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 Mystery Guest (Nita Prose): I felt the same way about the second book in the series as I did about the first book. I liked it. I’m glad I read it. I wasn’t wowed by it. If you liked the first book, this one felt identical.
West Heart Kill (Dann McDorman): I’ll start with the only negative thing about this book: It didn’t stick the landing. It promised a big, clever reveal, and it wasn’t. So why did I give this book five stars? Because up until that point, it was Knives Out + Ice Storm + Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. And I really liked Knives Out. So I loved this book.
The Heir Affair (Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan): I was saving this book for a rainy day, and I was in a bit of a reading lull — emotionally — so I decided to break out the story. It meandered all over the place, and the infertility stuff ranged from moving to offensive. But it was exactly what I needed at the right time. Is it great art? No. But neither is People magazine, and I love that, too.
The Windsor Knot (S.J. Bennett): I was both drawn to and suspicious of this series. Queen Elizabeth solving crimes? Would the whole thing be silly? But no; this is like Queen Elizabeth in the Crown — a replica of the woman but feeling true(ish) to life. How does she realistically solve crimes? You’ll have to read to find out. But this was such a delightful book that I immediately continued to the next book in the series.
What did you read last month?
1 comment
So glad you enjoyed “The Windsor Knot!” The 4th in the series is coming out soon, but no plans for a North American release yet. :p I’m plotting to try to get a copy from the UK.
I finished four books in December, all of them decent reads, reviewed on Goodreads & StoryGraph as well as on my blog. All rated between 3 & 4 stars.
* “The Travelling Cat Chronicles” by Hiro Arikawa (the January pick for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club), about a Japanese man who takes in a stray cat, and then travels around the country trying to find a new home for him. I’ve never been that fond of animal stories, because inevitably, they wind up being sad. Mild spoiler alert: Kleenex was required for this one too. There is some humour to lighten things up. I wasn’t immediately captivated by this book, but it did wrap up nicely.
* “The House on the Cliff” by D.E. Stevenson (a chapter-by-chapter re-read with my DES group.). Typical DES fare, a pleasant, “cozy” read about an orphaned young woman who inherits her family’s big old house on the Devonshire coast — albeit not lot of money for its upkeep — and tries to carve out a new life there for herself.
* “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid (March pick for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club). If you’ve enjoyed some of the author’s other books (as I have), you will probably like this one too. Old-fashioned Hollywood glamour with some modern twists.
* “Anne of Windy Poplars” (known as “Anne of Windy Willows” in the UK) by L.M. Montgomery, in advance of my LMM Readathon Facebook group’s read of the next book in the series, “Anne’s House of Dreams,” which began Jan. 15th. It’s about Anne’s three years as principal of the high school in Summerside before her marriage to Gilbert, and is often regarded as “filler” between books #3 & #5 in the series, a lesser volume. Even so, there are some funny episodes and great writing. It’s been many years since I last read this one, and I’m glad I didn’t skip it.