Wednesday, December 28, 2022

December Reads

At the beginning of this year I decided to do a re-cap of the books I read each month in 2022. This has been fun to do but also challenging because I loathe writing book summaries. That's what book jackets are for! It's also hard for me to explain why I like or don't like a book without giving spoilers. I want to tell you reasons, but I am a firm believer in not giving spoilers (save for cases like Romeo and Juliet where I feel like the plot should just be common knowledge - even though it wasn't for me). 

December was probably my slowest reading month this year. Normally, even if I'm really busy, I can still get a lot of "reading" in due to audiobooks (sometimes the busier I am, the more books I finish!), but this month I had serious brain fog and couldn't listen very well. Something unbloggable happened this month that has taken up all my mind space and depleted my attention span.

Here is what I read (or listened to) this month:

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah



Source: e-book

Summary: Ellie and her sister Julia assume responsibility for a young girl who comes from the woods and has seemingly been raised in the wild without identity.

Content: A few swears and one sex scene, abuse and abduction

Review: ****

Final statement: I enjoyed this book from a child development and psychological perspective. 

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson



Source: Kindle e-book (I think it was a free download a few years ago)

Summary: The annual community Christmas pageant is disrupted when the Herdman family wants to join in. 

Content: A few mild swears, one use of "sex," and some outdated mentalities, but mostly clean and family-friendly

Review: ****

Final statement: I enjoy reading this book to my kids every few years. 

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak



Source: audiobook

Summary: Mallory, a reforming drug addict, takes a job as a nanny for a five-year-old boy named Teddy who creates disturbing artwork that alludes to a disturbing history. 

Content: I can't remember the specifics, but it's in the PG-13 range.

Review: ****

Final statement: This was a pretty quick book, making it a nice laundry companion. It became a little unbelievable in the end, but I really liked Mallory. She was different from a lot of the usual characters in books, and I found her refreshing. 

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Here are the books I read but didn't like enough to review:



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And here are the books I'm still working on that I may or may not finish by the end of December:



If you don't know, The Book Thief is one of my favorite books of all time. This is approximately my 7th time reading it. 


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