Hi everybody and welcome to my December wrap up!
It’s the last day of December – we made it! I’m looking forward to all the 2023 reading wrap up posts in the coming weeks, but for now I’m starting with my December wrap up.
I had a good reading month because I had a week and a half off from work and so I had a lot of time to spend reading 🙂
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
I can’t believe I almost didn’t read this, just because I’m not into chess. I’m also not into STEM or sports and yet I do read romances about them regularly so why not chess? I’m glad I gave this one a try though because it was a great YA romance with some amazing character development, family relationships and yes, some chess too.
Rating: 4 stars | Read full review
The Modern Girl’s Guide to Magic by Linsey Hall
I was in the mood for a fun witchy romance so this one caught my eye. It has a witch who is a disaster in magic returning to her magical hometown to enter a magical competition that could save her family’s magic shop. And in the process, she falls for the sexy billionaire mage that she’s hated for years. It was a fun and light cozy romance, but it was just a tad too light for me.
Rating: 3,5 stars
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
Did I love this as much as Fourth Wing? No. Did I still love it a lot? YES I DID. While I have a few issues I can’t say because of spoilers, I did highly enjoy this story overall and am already looking forward to book three.
Rating: 4 stars
Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan
Leave it to me to make big plans to read multiple holiday romances this season and then only starting one only a few days before Christmas. But hey, I read it! This was a holiday romance about a woman who goes to a CEO’s house to pitch him a proposal that could help save her company, only to be accidentally mistaken for his girlfriend and then ending up snowed in with the family. This was cute and I enjoyed it overall, but I wish there were just a few less different storylines about all the siblings in the family and it had focused more on the main storyline, because I missed some depth.
Rating: 4 stars
With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson
How awesome is it when you randomly come across a book you hadn’t heard of before but try it anyway because the cover is pretty and it sounds like fun… and then end up finishing the book in a day and finding a new all-time favorite? Pretty awesome if you ask me! That’s exactly what happened when I read With Love, From Cold World!
Rating: 5 stars | Read full review
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
I’m… not quite sure yet how to review this. I was highly anticipating it and so my expectations were very high. And then the story didn’t exactly go like how I was expecting. And that wasn’t necessarily bad… I’m just a bit confused as to how I feel about the story we did get. I guess I’m still looking forward to the second book as I feel like the potential is still there. But this first book felt more like an introduction only and I wish it had been more than that.
Rating: 3,5 stars
Top Ten Tuesday
10 Recent Holiday Romances I Want To Read This Season
Books On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List
Books I Hope Santa Brings: The Books Up Next On My TBR (For Now)
The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf
Can’t Wait Wednesday
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
Somewhere Beyond The Sea by TJ Klune {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
WWW Wednesday
WWW Wednesday: 13 December 2023
Something Different Sunday
My 10 Favorite 2023 Songs (Part One)
My 10 Favorite 2023 Songs (Kpop Edition)
While I’ve still been listening to A LOT of Against The Current following my concert experience in November, there’s also been one other song on repeat this month:
April Jai ft Nation Haven – Morally Grey
This is THE song for the romance books lovers out there, especially morally grey love interests! I discovered it on BookTok and fell in love with the original version first, but then there was the collab with Nation Haven and it just FITS so many romance books with morally grey hero vibes so well. Or maybe that’s because I listened to this non-stop while reading Iron Flame and picturing Xaden Riorson…
While I made big plans to watch a lot of TV and movies this month, I haven’t really… I watched a little bit of a few different things though: a few episodes of the new Percy Jackson series (like it so far!) and a few episodes of the kdrama A Good Day to be a Dog (unsure yet). Other than that my TV watching mostly consisted of starting to watch something and falling asleep after 10 minutes…
December was overall a good month. Though I did have big plans to really sink into those holiday vibes with holiday movies and books and lots of hot cocoas, that didn’t really happen. Christmas kind of snuck up on me and now it’s over and I’m mostly looking forward to the new year. But that’s okay, I am still quite excited about 2024!
THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS MONTH:
- I had a week and a half off from work and really appreciated the break.
- I got a clippable book light from my husband as a surprise gift and love it as now I can read physical books when it’s dark again 🙂
- Saw my family and had lots of great food.
- Met up with my BFF and it had been a few months so I missed her and was glad to catch up.
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:
- A new year and looking ahead again instead of backwards.
- Slowly getting to see the days become longer again.
- New books to look forward to!
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?
My december was a slow but good reading month!
I hope you’ll have an amazing 2024, Sophie!
We started watching Percy Jackson, too! It’s making me want to reread the book! Happy new year!!
It’s been such a fun adaptation so far! Happy New Year!!
December looks like it treated you well. I hope you have a great 2024!
Thanks, wishing you all the best for 2024 too! 🙂
I didn’t manage to fit in Iron Flame in December like I’d planned so January for sure! Hooray for the week and a half break and the extra reading time!
Hope you’ll love Iron Flame, Tanya! 🙂
Lindsey! I’ve been looking for a clippable book light to read physical books in the dark. Do you know where your husband bought yours and how do you like it? I’m researching them so I know I’ll buy a good one.
Ah I’ve been loving my little lamp so hope you’ll find a great one too! I was able to read my first physical book in months because of this little lamp 🙂 My husband got mine on bol.com. It’s the ‘Tikkens LED Leeslampje voor Boek – Bed Nachtkastje Leeslamp – Boeklamp USB Oplaadbaar met Klem – Boeklampje met 3 Lichtstanden’ There are a lot of similar models too so I hope you’ll find one that you like!
Thank youuuuu! Gonna check it out ASAP!
Even though you didn’t get to sink into the holiday spirit, I’m glad you had a great December. I hope you had a wonderful new year’s celebration and that 2024 is an amazing year!
Thanks so much! Wishing you all the best for 2024 too!
It is always the best kind of reader surprise when you discover a read you never anticipated to enjoy. I love finding some books like that too. 🙂 I hope you have an amazing new year.
It is indeed the best kind of surprise 🙂 Happy New Year, Rissi!
What I great month for you! I didn’t watch much tv either, but read all the Christmas books on my list 🙂
Oh reading all the Christmas books on your list is a great accomplishment, congrats! I’ll just try again next year haha 🙂