Reading Roundup: December 2024

December is a weird month. It drags in the lead-up to the Christmas break and then it speeds up into the New Year! I didn’t do a lot of reading in bed for various reasons which is why it took me so long to finish my second read of Rouge. I also basically stopped exercising and I only commuted to the office a couple of times which is why my audiobook count is also low.

2 Audiobooks,1 new e-Book and a re-read

System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries #7) by Martha Wells – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 Stars

I finished the series! I even finally wrote up a review of the whole series. They’re great, I’ve already said that enough!

Rouge by Mona Awad (x2) – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 Stars

You know by now, I read it twice, full length review and analysis to come…

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue – ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 Stars

I listened to 90% of this in one day while I powered through the floral wreath! It’s enjoyable enough but wasn’t quite the book I wanted it to be and felt it had the potential to be. I wish it hadn’t been framed as a rom-com, it should have been darker and edgier and weirder! Didn’t love the “Disney Princess” voice of the narrator either. Still it’s not bad, and I did relate hard to the description of social anxiety.

The Snow Song by Sally Gardner ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 Stars

This snuck in under the wire and I finished at 11pm on 31st December, so I’ve come back to edit and update this post for the benefit of Future Alice when she wants to look back on what she read this month! I loved this book more than I expected. It’s an adult fairy tale and was just such a delight to read, even with some quite dark and heavy themes. Amazingly compelling for something so simply written in the story of a fairy tale. I really recommend this!

Comic books

I got bogged down in The Defenders (2010) run, which was Brian Micahel Bendis’ last. I really love these heroes together (Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Daredevil) and they have amazing chemistry, but having just read a straight run from Bendis’ New Avengers the stories have gotten really repetitive. I was really disappointed that this ended with Red Hood again with the same plan, again.

I think now I’ll finish off with the Jessica Jones titles and then it’ll be X-Men time!

Currently reading

I’m really enjoying The Snow Song by Sally Gardner on Kindle and I’m still in the market for an audiobook. I’ve listened to an hour of Doppelganger by Naomi Klein… got to wait for Spotify to reset to continue that one, if I can be bothered, it is non-fiction so I am worried it might be a bit depressing!

I might actually get into re-reading all my Alan Partridge audiobooks, starting with I, Partridge! Those are a laugh!

Adding to TBR

I only bought one, which is good! Just The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. I’m quite excited for this one!

Sadly I didn’t get any books for Christmas!

Book Tag/TTT!

I’m really loving joining in with Top Ten Tuesday! I’ve now added a category to my blog for these posts to make them easier to find. It is a really fun way to find new blogs and potential book friends.

1. 10 Hyped Books I Am Avoiding
2. 10 Books On My Winter to Be Read List (2024-2025)
3. 10 “Stormy Books”
4. 10 Books On My Wish List
5. Best Reads of 2024

TBR Pulls

Right now I have (perpetually!) 48 books waiting on my Kindle in my “to read” collection! Each month I have been browsing through and picking the 3 that are calling to me most.

Last time I picked The Snow Song by Sally Gardner, which I am now reading, The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood and Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey.

I think with the close of the year I’m going to knock this section on the head and maybe do a looser “what’s next” heading where I don’t make extra work for myself. All I learned through doing this exercise is that I tend to pick the same books every month and rarely actually read them because my moods are so fickle, and I am finding that doing the TTT posts that include quarterly TBR prompts I end up repeating myself quite a bit!

What books are you excited to read at the moment?