Hi everybody, happy new year and welcome to my December wrap up! I hope everybody had a great start of the new year and I wish you all the best for the new year.
This is always such a weird wrap-up to do, because the moment January 1st comes along, all I want to do is look forward and not backward, but this month still deserves a proper wrap-up, so here we go!
The Guild Codex Comic Collection by Annette Marie and Ashleigh Zanardi
It’s no secret how much I adore Annette Marie’s Guild Codex series and to find out there was gonna be a comic collection of the series? I hit that pre-order button so fast! I loved this little collection of beloved scenes from the books, a few new surprises and of course just being able to the characters I love brought to (2D) life. When I was reading it, I only wished that the entire Guild Codex storyline could be made into comic format. But this week, my wishes were granted because The Guild Codex is coming to Webtoon this spring!
Rating: 4 stars
The Savage & The Swan by Ella Fields
Not sure if it was due to my reading slump or not, but I could not get into this book. On the surface, it sounds like just my thing: an enemies-to-lovers fantasy standalone that has some Hades and Persephone inspiration. But I struggled to get through this, did not feel the romantic chemistry at all and found the worldbuilding a bit lacking.
Rating: 2,5 stars
Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata (re-read)
In an effort to beat my reading slump, I’ve been trying to re-read some favorites, starting with my beloved slow-burn pen pal romance Dear Aaron. You can read my original review here and this re-read only confirmed all my love for this book. Ruby and Aaron are so amazing together, their romance is the sweetest and I loved the slow buildup. #Ruronforever
Rating: 5 stars
If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich
It may be too soon to say for sure, but this may be the book that cured my reading slump. In any case, it’s the first (new-to-me) book I read in 3 months that I enjoyed reading so much that I craved continuing the story whenever I wasn’t reading. As a lifelong ‘boyband fan’, If This Gets Out was a must-read, as it is the story of two boy band members falling in love. But this is way more than just an angsty forbidden romance and I’d recommend this book even if you’re not into boy bands at all. Because ultimately, this is a nice read for anyone who loves supportive friendships and found family vibes, adorable friends-to-lovers romances and a thoughtful exploration of some of the harmful practices found in the music industry.
Rating: 5 stars | Read my full review
Red Winter and Dark Tempest by Annette Marie (re-read)
I wasn’t planning to re-read the Red Winter trilogy this winter, as I did that last December. But then Annette Marie was hosting a read-along in her Facebook group and I… just had to. This is my all-time favorite series (here’s my post telling you why) and I still adore it so much, though I’ll also admit book one can be a bit tough to get through. If you’re new to the series, please stick with it, because books 2 and 3 (which I will also re-read, though I just couldn’t finish it this year still) are AMAZEBALLS!
Rating: 4 stars for Red Winter | 5 stars for Dark Tempest
Top Ten Tuesday
The 10 Latest Books I Added To My TBR
Books on my Winter 2021 To-Read List
Books I Hope Santa Brings This Year
My Favorite Books of 2021
Quote It Wednesday
Can’t Wait Wednesday
The No-Show by Beth O’Leary
Never Been Kissed by Timothy Janovsky
Wrapping up 2022 with some new favorites!
MY FAVORITE: Louis Tomlinson – Walls
Did I look up One Direction’s discography after reading If This Gets Out (because they’re one of the biggest boy bands in recent history and yet I completely missed the hype) and subsequently became obsessed with Louis Tomlinson’s solo stuff? Yes. Yes I did. But come one, listen to Walls and tell me he’s not an amazing artist.
5 Seconds of Summer – 2011
How relatable is this song and the lyrics? “I miss the days when we could live outside our heads Before we were all nervous wrecks But that’s the thing about regret We used to talk about our lives and all the things we didn’t have We fantasized about the future but now we dream about the past”
Everglow – Pirate
The Witcher Season 2
I loved season 1 of The Witcher so I was so happy season 2 was finally here! In fact, 2 years ago we watched the final episodes of season 1 on New Year’s Eve (and had one of the best New Year’s Eves in ages) so we decided to repeat this and watch the final episodes of season 2 on New Year’s Eve as well. I really enjoyed this season and thought it was just as good as the first one, though I admit I was/am confused a lot of the time too, even if they got rid of the confusing timelines. Also, I still love Yennefer so much.
& More
I actually watched A LOT in December, but I didn’t finish anything, so I’ll probably write up my thoughts for the next wrap-up. I’m still rewatching Buffy The Vampire Slayer (on season 6 right now) and I started two great kdramas: Happiness (a zombie thriller, I know, who am I?) and The Red Sleeve (a historical romance)
Well, December was… a challenge, right? With the pandemic hitting us with another wave, the end-of-year stressfest at work and just overall issues with the dark and cold winter days, it’s been, well, challenging. But there were also good things of course!
Things that made me happy this month:
- Had a week off for Christmas and New Years that I really enjoyed
- Spent Christmas with family. I tested myself beforehand and was super nervous about it all, but we kept it safe and I’m just happy for time spent with family.
- Reads that made me feel joyful about reading again
- Lots of tv and movie-time!
- We got a Bridgerton season 2 release date and it’s only 3 months away (so I still have time to read the first 2 books by then)
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:
- Some great bookish releases: The Long-Forgotten Winter King by Annette Marie, Electric Idol by Katee Robert and Running Wild by K.A. Tucker are on top of my list.
- Starting my new planner
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 haven’t gotten around to buying The Guild Codex Comic Collection yet. SO SAD!
It was so good, but unfortunately so short! Luckily, we have the webtoon to look forward to 😉
I have to admit, I only watch The Witcher for Henry Cavill, so when he’s not on screen, I don’t pay that much attention, LOL! I’m glad you were able to spend Christmas with your family. Happy new year!
Haha, I totally understand, he does look so good as Geralt 😀 Happy New Year, Angela!
You’re making me want to reread Dear Aaron! That was my first MZ book.
It was my first MZ too! And I loved the re-read so much, so I’d definitely recommend a re-read 😉
I love Red Winter!
I LOVED revisiting the world, it’s still such a favorite <3