December was a weird month. I wouldn’t say that I read more or less in the final month of the year, but this year I read less than I had read any other month. I just…struggled to find books that would capture my entire attention. I so desperately wanted to escape reality, except reality wasn’t really letting me. I think after finishing The Empire of Gold I couldn’t figure out what was next (as I desperately wanted another fantasy series that would give me the same experience), so I spent a lot of time bouncing from book to book to book without finishing anything. Add in the holidays and the world and it was just…a month.
The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty (PURCHASE) 5 Stars I mean, I will forever read anything Chakraborty writes ever again. She just…this was incredible. I had one incredibly minor complaint that in the end didn’t affect my overall rating or enjoyment of this book. This is the concluding novel to the Daevabad Trilogy and it was everything that the reader could ask for. I also appreciated that when it was done…it was done. It wasn’t open ended in any way and that was something I think I really needed by the time I reached the end.
It’s a Whole Spiel Edited by Katherine Locke (PURCHASE) 4 Stars. I think a lot of my higher rating for this compilation is that I relate to the characters from a faith/ethnicity standpoint. I hadn’t read such a heavily Jewish focused book (or rather short stories) ever that was also modern and I really appreciated that. It’s a Whole Spiel is a compilation of short stories all about Jewish kids and the differences in practices, in what they believe, how they practice, and how they do or do not interact with the real world. In all honesty, I wish I had had something like this when I was a teenager, it would have made some things very different for me.
The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (PURCHASE) 3.5 Stars This was such an interesting premise, but I found that there was a little TOO much going on once the story started. In this book we are following our main characters as they are in a race against time and others to solve a mysterious death. There is one catch, every morning they wake up as a different character in the mystery and they are racing against 2 others who may or may not be on “their side”. I found the book, overall, to be very well done, however I didn’t fully connect to it. It felt a bit busy, or disjointed while reading, and even though I loved the last 75 pages or so, I don’t know if that love really offset the rest of the book.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells (PURCHASE) 3 Stars I’m not really a massive Sci-Fi reader (if you haven’t already noticed), but I was intrigued by these short, almost novella, style stories about a “Murderbot”. In this first book we are getting an understanding of our main character, what the concept of a “Murderbot” is and how they fit in the world. With it being so short, there isn’t too much to say, other than I feel like this was a good foundational book. I will probably continue through the series, mostly because the books are shorter and easier to consume.
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie (PURCHASE) 4 Stars I will forever stand by any Agatha Christie novel, she is just the queen. Here we’ve got a classic locked room who done it and, she did not disappoint, even I was surprised at the twists. Agatha is excellent at handling the classic mystery, making something that could be truly atrocious a little bit softer. Her books are nice reprieves from our modern mystery/thriller/suspense novels that are usually so hard (in terms of content- brutality).
I’m also currently, as of writing and probably posting, reading what will be my last book of the year. I will finish this book before the clock strikes midnight on December 31, 2020, BUT not before I have to write, edit, and post this wrap up. The book I’m currently reading is Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L Armentrout, which is the second book in the Blood and Ash Duology (trilogy? Series? Who knows). I’ve got to say, at this point I know what to expect with the story, which is an almost jokingly amount of angst, riddled with lines that’ll make me laugh, and an easy world of escapism for a few days.
And that was it! That wraps my entire year of reading for 2020. Is this something that you would continue to be interested in reading in the future? My Best/Worst list will be coming your way in January (just a couple weeks away) and I’m excited to share an overall look at my reading this year!
A Cuppa Cosy 