I had a fantastic final reading month of 2022!
I read 14 books – 7 of which were on my December hopefuls list. Two of these were off my holiday reading list and 5 were from my winter tbr.
It’s become a tradition for me to find a new romance series to binge at the end of the year. This year it was Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison. I wound up listening to all three books.
I read three books as buddy reads. Although none of them were 5 star reads this time, reading with friends always adds to my reading experience!
I did find one last and surprising 5 star read for 2022! It was also interesting that I didn’t have any hybrid reads this month. I committed to one format or the other for each book.
December Reading Wrap Up:
By the Season and Reading Format
Holiday Books
- The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox 🎧
- Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison 🎧
- Resting Scrooge Face by Meghan Quinn 🎧
- Mangoes and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera 🎧
Winter Reads
- Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney 📖 (also a buddy read)
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 🎧 (also a book club read)
- Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny 📖 (also a buddy read)
- The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey 📖
- Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu 📖
Buddy Reads
- The Cloisters by Katy Hays 📖
Just Because
- Scandalized by Ivy Owens 📖
- The Demon’s Bargain by Katee Robert 📖
- In the Weeds by B.K. Borison 🎧
- Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison 🎧
Recaps and Reviews
You can find my reviews for The Holiday Swap (4 stars), Rock Paper Scissors (4 stars), Lovelight Farms (4.5 stars), Scandalized (4 stars), Resting Scrooge Face (4 stars), Mangos and Mistletoe (3.5 stars), The Cloisters (3 stars) in my Mid December Reading Recap.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Rating: 3 stars
This was a book club pick for the Reading Through Life podcast. It was originally a book on my fall tbr that I didn’t get to but gladly added to my winter tbr after its selection. I read it on audio.
Here is the goodreads description since this is not at all how I would have described the book:
“In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.
Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.”
The premise of doors to other worlds was so interesting! As was the historical real world setting within a fantasy book. It has a book within a book element that once understood was really powerful.
I enjoyed how the story comes full circle, the family elements, and getting to know so many characters.
However it took me a long time to get into this story. It felt very disjointed which could partly have been due to the audio experience. I was well over a third of the way through the story before understanding where it was going. The pacing was not my cup of tea.
Spoiler alert! If you’re a dog lover, there’s also a horrific scene. It turns out ok but the reader doesn’t know that for a long time. The author jokes that she would never do that to her readers except she very clearly does. The reader along with January grieves Thad for many pages until her gotcha moment.
I’ll be curious to hear what others think in the book club discussion later this month.
The Demon’s Bargain by Katee Robert
Rating: 3 stars
Steam Level: 4
This novella takes place in the Shadow Market where magical beings gather for three days to celebrate Samhain.
It is the fourth book in Katee Robert’s A Deal with a Demon series and book two in Peculiar Tastes, a collaboration series from multiple authors. I’ve previously reviewed The Dragon’s Bride and The Kraken’s Sacrifice.
Lenora summons the bargain demon, Ramanu, for help after a past lover steals a family heirloom from her. Unwilling to agree to their terms, she decides to get it back on her own. But Ramanu is intrigued enough by the witch that they join her at the market. Soon the bargain isn’t only for seven years but for hearts as well.
If you want something quick and spicy set in a fantastical world, then check this one out.
For me, Katee Robert’s books are already pretty short and this even more condensed format lacked the relationship development that I would have liked. Especially for Ramanu’s story as they’re an important side character in her other books. It seems I’m always hoping for a little more world building too.
A note about steam levels: Lately in reviews, I’ve seen people giving a 2 for kissing and a 4 if there’s any sex on their personal steam scales. As this steam level rating is something I only apply to the adult romances I read, there is usually some sex going on whether it’s on or off the page. You can find my subjective steam scale here with what the ratings correlate to.
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
Rating: 4.5 stars
This is a book from my winter tbr that I wasn’t planning to read this month until my friend, Nicole, was up for squeezing in a buddy read before Christmas. I have been loving using fable for buddy reads and recently started two public book clubs for 2023.
Chief Inspector Gamache is in Quebec City during winter carnival. But he’s not there for the celebrations. Instead he’s recovering with his old mentor from a case that went wrong and continues to haunt him. While there he stumbles upon a murder case that may also be the key to solving a historical mystery.
Meanwhile in Three Pines upon Gamache’s request, a still healing Beauvoir looks into their last investigation just to be certain the right man was convicted.
This was a fantastic book to buddy read and I’m grateful that I had a friend in the same place with this long series. Bury Your Dead is the sixth book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series.
While I usually enjoy these stories, they are not easy for me to pick up. Recently I heard them classified as literary mysteries and that makes sense to me. They deal with heavy themes about society, life, and human nature. While wonderfully atmospheric and a cozy setting in Three Pines, these are certainly not cozy mysteries.
This book begins quite slow and a little bit confusing. It had also been over a year since I read the last book so it was nice to have someone to check in with to be sure I remembered things correctly. At one point there are actually four different mystery storylines going on.
I loved the winter setting of Quebec City especially and felt like I was there experiencing it along with all the delicious food and drink. This was a story worth savoring and overall I thought it was amazing!
People say that the series picks up after book 3. I feel like this is the book that has made me the most eager to continue reading!
In the Weeds by B.K. Borison
Rating: 4.5 stars
Steam Level: 2
After sharing an incredible weekend together (in Bar Harbor, Maine❤️) when they were both at work events, Evelyn and Beckett never expected to see each other again. Until Lovelight Farms, where Beckett is the farm manager, wins a spot in Evie’s social media contest.
They both go back to their regular lives after the competition but Evelyn is increasingly aware that she’s no longer happy in her career. When she thinks of the last place she was happy, she pictures a field at Lovelight Farms and so she drops everything to head back to the special town of Inglewild.
Thanks to some small town scheming, it seems the only place for her to stay is Beckett’s, which just might give them a second – or third – chance.
I listened to this on audio since the whole series is available through hoopla with my library.
I loved these two characters even more than Stella and Luka so I really enjoyed this story even if it had some flaws. Lovelight farms, Inglewood, and all of the town’s characters have really grown on me! This setting is just amazing!
That said, I can see a theme of what should be simple misunderstandings as the huge conflict in both stories I’ve read. This usually frustrates me and causes the romance to not be a good fit. In the last one I loved the setting enough to overlook it and in this one I loved Evelyn and Beckett enough for it to still work even with a weak ending.
Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison
Rating: 3.5 stars
Steam Level: 2
After one too many disappointing boyfriends, Lovelight Farms baker Layla has given up on love. Luckily Caleb, suffering from his own bad relationship streak, has an idea.
The two will practice date for a month. He’ll do his best to get her to believe in love again and she can help him improve his dating skills. What could possibly go wrong with this scenario?
This was another quick and fun audiobook experience.
I was happy to be back with the characters of Inglewood and enter the world of Lovelight Farms again. There are quite a few cameo appearances from Stella, Beckett, and Evelyn. It was fun to experience more of Layla’s bakery.
I didn’t enjoy the narration of this one as much. I didn’t like the accents chosen for these characters. Layla and Caleb didn’t work as well for me as leads. There were some pretty funny dating scenes but there is definitely a theme of silly misunderstanding as the big conflict. In this book there wasn’t enough to offset that.
I’ll probably read Charlie and Nova’s story when it comes out this year because I’m definitely curious about those characters.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Rating: 5 stars
Apparently I saved the best for almost last this month! I started this book at the beginning of December but set it aside in favor of holiday romances. I’m so glad it was waiting for me to come back to after Christmas!
In 1920, Alaska, Jack and Mabel struggle to establish their new homestead. They are childless, both still dealing with unresolved grief from that, and drifting apart under the work and despair of impending winter.
When they build a snow girl during the first snowfall in a moment of playfulness, they find the snow child gone the next morning. But they begin to catch glimpses of a young girl in the woods surrounding them.
Eventually they meet the mysterious girl, Faina, who somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness and reminds Mabel of a fairy tale from her own childhood. As they get to know Faina, Jack and Mabel also find their way back to each other, but the mystery of Faina is still to be discovered.
There’s a lot going on here. This book spans years which I didn’t realize going in.
I loved the characters, particularly Jack and Mabel with their marriage and the loss that they’ve been dealing with. The Alaska setting was absolutely gorgeous and vivid even with as cold and harsh as its described. Ivey captures so much beauty, rawness, and emotion in her writing.
I was surprised how quickly this book sucked me in and kept me turning the pages. The story did not feel slow paced but it is one you sink into. It’s definitely character driven over plot driven.
The only thing I didn’t like (besides lots of hunting and processing descriptions which is not my thing) was how abrupt the ending felt.
After looking up some other readers’ views on the ending I feel more settled and better understand what happened. They picked up on a couple details I missed that made the ending feel complete and resolved. I especially appreciated reading reviews on goodreads from Alaskans and understanding how their experiences and culture shaped their insights.
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
Rating : 4.5 stars
This was my graphic novel pick for my winter tbr. I was thinking hockey and winter could go together.
Eric “Bitty” Biddle, a former figure skater turned hockey player, is a freshman at Samwell University. He’s also an amazing baker, vlogger, and attempting to overcome his fear of checking to maintain his athletic scholarship.
This first collection covers Bitty’s freshman and sophomore years as he bonds with his teammates, the hockey seasons progress, and he develops a bit of a crush on the famous team captain Jack Zimmermann.
My hold for this book came through just in time to read it for New Year’s Eve. This story is not what I expected when I selected it for that but I loved it all the same!
This series is definitely for adults or at least a mature audience. Much of the story takes place in a college frat house so there’s a lot of cursing, binge drinking, and sexual references.
I loved Bitty and the way he narrates much of the story as a part of his vlog. I loved all the baking and his heartwarming personality that’s full of southern hospitality.
One of my favorite lines was when a teammate reminds him, “Bits. There’s no pies in hazing.” There’s also another scene when a player gets into Harvard Law School and is compared to Elle Woods which cracked me up!
I enjoyed the relationships between teammates and how they equal parts goof around and support one another. The slow build of a crush between Bitty and Jack and then possibly more made me sigh.
This book also felt long for a graphic novel which was nice. I usually feel like my reading experience is too short when reading graphic novels.
It did get the song “Halo” stuck in my head though. In some way, this book reminded me of Helena Hunting’s Pucked series, one of my favorite romances. I’m really craving reading a hockey romance now!
I can’t wait to pick up the next book in this series. Especially with the title Sticks and Scones!
What did you read in December?
