Well its the end of the moth (and the decade! Say, what!) So here is another monthly wrap up. Like last month, we decided to do them separately because we both read so much. I read a total of 21 books this month and I have pulled my favorites and least favorites reads to share, as well as the lessons I learned this month.
My Favorite Reads
Honestly I had a stellar month of great reading. Above are all my 5⭐ reads of December and there were a handful of 4⭐ reads I could have easily included.
I am thoroughly convinced that, thanks to Bloom, the world needs more MG horror novels. So give me all the recs!- Before you say it, yes I have read Small Spaces and enjoyed it.
December was a month of reading romances and while I enjoyed them I realized that to stay happy as a reader I need to seek out books that aren’t as predictable. I will definitely continue to scatter romances as palette cleansers throughout my reading but I don’t know that I’ll do another month where I read predominantly from the genre. It was a good experiment and I’m glad I grew and learned from it.
The others I had high expectations for and they definitely met them. I would recommend every single one of them.
Books That Weren’t My Cup of Tea
I am happy to report that, for the most part, I read a lot of books that I loved. However, the four books above were titles that really missed the mark for me and I have very strong opinions about each of them. Unsurprisingly, just like my favorite reads above, I learned a few things from them as well.
1- I still don’t love slow burn stories. Both Force of Nature and The Innocents were slow and I just couldn’t get into them.
PSA- The Innocents took things in a direction I wasn’t entirely comfortable with. If you aren’t comfortable with sexual relationships between siblings I would skip this one. The writing was beautiful but that aspect of the story made me almost DNF it.
2- Books with multiple timelines are seriously hit and miss for me. Unfortunately, Winterwood and The Winter People were both misses but that doesn’t mean someone else won’t enjoy them. I definitely feel like I’m in the minority, especially with The Winter People.
3- The last lesson I learned from the books I read this past month, and arguably a takeaway from 2019, is that sequels in trilogies are hard for me. Especially when I’ve really loved the first book. In order to improve my reading experience in 2020 I’m planning on picking up more standalone novels and being extra mindful about the sequels I choose to pursue.
ARCs We Received
These are a just a handful of ARCs from Netgalley and publishers that we are excited about.
Upcoming Events
We Will Be Announcing Our Giveaway Winners In The Next Few Days
Blog Tour - Lie To Me by Kaitlin Ward
Saturday Spotlight - Scott Reintgen (1/18)
Blog Tour - Highfire by Eoin Colfer (1/26-2/1)
What About You?
How was your month? Did you learn anything about your own reading life? Do you have any exciting bookish plans for January? Let us know in the comments!
So glad you loved Red, White, and Royal Blue. It was one of my favourites too this year. The Valliant was so good as well.
I was surprised how much I loved The Valiant. My Classicist heart was so happj.
I was not surprised by RW&RB. It was so good and made me laugh a lot!
I’ve seen this Red, White, and Royal Blue on lots of lists. Sounds fun! Happy 2020 Reading!
It is a fun book! I highly recommend it!- Haley