PERSONAL LIFE
Well, this sounds like a broken record but guess what I did in December? Yeah, I worked. And it was stressful because retail in pre-Christmas time is… not exactly fun? It’s stress pure and I didn’t really get to do anything much. Except for the first two weeks where I was sick at home with not much of a voice and a cough from hell and could read and play nintendogs all day. Thanks to my friend who gave me her Nintendo 3DS, I could fulfill teenage me’s biggest wish and get nintendogs and I love my little computer pets.
Christmas was wonderful. I spent it with my boyfriend’s family, like in the previous years and I always like being there. The food was fantastic, too! We made pierogi ruskie which has become one of my favourite foods of all time. Oh and I got a pillow for side sleepers and guess what, my backpain has basically disappeared. And I also got tickets to see one of my favourite bands, Kraftklub, live in September and I’m so excited already!!
After Christmas I went back to work, then drove home for New Year’s.
WHAT I READ
How to Kiss Your Best Friend by Jenny Proctor
Kate Fletcher is my kryptonite.
She’s also my best friend. Former best friend?
I’m not sure what you call it when we grew up attached at the hip and then she left Silver Creek (and me) to travel the world.
The important thing is: Kate is back. (Temporarily.)
And I’m still in love with her. (Permanently.)
But something is different now. The attraction doesn’t seem one-sided. I don’t think I’m imagining the heat in Kate’s eyes or the chemistry crackling between us.
But will that be enough to keep Kate here, when, for as long as I can remember, all she’s wanted to do is leave?
I’m determined to give her a reason to stay. Family. Connection. Roots. And me. I’ll have to start with sparks and fire, but if I take this step, there’s no turning back to simple friendship. And if she doesn’t feel the same way, I might lose her again—this time for good.
I really, really liked this book! I’m always a sucker for a good friends-to-lovers and this one was especially sweet. One thing I enjoyed above all was their honesty with each other and that there was no real drama because of miscommunication. Kate and Brody talk about their fears, even if it takes a while for them to accept them. It was amazing how deeply in love they are with each other already, one so far gone the whole town knows about it, the other not even knowing it themselves. This was fun and sweet and I loved the whole Hawthorne family and their dynamics. Read my full review of How to Kiss Your Best Friend here.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Count Dracula sleeps in a lordly tomb in the vaults beneath his desolate castle. His stony eyes are open. His cheeks have the flush of life beneath their pallor. On his lips – a mocking, sensuous smile and scarlet-fresh blood. He has been dead for centuries, yet he may never die…
Here begins the story of an evil ages old and forever new. It is the story of those who feed a diabolic craving into the veins of their victims, into the men and women from whose blood they draw their only sustenance. It is a novel of peculiar power, of hypnotic fascination. The reader is warned that he who enters Castle Dracula may not escape its baleful spell, even when he closes this book.
I somehow expected more from this book. It had such a great, interesting beginning. But as soon as the plot goes to England, it goes downhill. I was bored for the better part of the story until it all wraps up very quickly at the end.
Seven Percent of Ro Devereux by Ellen O’Clover (ARC)
Ro Devereux can predict your future. Or, at least, the app she built for her senior project can.
Working with her neighbor, a retired behavioral scientist, Ro created an app called MASH, designed around the classic game Mansion Apartment Shack House, that can predict a person’s future with 93% accuracy. The app will even match users with their soul mates. Though it was only supposed to be a class project, MASH quickly takes off and gains the attention of tech investors.
Ro’s dream is to work in Silicon Valley, and she’ll do anything to prove to her new backing company—and the world—that the app works. So it’s a huge shock when the app says her soul mate is Miller, her childhood best friend with whom she had a friendship-destroying fight three years ago. Now thrust into a fake dating scenario, Ro and Miller must address the years of pain between them if either of them will have any chance of achieving their dreams.
I loved this book! Ro is such a great protagonist. She’s young and learning about herself and life and makes mistakes, she owns up to them and tries to change things for the better. Ro is selfish at times but as a reader, it’s great to see where she comes from and why she acts the way she does. Following her journey and growing as a character was so enjoyable to read! I also loved the friends to lovers romance as well as the other friendships depicted throughout the story. I loved the topics discussed and the way in which they were discussed. Such a quick yet great story!
As Kismet Would Have It by Sandhya Menon
Dimple Shah has a lot of opinions about marriage, but they boil down to this: It’s not for her. Sure, she loves her boyfriend, Rishi, but why does she need to validate that with an institution that has historically never favored the woman? Why go through all that hassle?
Rishi Patel deeply disagrees. He believes in the power that comes with combining love and tradition, and when the time comes, wants nothing more than to honor those things in a huge celebration with his friends and family. He knows Dimple loves him, but in hearing her rant about how marriage is a “construct of hegemonic masculinity” for the millionth time, a small, niggling part of him worries that it’s not the institution of marriage Dimple has a problem with; maybe it’s him.
The two lovebirds find themselves at a philosophical impasse. Can they find a way to work it out, or does kismet have other plans?
It’s been so long since I read When Dimple Met Rishi so I of course forgot a lot. But I still feel like this was too much unnecessary drama. It was kind of cute and I especially enjoyed Dimple and Rishi interacting with their families. But it was only okay.
Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee
Green Bone Saga #3
Jade, the mysterious and magical substance once exclusive to the Green Bone warriors of Kekon, is now known and coveted throughout the world. Everyone wants access to the supernatural abilities it provides, from traditional forces such as governments, mercenaries, and criminal kingpins, to modern players, including doctors, athletes, and movie studios. As the struggle over the control of jade grows ever larger and more deadly, the Kaul family, and the ancient ways of the Kekonese Green Bones, will never be the same.
The Kauls have been battered by war and tragedy. They are plagued by resentments and old wounds as their adversaries are on the ascent and their country is riven by dangerous factions and foreign interference that could destroy the Green Bone way of life altogether. As a new generation arises, the clan’s growing empire is in danger of coming apart.
The clan must discern allies from enemies, set aside aside bloody rivalries, and make terrible sacrifices… but even the unbreakable bonds of blood and loyalty may not be enough to ensure the survival of the Green Bone clans and the nation they are sworn to protect.
*Bangs fist on table* This was fucking amazing. Great. Loved it. Wonderful. My favourite book of 2022. I don’t know why I put of reading it for so long, but I enjoyed this so much. This last instalment follows the Kaul family over the course of many years and I loved to see where the characters go and how they grow older and they change and how the world around them changes as well. I simply love the world building in this series so incredibly much, the politics and the economic aspects as well as the social ones are so well written. A fantastic ending to a fantastic series, I wish I could read it for the first time all over again.
December Dreams by Various Authors
Küsse unterm Mistelzweig, prickelnde Gefühle im Schneegestöber, romantische Abende vor dem Kamin – was gibt es Schöneres im Advent, als es sich mit einem Buch und einer Tasse heißer Schokolade gemütlich zu machen? In „December Dreams“ warten jeden Tag realistische und fantastische Lovestorys auf dich, die die Zeit bis Weihnachten versüßen und nicht nur den Schnee zum Schmelzen bringen …
An sich waren die Geschichten schon schön und in sich verständlich. Trotzdem wäre es bei den meisten besser gewesen, man hätte davor sämtliche Bücher der Autor*innen gelesen, da die Bücher in diesen Universen spielen oder sogar auf ihnen aufbauen. Einzelne Geschichten ohne großartigen Zusammenhang hätten mir da um einiges besser gefallen.
Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei
Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman, a brother to five sisters, and a hockey legacy. With a father and a grandfather who have gone down in NHL history, Mickey is almost guaranteed the league’s top draft spot.
The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey’s infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he really wants, and what he’s willing to risk for it.
Oh look, it’s another 2022 favourite! This book was so short, but so many amazing things inside. I absolutely loved the characters. Both Mickey and Jaysen and how they tentatively grow on each other and accept each other and their struggles. But I also loved the rest of the team and their friendships and how they simply let each other be who they are. They help without question but are also quick to call each other out. I loved the “found family” feeling of it. But I also really liked seeing Mickey with his family by blood, especially with his sisters. Another aspect about the book I loved was the part depression played and how it was discussed. Also, this book had a very diverse cast and I’m here for that. Thanks to everyone telling me to read it!
The Luminaries by Susan Dennard
In Hemlock Falls, when nightmares rise, only the Luminaries stand between humanity and these monsters bent on devastation. Winnie Wednesday knows the only way to redeem her disgraced family is to pass the Luminary trials, but when she encounters an unknown monster, she realizes she must also protect Hemlock Falls and her heart from a former friend with secrets of his own.
I read this book in only two sittings and loved every second of it. I’m easily scared so of course I had vivid images of the monsters described in my head. Susan Dennard really manages to create a somewhat haunting atmosphere with constant tension yet still including seemingly carefree moments. I really loved the atmosphere of the forest, how it’s normal by daylight but how it becomes so much worse during nights. I could imagine everything incredibly well. I also liked Winnie and her strength a lot. Following her life was great to read about! Read my full review of The Luminaries here.
BOOK HAUL
The Stars Beyond the Stone by Bonnie Wynne
The Price of Magic #3
The Scions roam free, and only the sorceress can hunt them…
After the battle with storm god Molech Suun, a city is in ruins and a new Archmage holds the Syndicate’s leash.
But while Gwyn has accepted her fate – to hunt down and destroy the remaining Scions – her loyalty is still to her old master Faolan, held captive by a cunning necromancer.
Saving Faolan means leaving the wizards and the Clockwork City behind.
With the shapeshifter Lucian at her side, Gwyn embarks on a dangerous journey across the sea, to lands where pirate kings rule and wild magic sings.
But sorceresses are heir to a dark legacy of blood – and Gwyn soon finds that she’s the one being hunted.
The Scions want her dead, and a new enemy sends threats and warnings that can’t be ignored.
As Gwyn struggles to balance her desires and her destiny, she finds herself unprepared for what awaits her beyond the city walls.
And far to the south, amid the ashes of a fallen kingdom, a familiar foe is setting deadly plans in motion…
Strike the Zither by Joan He
The year is 414 of the Xin Dynasty, and chaos abounds. A puppet empress is on the throne. The realm has fractured into three factions and three warlordesses hoping to claim the continent for themselves.
But Zephyr knows it’s no contest.
Orphaned at a young age, Zephyr took control of her fate by becoming the best strategist of the land and serving under Xin Ren, a warlordess whose loyalty to the empress is double-edged—while Ren’s honor draws Zephyr to her cause, it also jeopardizes their survival in a war where one must betray or be betrayed. When Zephyr is forced to infiltrate an enemy camp to keep Ren’s followers from being slaughtered, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who is finally her match. But there are more enemies than one—and not all of them are human.
To Wield a Crown by Helen Scheuerer
Curse of the Cyren Queen #4
A final quest. A people divided. Can one cyren turn the tides of fate?
The time has come to obtain the final birthstone of Saddoriel. Reeling from a near-deadly sacrifice, Roh must rally all her strength if she is to take her place upon the throne.
But with cyrenkind divided and enemies closing in, the road to Lochloria and beyond is more dangerous than ever. An ancient prophecy looms, loyalties are tested and Roh races against the clock that threatens to undo all she’s fought for.
As a centuries-long conflict comes to a head and forces of nature collide, Roh has to decide if there is more than one kind of magic in this world, and whether or not she has the power to harness it.
Some bonds will solidify, while others will be fractured forever – but all must take up their swords and face the final battle for a better Saddoriel.
Will Roh emerge from the perils victorious, or will the trials claim her at last?
The Vermilion Emporium by Jamie Pacton
It was a day for finding things . . .
On the morning Twain, a lonely boy with a knack for danger, discovers a strand of starlight on the cliffs outside Severon, a mysterious curiosity shop appears in town. Meanwhile, Quinta, the ordinary daughter of an extraordinary circus performer, chases rumors of the shop, The Vermilion Emporium, desperate for a way to live up to her mother’s magical legacy.
When Quinta meets Twain outside the Emporium, two things happen: One, Quinta starts to fall for this starlight boy, who uses his charm to hide his scars. Two, they enter the store and discover a book that teaches them how to weave starlight into lace.
Soon, their lace catches the eye of the Casorina, the ruler of Severon. She commissions Quinta and Twain to make her a starlight dress and will reward them handsomely enough to make their dreams come true. However, they can’t sew a dress without more material, and the secret to starlight’s origins has been lost for centuries. As Quinta and Twain search the Emporium for answers, though, they discover the secret might not have been lost—but destroyed. And likely, for good reason.
Seven Percent of Ro Devereux by Ellen O’Clover (ARC)
Ro Devereux can predict your future. Or, at least, the app she built for her senior project can.
Working with her neighbor, a retired behavioral scientist, Ro created an app called MASH, designed around the classic game Mansion Apartment Shack House, that can predict a person’s future with 93% accuracy. The app will even match users with their soul mates. Though it was only supposed to be a class project, MASH quickly takes off and gains the attention of tech investors.
Ro’s dream is to work in Silicon Valley, and she’ll do anything to prove to her new backing company—and the world—that the app works. So it’s a huge shock when the app says her soul mate is Miller, her childhood best friend with whom she had a friendship-destroying fight three years ago. Now thrust into a fake dating scenario, Ro and Miller must address the years of pain between them if either of them will have any chance of achieving their dreams.
The Lies We Tell by Katie Zhao
Anna Xu moving out of her parent’s home and into the dorms across town as she starts freshman year at the local, prestigious Brookings University. But her parents and their struggling Chinese bakery, Sweetea, aren’t far from campus or from mind, either.
At Brookings, Anna wants to keep up her stellar academic performance and to investigate the unsolved campus murder of her childhood babysitter. While there she also finds a familiar face – her middle-school rival, Chris Lu. The Lus also happen to be the Xu family’s business rivals since they opened Sunny’s, a trendy new bakery on Sweetea’s block. Chris is cute but still someone to be wary of – until a vandal hits Sunny’s and Anna matches the racist tag with a clue from her investigation.
Anna grew up in this town, but more and more she feels like maybe she isn’t fully at home here — or maybe it’s that there are people here who think she doesn’t belong. When a very specific threat is made to Anna, she seeks out help from the only person she can. Anna and Chris team up to find out who is stalking her and take on a dangerous search into the hate crimes happening around campus. Can they root out the ugly history and take on the current threat?
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
The Brown Sisters #3
Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she’s not entirely sure how…
Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.
Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore—and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.
Just for December by Laura Jane Williams
Evie Bird is a romance writer whose latest bestseller is being made into a Christmas movie.
Duke Carlisle is a world-famous actor who has landed the role of leading man.
When Evie and Duke meet on set, it’s a frosty encounter – even icier than the cobbled Bavarian streets they’re filming on.
But after images of them arguing leak to the press and put the movie in jeopardy, they are left with no choice but to fake date until the cameras stop rolling.
As the pair start to put their differences aside, their feelings gradually begin to thaw… But can sparks ever really fly in a snowstorm?
As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life.
Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe.
But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.
Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are—not a war, but a revolution—and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria’s freedom.
From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one.
After seventeen years—and countless broken bones and broken promises—she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close.
But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she’s spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything.
Including Ivan Lukov.
The Luminaries by Susan Dennard (ARC)
In Hemlock Falls, when nightmares rise, only the Luminaries stand between humanity and these monsters bent on devastation. Winnie Wednesday knows the only way to redeem her disgraced family is to pass the Luminary trials, but when she encounters an unknown monster, she realizes she must also protect Hemlock Falls and her heart from a former friend with secrets of his own.
ON THE BLOG
what I blogged
- Gay Club! by Simon James Green review
- exciting December 2022 releases
- The Luminaries by Susan Dennard review
- How to Kiss Your Best Friend by Jenny Proctor review
BLOG VISITS
posts by other bloggers I loved reading this month
Reviews
- Der Hexenzirkel Ihrer Majestät – Das begabte Kind von Juno Dawson by Isabell @ Books of Tigerlily
- You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry by Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books
- Anatomy: Eine Liebesgeschichte von Dana Schwartz by Friederike @ Friedelchens Bücherstube
- Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao by Cait @ Paperfury
- Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree by Lili @ Utopia State of Mind
- Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood by Library in the Tower
Other
- Pick a Winter Aesthetic & Get a YA Book Recommendation by Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books
How was your December? Was it a good ending for 2022? What was your favourite book of the month and have you picked a 2022 favourite or is that an impossible task for you?
Until next time,
