Best Books of December
As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.
So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.
These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from December.
The Family Game (Catherine Steadman): If you’re in the mood for a thriller, it’s a solid thriller. However, it has all of the unrealistic hallmarks of a thriller, such as people who can rationalize while horrific events unfold around them. What is up with that? If I saw someone killed before me, I wouldn’t calmly realize X, Y, and Z must be true. I would run. So unrealistic, and any sane person wouldn’t have made the characters’ decisions. But a quick read.
The Last Party (Clare Mackintosh): I really like Clare Mackintosh’s books, so I was bummed that her last one involved an airplane. As a nervous flyer, those types of books are a no-go. But this one was wonderful, and I’m so happy to see that she’s writing another mystery with the same main character. I liked spending time with Ffion.
Babel (KF Kuang): It was fascinating, very heavy-handed, and a little unsure of itself in places. I didn’t believe the author knew how the magic worked. But as someone with a translation degree, she captured the work perfectly. It’s a heartbreaking, beautiful book.
Bournville (Jonathan Coe): I ended the year on an excellent note. I ordered the book from the UK because I don’t think we’re getting it in the US. I chose it because the person who writes the Blackwell’s newsletter said: “Whenever I read Jonathan Coe (and I look forward to each new one!) I am always struck by two things; firstly, just how very English his writing is, and secondly, just how enjoyably readable he is. It is too tempting to say that he is my Dairy Milk.” Yes, Jonathan Coe IS my Dairy Milk. And like a Dairy Milk, I devoured this book in a few brief sittings because it was too delicious to put down and savour. I’ll reread it slower after everyone else in the house has gotten a chance to experience it.
What did you read last month?
2 comments
I just checked and couldn’t find “Bournville” here either, although I found other books by the same author. Maybe we will get it eventually, just later than in the UK? I wound up ordering “Widowland” by C.J. Carey from the UK because it sounded so interesting and I wanted to take part in the book group discussion, and there was no sign we were going to get it here in North America. (We eventually did, about 9 months later; same with the sequel, which will be out here this July.)
I read four books in December, all of them pretty good, all reviewed on my blog & on Goodreads (and StoryGraph). I thought I’d be able to squeeze in at least one more while I was visiting my parents, but there were just too many distractions…!
* “Etta Lemon: The Woman Who Saved the Birds” by Tessa Boase (alternate title: “Mrs Pankhurst’s Purple Feather: A Scandalous History of Birds, Hats and Votes”)(the December book for the Gateway/Lighthouse Women NoMo book club). This was a little dry to start, and probably a lot more detail about birds, the feather trade and the suffragette movement than you ever wanted or needed to know — but it was ultimately a pretty fascinating piece of forgotten social history.
* “Killers of a Certain Age” by Deanna Raybourn. This was pure fun — featuring four 60-something women, recruited as teenagers in the 1970s to form an all-female squad of elite assassins (!), now retired and sent on a cruise as a reward by their employer. Then they realize they’re being targeted for elimination themselves. Who put the hit out on them and why? Very funny in parts, and some great commentary on aging, corporations, sexism & more. I loved it. It would make a great movie, and I hope there is a sequel(s)!
* “Legend in Green Velvet” by Elizabeth Peters. An old favourite that I hadn’t re-read in years. Like many of Peters’ books, there’s an archeology angle, a murder, a romance, and plenty of humour. It was first published in 1976. The plot involves a young American student in Scotland who gets framed for murder and winds up running around the country with a handsome young laird who bears a striking resemblance to a certain well-known eligible bachelor of the time from a (cough!) prominent family. 😉
* “Sarah Morris Remembers” by D.E. Stevenson. This was a chapter-by-chapter group read & discussion with my DES book club, which I counted as a re-read. Sarah is a minister’s daughter who falls in love with her brother’s Austrian school friend — and then World War 2 intervenes…
I’ve decided to do book ratings and reviews this year, after your regular reminders that this is important. I created a GoodReads account and have been keeping up so far. I always thought it would be too much work because I read quickly when I have time to read – it’s not unusual for me to finish several books on a camping trip. Turns out it doesn’t take me long to look up the book and jot down a few positive comments, plus text a friend who might like the book.