Sunday Book Club: December 2019 Reading List

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5 years ago

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A little late is better than never, right? I definitely meant to post my December 2019 Reading List earlier in the month….but then I accidentally flipped the dates on my editorial calendar and posted another books post a week too soon and this a week too late. But hey, it’s never too late to read a good book, right?

December 2019 Reading List

The Last Affair by Margot Hunt

Note: I was given this book as an advanced release copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve really been on a thriller kick this year, so any book that starts out with a person who was recently killed is probably going to be a good one. But I’ve also been kind of meh about books centered around adultery, so going into this book was already a mixed bag for me.

So I guess the first place to start should be: would I recommend this book to anyone? Well, mostly likely no. If you’re just looking for another thriller to read though, this is a decent option. It meets the necessary check boxes for a thriller, with hidden motives, a lie, a serious mistake, and a jealous person. But did it blow me out of the water or leave me thinking about it days later? No. I couldn’t really find a character to connect with or truly feel bad for. I almost think I kept reading because I ultimately wanted to just find out who the killer was.

The Jewel & The White Rose by Amy Ewing

Isn’t it funny that right after I decide that I need a serious break from fantasy and dystopia novels, I end up picking up a super stereotype dystopia and get completely pulled into the series? Whoops. This one is about a world where the royalty, in a very Handsmaid tale way have women handpicked form the lower classes to birth their perfect children for them. Except this is a little more fantasy oriented in the sense that these women who are being hired actually have the ability to warp things like shape and color with their mind. So they’re actually “growing” the children with their minds to build the perfect children. Yeah, it’s a little odd. But I got sucked in quickly.

Snobs by Julian Fellowes

From the description of this book (and the fact that Fellowes created Downton Abbey), I thought that this book would be funny and enjoyable. It sadly fell a little flat for me. I couldn’t tell if the humor just wasn’t there for me or if it just wasn’t there at all.

How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry

I loved this book so much, I’m still thinking about it. It’s about a woman who grew up with her father above the bookshop that he owned and ran. Except now that he’s passed away, she’s taken on the responsibility of running it, only to find out it’s massively in debt and she needs to dig it out or give it up. Not only does the book tell her story, but it tells the story of all the characters who weave in and out of the bookstore on a daily and weekly basis. It’s so good and you need to take the time to read it.

Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison

I have a longer review coming for this book soon, but oh man, this one was a mind twister!

How to Be Single by Liz Tuccillo

How to be Single was so interesting. It was like part chick-lit, part study of dating, all fiction. I should first add, this is not a dating guide AT ALL. It’s about a woman who decided that she’s going to write a book for her editor about how to be single (since she’s sick of all of the books about dating). Part of that is that she’s going to travel to different countries to learn about how the women in those countries date and deal with rejection and men in their countries.

While you get to follow her on that journey and learn about dating around the world, you also get to watch her friends back home deal with their dating lives. As someone who has dealt with a lot of bad dating experiences, it was so interesting to read this and hear about so many other experiences (even if this was fiction).

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

It only took two years, but I’ve FINALLY finished book 5 of the Outlander series! I love this series, but this might have been the worst of the books. There was just so much extra stuff in here that I just didn’t want to read, it felt like it dragged. But I finally pulled myself together to finish it and I can finally move on to the next books in the series, because yes, of course I’m going to keep going. Duh.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

Woah. This book was so weird but so good. It’s about two kids who start sparking and light up in flames when they’re upset. And I don’t mean they light a match and set themselves on fire. I mean that their body creates flames. So when Madison, their new stepmom, asks Lillian (her old best friend) to come be their nanny for a summer, Lillian really has nothing better to do than say yes.

That’s really all I can say for now, but trust me, you need to read this book, it’s SO GOOD.

My Friend Anna by Rachel DeLoache Williams

I feel like everyone has been intrigued at some point in the last year by fake socialite Anna Delvey. Well now you can read the first hand account by the person she probably screwed over the most. You probably heard about her at one point: Rachel, the girl who Anna stole over $60,000 from in Morocco. This book is the whole story from Rachel’s point of view. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to read the whole thing, but whoa. Also, I’m incredibly impressed by Rachel and how she was able to hold strong throughout everything, it’s incredibly impressive.

Polite Society by Mahesh Rao

As much as I love Pride and Prejudice adaptations, it was fun to finally get a really good Emma adaptation! This time it’s Emma in India, with Ania as the main star. Polite Society was so much fun and gave me a lot of Crazy Rich Asian vibes, especially with how much money was being thrown around and the constant parties and events.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

I still haven’t decided how I feel about this book. I enjoyed that this book included a character who had cystic fibrosis and really discussed her experience with that. It was also really interesting that Hibbert really dove into the backgrounds of each character and how it effected every decision that they made. However, this novel fit the stereotype of hot guy falls for super quirky girl perfectly. Do I need another one of those? I don’t know.

Sleeping with the Enemy by Hal Vaughan

Things you don’t learn in history class: Coco Chanel was incredibly anti-semetic and may have helped the Germans during World War 2. How could you not want to read this book after reading this sentence!? Sadly, this book was a little dry and textbook like at times. I think I was hoping for non-fiction written like fiction, but this wasn’t really that. Womp.

Color Me In by Natasha Diaz

Wow. Wowwww. Color Me In was simply amazing. I’m trying to think of more words, but I’m stuck on amazing at the moment. It’s about a teenage girl who is a Jewish, half white, half African American, but was raised in the super white suburbs of New York, where she could pass as white. When her parents divorce, she and her mom move back in with her mom’s African American family, where she learns more about embracing all parts of herself. Just read this book please.

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

After The UnHoneymooners, I was less excited for Christina Lauren’s new novel, but Twice in a Blue Moon grabbed my attention from the beginning with a teenage romance. She then showed us how that one pivotal moment could shift a person’s life and change their outlook. It was an interesting novel with an intriguing plot, but it still felt like something was missing. Whether that was more development with her mom or more scenes with the main characters grandma, there was a piece of the story that still wasn’t there.

What are you reading this month? Let me know!