December 2023 Wrap Up

Starting off December strong finishing a book on the first. Let's see if we can keep that momentum going and read a good chunk before the end of the year!!!

1: The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman - I didn't care for this. At all. Hannah was self-absorbed and just about destroyed her found family while trying to keep her found family from falling apart. She was so worried about keeping things exactly as they were from years past, that she never noticed how the people around her were chng and growing. I have since sold this.

2: Sackett's Land by Louis L'Amour - I didn't like this one. December does not seem to be going well. It was dull. It wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't a good one either? The most accurate description I can give is "Yes, was book." I took literally nothing away from this read. 

3: Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren - Picking up on the slack, this one was a solid 4.5 stars. It was good. I enjoyed going back and forth in time in it. We weren't just told that Macy and Elliot had a history. We got to go live it. The resolution was worth it in the end. Sometimes, when you know, you know. 

4: Poems of Hate ed. by Rich Hazelton - This book came free with a purchase at BN, since I am a Premium member. I read it the same day I got it. It was surprisingly good. And that's coming from someone who doesn't normally read poetry. I will definitely now give its sister book, Poems of Love, a try!

5: A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall – This was amazing. I loved the way he told the story. Both the Duke and Viola deserved so much better than what they got in the beginning. I loved reading the history of Gracewood and his friend and the reveal for him and how he must have felt the same kind of love the whole time. I'm proud of Viola for leaving her comfort zone and trusting that the people around her won't hurt her. She got the man of her dreams in the end. Very well written and I'm reasonably sure Lady Marleigh and Miranda de Vere are now my favorite characters.

6: Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See - This was a really quick read. I loved the way we are shown that the lives of  "privileged" women in 15th-16th century China was not all that much better than that of their working class counterparts. If anything it was more restricted. Girls forced to bind their feet and maintain a 100% blemish free face in order to be able to marry, only being permitted outside of the family's compound to move into her husband's, having to answer to her mother-in-law at all times, even if it would cause harm. I'm glad we've moved away from that. I adored the way Yunxian helped her family however she could, knowing the risks she took. Especially when she basically stood up to the most powerful man in her entire country. She proved that women were more than just ornaments to be gawked at. I wholeheartedly recommend this. 

7: Pond Water by Brenda (FireEagle) Biddix - I didn't know what I was getting. This book left a lot to be desired. It rushed through the plot. Many places could have used a lot more development. They just jumped from scene to scene with kind of...no sense of direction.