What I read in December

In December, I feverishly read the books I was gifted for Christmas last year so I could make room for more books on my bookshelf. Christmas is my favourite time of the year, and it's always a nice mix of work winding down, family gatherings ramping up, but still lots of time to sit and read in front of the Christmas tree. I got a lot of reading done in December!

Blew me out of the water; loved! (5 stars)

Babel by R.F. Kuang: This was a very smart and imaginative book on translators who revolt against the colonialist empires they're helping to uphold. I read it quickly for its size and would have liked for it to have ended on more of a cliffhanger! There's a lot to unpack here and read into.

Elena Knows by Claudia Pineiro: I'm in my translated fiction era and I loved this one. This is a literary crime fiction about a woman who is determined to investigate her daughter's alleged suicide, not believing she would have taken her own life. It's slower-paced but the ending was mind-blowing and bold and grounded in her work as an activist.

Financial Feminist by Tori Dunlap: This was a great read! Financial advice for women that was accessible, not shamey, and very practical. This was a good kick for me to up my financial literacy and make some decisions about spending and saving.

I liked it! (4 stars)

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi: This was such a good listen! I loved her first book Homegoing. This is about a young neuroscientist - her brother died of a drug overdose and her mom struggles with depression, and it had a good mix of present-day and back to the time after her brother died.

Companion Piece by Ali Smith: I hope that Ali Smith gifts us with a book in this vein every year. It was a great companion to her seasonal quartet and ended on a very hopeful (and not finite) note so I’m hoping that means we’ll get more! Companion Piece is set in 2021 following an artist, Sandy, whose father is sick in the hospital (but not with the vid). She gets a call from a woman she used to go to school with asking her to try and help her crack this linguistic riddle. If you’re into literary fiction, beautiful prose, and literature that tackles what’s currently happening in the world, I’d highly recommend this series. I think Winter was my favourite, and I loved the tone of Companion Piece!

Bewilderment by Richard Powers: I'm so disappointed I waited so long to read this. it was great - short chapters, light science fiction, a bit dystopian. I read it with the anticipation that something crazy was going to happen. The ending was a bit rushed for me (and a bit predictable?) but I'm choosing not to let it ruin the whole experience for me.

A Most Clever Girl by Stephanie Marie Thornton: I rarely reach for historical fiction, but I loved this one. It's about a Cold War double agent spying for the Russians and the US. The way the story was told was *chef's kiss* and so interesting. Thornton is one of my favourite authors: she's written about Jackie Kennedy and Alice Roosevelt and her speculative fiction of prominent female women in history is soooo good.

It was good (3 stars)

Screaming on the Inside by Jessica Grose: I find myself drawn to books on motherhood and the choice to become a parent. This book is part non-fiction/memoir/journalism on the history of unrealistic expectations of mothers. I felt the back half of the book lagged (a big judgmental of certain lifestyles and didn't end on much of a hopeful note).

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun: I loved Cochrun's The Charm Offensive (a great romcom about a guy who goes on a Bachelor type show and falls in love with one of his male producers). I loved the Christmas setting and warm and fuzzy vibes of this one, but didn't love the love story as much.

A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone: This was the most enjoyable romcom I've read this year! It's about a plus-sized porn star and an ex-boy band who end up in a Christmas movie together. It was steamy, cute, funny, LGBTQ-inclusive and diverse.

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro: It's been a while since I've read a family drama and it was nice. It's told in a non-linear way which added to its dynamic ad it wasn't as confusing as it could have been. There was a very sad plot point I had a hard time getting over.

Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante: I liked the writing, storytelling and themes better than the plot. After her mother dies, Delia goes back to her mom's hometown to look into her mysterious death - reflecting on growing up with her abusive dad and her understanding of her mom's need to seek solace.

You Shouldn't Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose: A young woman traveling alone goes to an Airbnb in Wyoming staying with the owner named Calvin - who falls fast for Grace and comes off as a bit of a creep. This was a fast-paced thriller and I like how we got both POVs - and the twist at the end took me by surprise!

Traitor King by Andrew Lownie: An entertaining non-fiction read - it helps that it's an interesting couple. Couldn't help but think "hope things work out better for Harry and Meghan!"

Pure Colour by Sheila Heti: So, I keep a book journal so I can write down my quick thoughts after I finish my current read. All this one said was: "not sure what I read and can't remember it".

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman: The audio was well narrated - it was very hyped so I was expecting something along the lines of Firefly Lane. It was centered around the best friend of a woman dying in hospice.

Foe by Iain Reid: I LOVE Iain Reid. This was the last of his fiction books to catch up on and it's my least fav out of the three (though I still enjoyed it, it just didn't give me that five star feeling that I'm Thinking of Ending Things and We Spread gave me). It's like reading a Black Mirror episode - this one is being adapted into a movie coming out soon starring Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan.