December 2020 Reads

 I hit my goal of 100 books for 2020 with 102 meaning I read 9 books in December, yay! It definitely helps to have a break at the end of the year to really get a lot of quality reading in. {grin}

My month started off slow, I just couldn't get into anything, so I was really surprised I ended the month with 9 books. I read a mix of books this month from memoirs to romance, multicultural stories, educational books about race - it was a great month!

Dear Girls by Ali Wong - I randomly heard about Ali Wong when I saw something about her having a Netflix comedy special. I haven't watched it, but I was intrigued about her and sought out her book having no clue what it was about. It is basically mini-essays she wrote to her daughters and she covered a multitude of topics. I found it to be well-written, funny, at times very sentimental, and also a lot crude, so that's your warning if dirty talk or cussing bothers you! I wouldn't say it was phenomenal, but I did enjoy it.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo - This was a fantastic look at many questions that come up as a white person trying to learn and do better. I liked the way Ijeoma addressed these topics {for example, cultural appropriation} in an insightful way while also not making me feel dumb which was much appreciated, ha! I really want to read this with Trent and eventually the girls.

Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur - We read this book in our Blog Friends Book Club and it was such a wild book {ha}. I cannot imagine my mother waking me up as a teenager asking me to help her cheat on her husband! But that is what happened to Adrienne. And she spent years and years and years dealing with the fallout of her mother. I found this book fascinating and really enjoyed reading and discussing it!

The Office: The Untold Story of the Great Sitcom of the 2000s by Andy Greene - If you liked The Office {and who doesn't?!} this was a fantastic look behind the scenes. The book is chronological and goes from the creation of the UK version all the way through the end of the show. It was absolutely fascinating and I loved that the style where it was like little interviews with everyone from Ricky Gervais to Steve Carrell, wardrobe, casting, NBC executives, writers, just anyone ever involved with the show. I did feel like it lost a little bit of steam towards the end - much like the show did - but overall I really, really enjoyed this!

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren - I don't often read holiday books, but I like Christina Lauren's books and wanted to give this one a try, and I'm glad I did! I read it in less than 24 hours! It's a groundhog day type book where Mae is trying to right the wrong of kissing the brother of the guy she has loved half her life. It was charming and really fun. I thought it ended really heart-warmingly and I even teared up a little!

A Rogue of One's Own by Evie Dunmore - Last November, I read Bringing Down the Duke about suffragists in the late 19th century in England. This follows another lady in the same group - she's a Lady who has left her family to fight for women's rights and battles with a man she grew up with who OF COURSE she falls for. While this is a classic romance novel, which you guys know I love, I really also enjoyed the aspect of the fight for women's rights. There were a lot of discussion around things that I have never thought about - like basically being your husband's property! - until these books. This author writes a sharp story and she's 2 for 2 on winners. R-rated.

Well Played by Jen Deluca - Last year, I read Well Met about people who participate in a small town renaissance festival. This was the second book about 1 of the women, Stacey, who is feeling dissatisfied with life and begins exchanging emails with one of the band members who plays at festivals around the country. Or at least she thinks she's emailing one of the band members! I didn't like this one as much as Well Met because I just didn't love Stacey. But I enjoyed being back in this little town and with these characters. There's a 3rd book coming out, and I will definitely read it too. R-rated.

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi - I now lead a team at work of 8 people and 6 of them live in India. One of them recommended this book to me, and I loved it! Lakshmi escaped an abusive marriage in the 1950s and is making a name for herself as a henna artist when a sister she didn't know she had comes into her life and threatens everything she has built. I loved the history, the culture AND the story. This was a beautiful read, I was captivated from page 1! 

HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style by Elizabeth Holmes - If you have any interest in the royal family and/or fashion, you will love this. I have been following Elizabeth Holmes on IG for a couple of years and love her takes on the role fashion plays in the royal family. I found this book to be fascinating and enjoyable, and I LOVED all the pictures! It was a quick read that I ate up.

To end the year, my favorite book of December was The Henna Artist! It really was such a beautiful story!!

Trent is continuing to read the Artemis Fowl series by himself and also got a bunch of books for Christmas! I'm hoping to find something he and I can get back to reading together. I don't know how many years {if any} I can interest him in reading with him, it's definitely dwindling!

I got Drew several Baby-Sitters Club books for Christmas this year after she got #1-6 last year. It is so fun to read these with her and go down memory lane! She is also reading The One and Only Ivan by herself and I'm thrilled she has found something she is enjoying to read alone. It has definitely been much harder to get her to read to herself! She got a LOT of books for Christmas, so I am definitely going to make reading at home by herself a part of her daily life in 2021. {They get a lot of silent reading time at school, but I'm bad about making it happen at home! I never had to with Trent, ugh.}

I also checked out 2 History Smashers books - recommended by Emily - to read with the kids. I have the one about The Mayflower and the Women's Right to Vote. I can't wait to find out where my education was wrong, ha.

So there you go! 2020 reading is DONE! I will share all my stats next week to see how the year stacked up!