Hi everybody, and welcome to my December wrap up!
First of all, we made it! 2020 was awful in many ways, and though things will not be magically fixed just because it’s 2021, there is some hope that things may slowly improve this year. I wish all of you an amazing 2021, and hope it’ll be filled with lots of good things, friends, family, health and great books 🙂
Secondly, I made it! I beat my own personal reading record and read over 100 books this year! And for my 100th book, I re-read my favorite book and still adored it and well, that was the best way to end the year for me, I think 🙂 That, and the tv binge-watch I did. So more on that in this post:
In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren
I started of my December with my first Holiday read of the season and it was so much fun. I wouldn’t call it my favorite Christina Lauren book, but I did really enjoy the story, the Groundhog Day plot, the characters and their little made-family, and the romance. And of course, all the Christmassy goodness!
Overall rating: 4 stars
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
This was an adorable read about a fan who goes on a date with a big tv star, without really knowing that they are actually online best friends and fanfiction authors. I loved the fan fiction aspect and how it tackled issues like bodyshaming and emotional abuse by family members. The romance was adorable, but the constant miscommunications and secrets were annoying me, even if they were understandable.
Rating: 4 stars
A Reaper at the Gates and A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir
After re-reading the first two books in this series last month, this month I binged the last two books and OMG I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH AND I AM AN INCOHERENT MESS BECAUSE OF ALL MY LOVE AND ALSO THE TEARS. I adore these characters so much, and all I can say is read this series. Also, Laia and Elias own my heart.
Rating: 5 stars
The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen
This is a story I saw recommended so many times and it really sounded awesome, with so many elements I love in a story: badass spy/warrior heroine, revenge plots, enemies-to-lovers, arranged marriage. But though I did like the story overall, something fell a little flat for me and I can’t quite pin-point it but I do know I didn’t love it as much as I was expecting. I still want to read the sequel, but I’m also not super invested, you know?
Rating: 3 stars
Charming Co-Worker by Jeannine Colette and Lauren Runow
Thanks Stephanie at Bookfever for the recommendation! This fun Holiday read contained so many elements I adore: fake dating, friends-to-lovers, Christmas activities and sizzling chemistry! Definitely recommend and I will want to check out the other stories by these authors.
Rating: 4 stars
How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
Even though I’m not usually a novella fan, I caved here because I still love Jude and Cardan and wanted more. And I enjoyed this dive back into their world and the insights we got into Cardan. The illustrations were gorgeous and I will forever cherish the image of Cardan in a hoodie.
Rating: 4 stars
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne (Re-Read)
I love re-reading old favorites in December and so I decided to pick up The Hating Game again. This is the story that kickstarted (or rather reignited) my obsession with rom-coms and I definitely was still just as in love with it this time around. Lucy and Josh and their antics own my heart and I even kind of forgot how FUNNY this was.
Rating: 5 stars
Red Winter / Dark Tempest / Immortal Fire by Annette Marie (Re-Read)
Another re-read I did this month was of my all-time favorite series, as well as the series that started my (slight) Annette Marie obsession: Red Winter. And OMG, I fell right back in love with the story and the characters and the romance. Re-reading it though, I can see how the start of Red Winter can throw some people off, as it’s quite info-heavy and a little slow, but please, please, please trust me when I say that it is all worth it, so get through the start and you’ll be hooked soon enough (probably around the time a certain kitsune shows up). SHIRO STILL OWNS MY HEART, OKAY? But also Yumei. And Susano. And my favorite heroine, Emi <3
Rating: FOREVER ALL THE STARS!!!
Top Ten Tuesday
Older Favorites That I Really Want To Re-Read
Holiday Romances To Snuggle Up With This Holiday Season
The Winter 2020-2021 Releases I’m Excited About The Most
The Books and Series I Hope Santa Brings This Year
Quote It Wednesday
Can’t Wait Wednesday
In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
Something Different Sunday
My 10 Favorite 2020 Songs (Part One: Non Kpop)
My 10 Favorite 2020 Songs (Part two: Kpop)
Here are my musical favorites in December:
MY FAVE: Taylor Swift ft HAIM – No Body, No Crime
Thank you Taylor for releasing not just one, but two amazing albums in 2020. There are a lot of great songs on Evermore, by this dark murder story is my favorite. I’d also love to see an MV for this!
All Time Low ft Demi Lovato and Blackbear – Monsters
Such fun pop punk, and also I love Demi Lovato.
NCT 2020 – Resonance
I love when all of NCT is together because it’s always so epic.
I got quite some TV in this month! I also started a Christmas movie marathon, but then got distracted by Bridgerton, so that signalled the end of my Christmas movie marathon. I have zero regrets.
Let It Snow
I liked this Christmas movie, but I didn’t love it.
The Christmas Inheritance
This was pretty much the quintessential Christmas movie: New York socialite travels to small town to prove something and falls in love with the town and especially this one guy. Fun, but not great. Did love Eliza Clarke.
The Queen’s Gambit
This series was just amazing in all ways. An intriguing story and outstanding acting. Also, I’d love Beth’s wardrobe to be my wardrobe, thank you.
Bridgerton
It seems like this series was everywhere this month. I honestly didn’t know about it before, nor did I read the books, but the hype and the trailer got to me so I watched the entire season in a few days. And yes, I fell in love. The romance, the characters, the drama, the music, the cinematography – all of them were on point. Though I do have to say I liked the first half more than the second half, as the baby-drama of the second half put me off a bit.
I was wondering whether I should read the books, because I did love most of it and want to find out more about the other characters as well. Has any of you read them? If so, do you recommend them?
I had two weeks off this month, and well, they were much needed. I think this pandemic has affected everyone and though I’m blessed in many ways, like the fact that everyone in my family and friends remained healthy so far and I didn’t lose my job, it still affected me emotionally. So I took the opportunity to just relax, read a lot and watch a lot of tv to reset my mood and mind.
Things that made me happy this month:
- Two weeks of Holiday!
- Being able to turn on the Christmas lights daily.
- Lots of binge-reading and watching on the sofa with a nice tea or chocolate milk.
- My Christmas gift from my husband: beautiful pink wireless earbuds, so I can do lots of music and audiobook listening in 2021 in style 🙂
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:
- MY FIFTH BLOGOVERSARY! Stay tuned for the giveaway!
- Lore by Alexandra Bracken releases!
- Are we spring yet?
How was your December? What did you read? What did you listen to and what did you watch? What are you looking forward to in January?
I love that your 100th book was a favorite reread. What a great way to wrap up the year. I really enjoyed both In a Holidaze and Spoiler Alert.
It was indeed an amazing way to wrap up the year! I definitely want to re-read more 🙂
My mom is obsessed with The Queen’s Gambit! Every time we see her, she tells us we need to watch it.
Haha I can imagine, it is pretty amazing so I can only agree with your mom 😉
I really would like to re-read some more books this year, but we’ll see. My biggest reading goal is to read the books that I already own. I’m co-hosting the Read the Alphabet Challenge and it really helps me choose books from my own shelves. Feel free to join in!!
I’m glad you had a nice break away from work. I know 2021 won’t magically be wonderful, but I do hope that we see positive changes earlier than later. 🙂
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
Reading books you already own is a great goal! I’m a big mood reader but reading what I own should be doable haha 🙂
Exactly, things won’t be magically fixed because it’s now 2021, but there is at least some more hope 🙂
I loved this wrap up! So many good things packed in here. I have yet to read Annette Marie but I see her recommended so much on your blog I have her Monsters and Margaritas series on my wishlist now. I’m excited to dive in.
I have read the Julia Quinn Bridgerton books and yes, I would recommend them. She’s excellent at characters you really care about and sweet, still steamy relationships. The first book contains the same drama you weren’t a fan of so if I were you I’d start with the second book, The Viscount Who Loved Me. It’s got enemies to lovers going on, lots of sexual tension, and Anthony the rake gets what’s coming to him (lol).
That’s amazing, I’m so happy to hear you added Annette Marie books to your wishlist 🙂 Hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I did!
Thanks for the tip! I was indeed considering skipping book 1, and I am eager to discover Anthony’s story for sure as it sounds perfect 😉