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One of the things I’d like to include on this blog is a recap of my reading activity each month. I love shouting about books I love in the hopes that other people will read them, but I also think going through and thinking about what I’ve read each month will help me stay on track with some of my reading goals. With that in mind, here is the (belated) monthly reading recap for December 2020.
I’m not really doing a plot summary for each book, more just rambling a bit about my own feelings about them, so each title link will take you to the book’s Goodreads page. If you want to read any of the books I mention, there are links below each title for Amazon and Bookshop-or, if you want to find the book at a library near you, you can always check out Worldcat!
So, without further ado, let’s get to the books!
Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson-This is the sequel to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, and it actually doesn’t come out in the US until March. But I’m impatient so I had to order the sequel from Book Depository! I love a good mystery, and this honestly is just as good as the first book. I don’t want to give too much away, but Pip, despite swearing off the whole investigating murders thing after her past experiences, gets caught up in figuring out what happens when a friend’s sibling goes missing. Definitely pick it up if you loved the first one, or are a big mystery fan. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
All I Want For Christmas by Wendy Loggia-This was a perfectly fine Christmas romance. While it wasn’t my favorite book of the year, I enjoyed reading it, even though I don’t love books that have a random bit of “magic” in an otherwise realistic story. But if you can’t stop watching Christmas movies on Hallmark or Netflix during the holiday season, this is like the book equivalent of that. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Remedial Rocket Science by Susannah Nix-I was pleasantly surprised by this romance. Sometimes when I’m in the mood for romance, I’ll just see what’s available at my library, but often all the popular ones, aka the ones I’ve heard of, are all checked out, so I’ll take a chance on something unknown, and it can go either way. I’m actually a bit surprised I haven’t heard of this author, but I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan- Kevin Kwan returns to the world of the ultra rich in his new book, which is loosely based on A Room with a View. I have to admit I didn’t fall in love with this book or these characters like I did with Crazy Rich Asians, and the main character, Lucie, got on my nerves a bit, but still an enjoyable read. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett-Well at this point I’ll read basically anything Jenn Bennett writes. I think Starry Eyes is still my favorite, but Chasing Lucky has moved into 2nd place-aside from the friends to lovers storyline, there is a picturesque town, a bookstore, and lots of great secondary characters as well. Definitely consider this one if you like stories that have romance, but aren’t ALL romance. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer-I read VERY few sci-fi books this year, but Crownchasers was absolutely the best of those I read. I’m a sucker for a teens in space story (or space opera, as normal people would say), and when you add in an intergalactic scavenger hunt to determine the next ruler of a multi-planet empire, I’m definitely going to read it. And probably love it. Which was the case for Crownchasers (please give me the second one NOW, HarperTeen!) Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Heiress Apparently by Diana Ma-Books set in other countries are high on my list when it comes to literary catnip, so this one, which mostly takes place in Beijing, was of course a must read (The American Royals and Loveboat, Taipei comp didn’t hurt, either). There’s romance, and mystery, and family drama, and learning to stand up for yourself-all the elements of a great contemporary novel. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
This is How We Fly by Anna Meriano-I can’t believe no one (to my knowledge) has written a YA novel set in the world of competitive Quidditch yet, but thanks to Anna Meriano, we now have that, and the world is a better place. I have to say that I really, really dislike bad parents in YA books, so that aspect of this story really irritated me. I understand the choice and I know it is, sadly, a reality for some teens, but it just wasn’t my favorite. Nonetheless, I loved the Quidditch parts! And would definitely recommend based on that aspect alone. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey-Wow, this is by far one of my favorite books in the year (again, 2 of my most favorite things-a baking teen and a book set in a foreign country!). I loved all of the baked goods, I loved the development of the relationship between Lila and Orion, I loved the delightful English setting. Honestly, it just made me extremely sad about the fact that I haven’t left the state of New York since February. But anyway, read it! Especially if you love Anna and the French Kiss or Don’t Date Rosa Santos. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne Brown-Much like sci-fi, fantasy was a neglected genre for me this year. Once I got to December and I started looking at what I’d read so far this year, I decided to make a final push to read SOMETHING non-realistic fiction, and thus, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. Which was outside of my fantasy comfort zone, and took me a while to get into, but I ended up really liking it, and being sad about the ending, and wondering how exactly things are going to wrap up in the sequel. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim-This is another fantasy, this time based on The Count of Monte Cristo, another classic I have not read. But I like Tara Sim, and the plot sounded interesting. There is revenge, and deception, and plague, and adventure-it’s definitely a book that kept me guessing and wondering until the end, and another one with a sequel at the top of my list for 2021. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Cemetery Boys by Aidan Thomas-Third fantasy in a row! This time grounded in our own world, but with magic. Despite the hype for this book (National Book Award finalist, literally every single person I know loving it), it still took me FOREVER to read it because brujos and cemeteries and ghost romances aren’t really my thing, but, of course, once I read it, I loved it, just like everyone else. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Not Your #Lovestory by Sonia Hartl-At this point I needed a break from the speculative fiction, so I went back to my usual realistic fiction ways for the remainder of the month. I feel like I’m saying this a lot, but another thing I really like in books is online life-whether that’s YouTube, or Twitter, or other social media, it’s another thing that will always get me to pick up a book. And in this book, the main character is trying to build up her YouTube channel and be able to support herself doing that. She has an opportunity to do that due to a chance encounter at a baseball game, but this isn’t the positive thing you might think it would be. I also really enjoyed this book because there aren’t a TON of YA books that feature poor main characters, and I thought this was a well-done aspect of the book. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye-Another favorite of the year. If you know me IRL, you know the serious love/obsession I have for Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. And honestly, this rom-com gave me serious Simon vibes, AND I loved the characters as much as I love Simon, Bram and the gang as well. My one qualm was the parents, but again, that’s my own personal pet peeve and definitely didn’t detract from the book enough for me to do anything other than wholeheartedly shove this book into your arms. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom-Over the summer, I set a goal to read one nonfiction book in the anti-racism realm for each week of my break. I did this for a few weeks, but definitely didn’t keep it up for the whole summer, so I did want to see if I could finish the year with another book or two in this vein. I’d been following this author on Twitter for a while, and knew I wanted to read this book of essays, which I actually found to be a surprisingly quick read for nonfiction. I feel like it’s hard to say “oh, I LOVED this!” about books like this, because of course I don’t love the fact that systemic racism is an ongoing issue and so many people are harmed because of it, but this author writes well, breaks things down well, and is engaging. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Once Upon a Quinceanera by Monica Gomez-Hira- This was a book I thought I’d like more. I still enjoyed it, but definitely found a number of characters to be unlikeable and hard to endure for the duration of the story. I would still recommend this, if you like stories of families working through their problems, and romance of course. It was enjoyable, but it won’t be something I reread over and over. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson-One last nonfiction book to close out the year! This memoir is about the author growing up and coming to terms with his Black and queer identities, how they intersect, how one requires the suppression of the other. It’s a great addition to the YA memoir genre, and if you work in a library or a high school, it’s a must-have for your shelves. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong-Since I’ve started doing more book talks, I’ve started reading more graphic novels, and this was the final one I read this year. While it’s about friendship and basketball, there’s so much going on with each character that it’s a very rich story, and I love the color scheme used for the illustrations. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Apple in the Middle by Dawn Quigley-Again, in looking through my reading history for the year, I realized I’d only read 2 books by Indigenous authors. Definitely something to work on in 2021, but I figured at the very least I could squeeze in one more in 2020, and I had been wanting to read this one for a while. Apple has a very distinct voice-while there were times when she kind of got on my nerves, she is always true to herself, and she is supremely real. I loved getting to see her learn more about her heritage, and I look forward to reading more by this author. Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
Ways to Make Sunshine by Renee Watson-This is a middle grade novel, and it was advertised as a modern take on the Ramona books, with a Black main character. While the books skew a little young and I probably won’t end up adding this to my library collection, I personally enjoyed reading about Ryan and her family and friends (of course, Renee Watson wrote it, so this really isn’t a surprise). Get it! Amazon | Bookshop | Worldcat
And that’s all, folks-every book I read in December 2020! Tell me, what’s the best book YOU read during the last month?
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