What I Read: December

December meant lots of Christmas-themed books! With everything going on this year I was even more excited to start in on the light-hearted and fluffy Christmas novels I enjoy each year. I actually started right after Thanksgiving this year. Normally I wait until December otherwise I get tired of them before Christmas. Reading in the dark living room with only the light of the Christmas tree was my favorite this month! Although the whole time I kept thinking of how much it would bug my mom so see me reading in the semi-dark!

Books:

• Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber- Last year when we were after Christmas shopping I picked this book up and carried it around for a while before deciding it wasn't worth spending $5 on when I could likely get it at the library. Ty saw me and sneakily bought it for me. When he saw me looking at a Book Page magazine to scope out some good Christmas books at the beginning of December he brought it out, wrapped as a surprise for me. I loved all Macomber's Christmas books I read last year, but this one was my least favorite of hers I've read. But knowing Ty was so sweet and bought it for me to surprise me and then wrapped it special for me, made me enjoy it so much more!

• Dashing Through the Snow by Debbie Macomber- I was super excited after Christmas last year when I found a couple Macomber Christmas books at Goodwill. I've held them all year waiting for Christmas time to read them! I was pretty disappointed in this one. I don't know if I read her best books last year and the ones I got this year were just mediocre or if I am not as much in the mood for the cheesiness of her books. But I didn't really like either of the ones that I've read so far! Hopefully the other one I found at Goodwill is better than either of these were, but I won't find out until next year because after 2 stinkers in a row, I'm taking a break from her!

• The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate- This was a read aloud with the kids and Oma and Opa through FaceTime. I was so excited to read it when I saw there was a sequel to The One and Only Ivan. I didn't expect it to be as good as The One and Only Ivan and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Elise even got sucked in a few times. We had a few nights where the kids went to bed late because we couldn't stop reading. Carter said he hopes Applegate writes another book called The One and Only Ruby with Ruby the Elephant as the main character. I think that's a great idea and I hope she does!
  

• Christmas at the Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan- I searched Christmas books in the library database. I was super excited for this one because it had bakery in the title. I always get sucked into titles with bakery, library, or book store in the title. I saw it was the 3rd book in a series when I added it to Goodreads, but oh well. It was okay.

• Christmas in London by Anita Hughes- I didn't really like this one and it annoyed me in parts but I did love the setting of London at Christmas so I went ahead and finished it. It was okay. The only thing that saved the book was that it went back and forth between 2 main characters. When I got super annoyed with the main character, it would switch over to the lesser main character and I got a break from her. Her storyline was just annoying and repetitive.

• We Met in December by Rosie Curtis- This book reminded me a lot of One Day in December by Josie Silver. So much so, I actually looked that one up to see if maybe it was the same author. This was very cute and I enjoyed it. It was kind of Christmasy but took place starting in December and ending in December the next year, so it's one I would enjoy even if I read it during a month other than December.
  
  
  

eBooks:

• I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman- This was the newest of Waxman's books and I was so excited when I came across it when I was looking at all the books she's written. It was the only one I haven't read. I loved that she brought back the main character from Other People's Houses as a small character in this book, a close friend the main character texts fairly frequently. The last couple books of hers I've read, have me a little terrified for Carter and Elise to become teenagers! She sure makes it sound awful and Elise is already pretty rough on me, so I can only imagine...

• The Bookish Holidays of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman- I saw this when I was checking Abbi Waxman out on Goodreads. I was super excited but then realized it was just a short little story she released on her website. It took me a while to find it because it was no longer on her website, but I was glad I did and got to read it! I read it in one sitting because it was so short.
  
  
  

• Comfort and Joy by India Knight- I was trying to get Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah when I saw this one was available at the library. I read it described as similar to Bridget Jones and decided to give it a try. It was cute and fun. It did have a bit of a Bridget Jones feel to it, but wasn't as funny.

• A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg- I was so excited when I found this one searching Christmas books on the library's database. I loved her other books I have read. It was so good and one of the best Christmas books I read this year!
  
  
  

• Christmas on the Island by Jenny Colgan- I had this one on hold for a long time and when it came in and I realized it was the same author as Christmas at the Little Beach Street Bakery I didn't really want to read it anymore. Since it was an ebook and the chapters were short I decided to go ahead and give it a try. I'm glad I did because I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

• Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva- I was super excited about this one because I love Dickens. I really struggled through it and it actually took me almost the entire 2 weeks I was able to have this checked out to finish it. I liked the ending, about the last quarter of the book, but the first part I just read to get through it. Overall I was disappointed in it and wouldn't recommend it as a Christmas book. It left me wishing I'd just read A Christmas Carol over again instead of reading this.

Audiobooks:

• Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory- This was a holiday book that was super popular last year. I put it on hold around Thanksgiving and still hadn't gotten it after Christmas so I canceled my hold and left it on my list for this year. I put it on hold right after Thanksgiving this year to make sure I'd get it before Christmas. I wasn't very impressed with it. It wasn't bad but it wasn't one I was excited to fold laundry to listen to.

• With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo- I saw Acevedo listed as a great narrator and this was on my to-read list so I decided to listen to it. It was so good. I really enjoyed it and she was a fabulous narrator!
  
  
  

• A Quilt for Christmas by Sandra Dallas- I came across this searching the library's database and was super excited, thinking maybe it was a holiday sequel to The Persian Pickle Club. I read the description and realized it was set during the Civil War and knew it wasn't a sequel. It was really good and I enjoyed it quite a bit. 

• In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren- I saw this one advertised quite a bit. I was super excited for it and it took a long time to get it. Usually that means the fastest way to get it is as an audiobook and that was definitely the case this time. I put it on hold as an ebook, book, and audiobook and the audiobook was ready when I was still way down the list for the others.  It was so good and was one of my favorite Christmas books this year. It was like a Christmas version of Groundhog Day but more uplifting and romantic than slightly depressing and comedic.
  
  
  

• Nothing Like I Imagined by Mindy Kaling- I was really excited when I saw Kaling had a new set of essays out. I got 5 as audiobooks, read by Kaling, with an itunes gift card but the last essay I could only find as an ebook. After reading it I wonder if it's only available as an ebook because there are pictures, but it may just be that I couldn't find an audiobook version. This was by far my favorite of her books. I liked every essay and there were a few times I busted out laughing on a run while listening to it. I liked her other books but there were always a couple essays I thought were just okay. I really liked all of them on this one.
  
  
  

• You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs- At the beginning this reminded me so much of David Sedaris and made me want to listen to Christmas on Ice instead, but I ended up liking it quite a bit. There were some really funny parts, some really weird parts, and some very touching parts. It was worth the listen!

• Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand- This was book #2 in her Winter series about the Quinn family and it was probably my favorite. I listened to the 4th one as an audiobook in December 2 years ago, not realizing it was the 4th in a series. Then I listened to the 1st one last year. Listening to this one I was a little confused about what was still to come (that I knew from the 4th book) and what had already happened in the 1st one. This was the first one I read and had to read the next one right away so I put the 3rd book on hold and got it fastest as an audiobook.

• Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling- I wanted a short audiobook to listen to while I waited for the next book in the Winter Series to become available. I looked through books I've tagged in my library app and this one was short so I went with it. I read enough of the blurb to know it was about a girl with no arms who befriends a boy with Tourette's Syndrome. I didn't realize it was a children's chapter book, but I absolutely loved it and was thrilled when I saw there is a 2nd book in the series when I added this one to Goodreads. I can't wait to read that one! I highly recommend this and plan to read it with the kids at some point. It is funny and not preachy, more like a more comedic version of Wonder.
  
  
  

• Winter Storms by Elin Hilderbrand- This finished out the Winter Series for me. I loved this one just as much as the 2nd one. Now I want to go back and refresh my mind about what happens with a couple of the characters in the 4th book. I remember the big things but I don't remember specifics about Ava and her relationship and there are a couple things about Jennifer that I'm hazy on.