more than others but I still enjoyed them.

  • Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan – ★★★
  • Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain – ★★★
  • Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello – ★★★★
  • Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey – ★★★
  • Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky – ★★★
  • Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata – ★★★★
  • Driving Home for Christmas by Joanna Bolouri – ★★★★
  • The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman – ★★★★

A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Bee Hobbes (aka Bianca Von Honey) has a successful career as a plus-size adult film star. With a huge following and two supportive moms, Bee couldn’t ask for more. But when Bee’s favorite producer casts her to star in a Christmas movie he’s making for the squeaky-clean Hope Channel, Bee’s career is about to take a more family-friendly direction.

Forced to keep her work as Bianca under wraps, Bee quickly learns this is a task a lot easier said than done. Though it all becomes worthwhile when she discovers her co-star is none other than childhood crush Nolan Shaw, an ex-boy band member in desperate need of career rehab. Nolan’s promised his bulldog manager to keep it zipped up on set, and he will if it means he’ll be able to provide a more stable living situation for his sister and mom.

But things heat up quickly in Christmas Notch, Vermont, when Nolan recognizes his new co-star from her ClosedDoors account (oh yeah, he’s a member). Now Bee and Nolan are sneaking off for quickies on set, keeping their new relationship a secret from the Hope Channel’s execs. Things only get trickier when the reporter who torpedoed Nolan’s singing career comes snooping around—and takes an instant interest in mysterious newcomer Bee.

And if Bee and Nolan can’t keep their off-camera romance behind the scenes, then this merry little meet cute might end up on the cutting room floor.

I loved this book. It is an amazing Christmas book packed with a lot, and I mean a lot, of romance! Don’t be deceived by the cover into thinking this will be a fluffy and sweet romance though because it isn’t, there is quite a lot of spice! I would highly recommend this one if you are looking for a spicy Christmas book.

★★★★


Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh

Molly and Andrew are just trying to get home to Ireland for the holidays, when a freak snowstorm grounds their flight.

Nothing romantic has ever happened between them: they’re friends and that’s all. But once a year, for the last ten years, Molly has spent seven hours and fifteen minutes sitting next to Andrew on the last flight before Christmas from Chicago to Dublin, drinking terrible airplane wine and catching up on each other’s lives. In spite of all the ways the two friends are different, it’s the holiday tradition neither of them has ever wanted to give up.

Molly isn’t that bothered by Christmas, but—in yet another way they’re total opposites—Andrew is a full-on fanatic for the festive season and she knows how much getting back to Ireland means to him. So, instead of doing the sane thing and just celebrating the holidays together in America, she does the stupid thing. The irrational thing. She vows to get him home. And in time for his mam’s famous Christmas dinner.

The clock is ticking. But Molly always has a plan. And—as long as the highly-specific combination of taxis, planes, boats, and trains all run on time—it can’t possibly go wrong.

This is easily one of my favourite Christmas books I’ve read in a long time and one of my favourite books this year. It is so lovely and adorable and a wonderful friends to lovers story. It is hilarious too! I am sure I will be re-reading this one next year and I cannot recommend it enough.

★★★★★


One Christmas Morning by Rachel Greenlaw

The moment Eva locked eyes with James over a library bookshelf, she knew she’d found her soulmate. Over ten years, they fell in love, got married and made plans to start a family. Until everything changed one Christmas three years ago, and they’ve been drifting apart ever since.

Eva hopes a friend’s Christmas party at an old manor house in Cornwall will give them the chance to reconnect… but the last thing she expects is to wake up on Christmas morning in the body of a different guest. As Eva’s forced to keep reliving Christmas Day from the perspectives of those closest to her, she realises just how much her life has fallen off track.

But can Eva break the cycle and save her future with James, before it’s too late?

A time-loop Christmas story and I loved it! This one isn’t out until next October but you need to keep your eyes out for when it is released as it is excellent. I loved the message this book has behind it and the way in which it is told. Also, some heavy topics are discussed in this one whilst still remaining to keep the book festive and lovely! I would highly recommend this one!

★★★★


Statistics

Books read this month: 13

Pages read this month: 4,095

Books read this year: 137

Pages read this year: 46,765

There you have it, that is everything I read in December! What have you read in December and what are you looking forward to reading in January? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Reading

One thought on “What I Read in December!

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s