So much reading (listening) in December! Woot woot! I loved having so much free time this month. Things will not look like this next month.
12/1: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4) by J.K. Rowling (audiobook narrated by Jim Dale, 2000) - Look, sometimes you have to comfort listen to a book you know you're going to love. 5/5 stars
12/1: Rainbow Black by Maggie Thrash (library book, 2024) - Is this a murder mystery or a gay romance novel? I'll let you decide. I found it to be a real page-turner. 4.5/5 stars
12/5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) by J.K. Rowling (audiobook narrated by Jim Dale, 2003) - Delightful. Also, some of the best lines in Harry Potter come in this book. So many hats! 5/5 stars
"Yes, but the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters," said Sirius with a smile. (page 302)
"Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean all have." (page 459),
It seemed impossible that there could be people in the world who still desired food, who laughed, who neither knew nor cared that Sirius Black was gone forever. (page 844)
12/7: A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett - A book that was available immediately on Libby. Batshit insane historical fiction. Lots of hats. 5/5 stars
12/10: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J.K. Rowling (audiobook narrated by Jim Dale, 2005) - These books really hold up. 5/5 stars
12/11: Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti (university library, 2024) - Sometimes you read something really weird and you fall in love with it. 5/5 stars
12/15 X (Kinsey Millhone #24) by Sue Grafton (library, 2015) - A reread for me. It's always fun to go back and hang out with Kinsey. The ending of this book was not as stellar as I wanted, though. 3.5/5 stars
12/15: Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto, translated by Don Knottings (library, 2024) - Good enough. I think this book had room for more introspection, though. 3.5/5 stars
12/18: Innocent in Death (In Death #24) by J.D. Robb (library ebook, 2007) - Reading these books is like slipping into the coziest of clothes. 4/5 stars
12/23: Exile's Honor (Valdemar: Alberich's Tale #1) by Mercedes Lackey (library, 2002) - These Valdemar books really are just the same story over and over again, but who am I to say that's not the story I want to read? 4/5 stars
12/23: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) by J.K. Rowling (audiobook narrated by Jim Dale, 2007) - These books really are good. 5/5 stars
12/27: How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang (library, 2024) - I really liked the peek into what a writer's room for a television series looks like, but as a romance novel, this was not my style. These two joke about being trauma bonded, but that's what's going on. Neither of them have dealt with their trauma and it makes me worried for both of them. It did lead to me finding this HILARIOUS Goodreads review, so there's that. 3/5 stars
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| I can't figure out how to link to individual comments on Goodreads anymore, but this is from Lit with Leigh. |
12/28: All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley (library ebook, 2023) - Bringley takes a job as a guard at the Met after his brother dies and he wants a job with pretty low stakes and plenty of time to think. He's at the Met for a decade. This was fine. There were some great observational moments, but I mostly wished it had been slightly more interesting. If you want some behind the scenes of this job, it's worth a read. 3/5 stars
Total: 13 books
Average star rating: 4.23/5 (bolstered greatly by so many Harry Potter rereads)
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Are your reading habits going to change at all in January?
Ohhh, Engie... That Goodreads review!! I'm crying/dying.
ReplyDeleteNothing to note about upcoming January reading except that one book club is reading _Frozen River_ and the other _Long Bright River_. Will this be confusing? Time will tell...
I snorted when I read that review. I want to write a review that makes people snort!!
DeleteOh, wow! That's too many rivers for me!
I picked up that Alphabetical Diaries and I'm excited to read it! The book I am reading right now, wooooooof it is GRIM, Engie. Grim. But it's such a compelling (and so sad) story. It's called Moon Road. I don't think my reading habits will change in January, but who is to say. Life, you know?
ReplyDeleteGRIM?! I guess if you're going grim, you should do it in the middle of winter. It's much more appropriate than reading it in July or something.
DeleteI hope you are as befuddled and in love with Alphabetical Diaries as I was. I mean, it makes very little sense and yet there is sense to be had!
It's been nice having so much free time, but mine's about to end too. Guess it's time to mentally prepare for the chaos to come.
ReplyDeleteYeah, next week is going to HIT ME HARD. Don't be worried if I just veer off into posting about black squirrels and Elvis sightings.
DeleteActually I'm hoping to read MUCH MORE in January than I did in November-December. I've got a lot of great books just waiting for me. i gave Rental Person... to my daughter for Christmas. She laughed at the title, perked up when I said it's Japanese- so far so good. Now I just have to convince her to read it.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope your daughter reads it! It's such a Japanese book!
DeleteGood question. Well, I'm beginning Alphabet Diaries today, so I'm going to say my goal is to read more quirky (?) books this year, or perhaps more accurately, experimental texts. However, I enjoy the serendipity factor too.
ReplyDeleteOh, if you're into experimental books, may I recommend Lincoln in the Bardo. I was so frustrated with it for the first 40-50 pages, but then I just let it wash over me and now I think about that book all the damn time.
DeleteThat goodreads comment is a gem. Oh my gosh.
ReplyDeleteyou read so much in December. I am almost jealous.
I think I need to pick up more Ken Follet novels this year. They are fun to read, easy to read and never bad.
Yes! Lit with Leigh sounds hilarious. I hope to read more of her reviews.
DeleteI hope my reading habits change. They have been SO horrible. I haven't finished a single book since the start of November. Yes, that is TWO months with no book completed. I'm ashamed of myself. Between NaBloPoMo and Christmas and kids and my husband travelling and two weeks of company...gah. I've watched shows and blogged...but no books. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteHa. Meanwhile, I have watched like two episodes of television. I should make a goal next year to watch more shows with my husband. But then when would I read?!
DeleteMan, a good Goodreads review is a treasure.
ReplyDeleteI THINK/hope I'm going to have a good reading month in January (knock wood or whatever other superstitious thing I have to do to ward off the evil eye). Kids will be back in their respective cities/states, husband will be traveling, I have a couple of appointments to ferry parents to but otherwise am hoping to have a quiet-ish month re-establishing exercise routines, continuing house decluttering, and reading (and probably puzzling until 4 a.m. at least a few times). My reading goal plagued me a bit this year, and although it's an artificial demarcation, I like the sense of starting over, being intentional about selections and trying to stop the impulse to doomscroll for an hour before settling down to read.
Whenever I noticed I've been on Reddit for more than five minutes, I try to just pick up my book. Surely whatever is in my book is going to be more uplifting than the news, right?!
DeleteLOL on the GoodReads review! Excellent.
ReplyDeleteMy reading habits will not change much. I haven't read much last week or this because Ted and Maya are off work, so they're with me for walks, and I'm not listening to my books. But that will change on Monday and life will be back to normal. Sadly, I don't read a lot of physical books anymore, though I got 4 for Christmas/Birthday, so I'm pretty well set up.
Oh, it's so nice you have someone with you on walks! You should mention to your Ted how wonderful dogs are for that purpose...
DeleteOh that Goodreads review! Have you heard about the IG account of ridiculous reviews of national parks?? I am not on social media but almost want to be on it to follow that account. I think there is also an IG account for ridiculous goodread reviews, too. I'm here for that kind of content.
ReplyDeleteI will be posting my reading recap sometime next week. My diversity % slipped a bit last year so I want to focus on making sure I am reading books with diverse authors/characters. It's tough because I am sort of at the whim of my library hold system so I don't really plan out my reading, perse. But I need to look at my holds list and make sure enough of the books on there are diverse.
I follow an account on Instagram (goodreads.reviews) that posts hilarious Goodreads posts. I love it.
DeleteYeah, I don't plan out my reading particularly well, to be honest. I just wing it every month based on library holds and hope for the best.
I loved the Harry Potter audiobook series narrated by Jim Dale! It's been awhile since I listened to them, and I'll bet relistening would be enjoyable. I don't think my reading habits will change...but who knows!
ReplyDeleteI thought relistening to the books was super enjoyable. I just wanted some comfort reading at the end of the year.
DeleteI haven't listened to the HP audiobooks yet, but I think that will be the next way I take in the series. I've heard they're excellent!
ReplyDeleteI will definitely have less time for reading in January as I only worked two full weeks in December, lol, so I managed to read FOURTEEN books last month. That's the most I've read in a really long time. Back to work/life means less time for reading, womp.