December was busy! Not a surprise. Between year-end work for my job, holiday prep, there were so many other things to attend to. And December is a big month here as the empty nest becomes filled once again. Our Seattle kiddo visited for 3 weeks and even our local gal spent a good amount of time here at home. I also admit to watching a bit more tv shows than my norm while wrapping gifts or just relaxing in the evening. Even so, I managed to squeeze a good amount of reading in. I did gravitate to the holiday books which were often light, quick, easy reads. Two of the nine books that I read this month were audio versions, which was a nice way to get some reading done this month.
Unfortunately I spent the end of the month sick in bed with the flu or something like it (Yes, I had a flu shot!), so while I did not get very much reading done then (zero focus!), I was able to put together my year end lists. I did two this year, separating fiction and non-fiction.
Top 25 Fiction Reading 2022
Top 10 Non-Fiction Books Read in 2022
But back to this month’s reading. Here is what I read in December.
Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America – Cody Keenan
I was really intrigued by this memoir! Keenan, a senior speech writer for President Obama, brings us into the inner circle where we get to know many of the players a wee-bit better and see them when their guard is down. Did I agree with everything that was discussed in this book policy-wise? No. But I was completely fascinated by the process and pace in which these folks have to get their job done.
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Holiday Romance – Catherine Walsh
I do tend to love to read the light holiday rom coms in December, and this definitely ranks up there as one of the better ones – so many of them just are not that great. Holiday Romance is just a nice, cute holiday read that will give you all the Christmas-y feels and pull on your heart strings. I enjoyed it enough that I did look up Walsh’s backlist and plan on reading her non-holiday books.
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Thank You for Listening – Julia Whelan
Julia Whelan is one of my favorite audio book narrators. This is the 2nd book I have read (listened to) that she has written in addition to narrate. I did enjoy learning a bit more about the process of audio book narration, however the story, while likable, but was just ok. A good, fast, fairly light book about an audio book romance narrator.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
The Family Game – Catherine Steadman
There is not a lot of good to say about this one as far as the characters go. These are strange, dark, weird, not nice people that are very wealthy and live in their own bubble. While it was a page turner that I couldn’t put down and I enjoyed it mostly, that was it. Completely unrealistic.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
The Vibrant Years – Sonali Dev
The Vibrant Years is a multi-generation and multi POV story of 3 Indian women in the U.S. I enjoyed the differing POVs as it lent to really getting to know each character individually. I also liked how being there for each other is a common theme and that resonated deeply. I did find it drawn out at times and it read much slower than it should have. Thank you to NetGalley and Mindy’s Book Studio for an e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion. The Vibrant Years is now available.
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The Holiday Swap – Maggie Knox
A cute, light identical twins story about pulling the ol’ switcharoo. Both sisters are overwhelmed with their individual life drama heading up to the holidays and decide to switch places. Chaos ensues.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
Blaze Me a Sun – Christoffer Carlsson
I requested this ARC on a whim after reading one positive review from an online book-friend. In the end, she enjoyed it much more than I did. I did not dislike it, but it was a very, very slow burn. The double timeline was choppy and the large cast of characters often left me scratching my head. I did think it was very interesting and underneath all of the confusion, a good suspense/crime procedural but it was almost too much work to keep enjoying it as much as I wanted to. Originally published in Swedish, I can’t help but wonder if a bit of the “flow” was lost in translation. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for my early e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Blaze me A Sun will be released on 1/3/23.
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Royal Holiday – Jasmine Guillroy
A light holiday romance with the times-up trope. Vivian accompanies her daughter on a trip to England who will be acting as stylist to the Queen. She doesn’t expect to fall for a handsome staff member and start a whirlwind romance on her trip. I didn’t feel the holiday vibe in this one that I was looking for.
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Before I Do – Sophie Cousens
I listened to Before I Do on audio and it may not have been the right fit for me – perhaps I may have done better reading this one. “What would you do if ‘the one that got away’ turned up the night before your wedding?” That is the premise here and the ongoing question as this double time-line romance has us wondering from the beginning, what happened at the wedding? We meet Audrey as she is about to marry Josh but quickly learn that a +1 guest is the one that got away.
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