December 2023 Reading Wrap Up

I had such a good reading month in November, but I don't know what happened in December. I didn't read as much, or enjoy my reading nearly as much.

Maybe it has to do with the holidays being generally terrible this year, or my sister's 35th birthday that seemed to just pass us as we sat there and watched it. Sat there and watched all the disingenuous "happy heavenly birthday" posts that popped up all over social media by people I knew she hadn't talked to in months before she died. Or the "thinking of you today" texts that seemed to flood my phone. The posts and texts that people only send because it makes them feel better or feel like they did something supportive for my family. But in reality, all they did was remind me that there was nothing I could do but let her birthday happen and then keep moving forward with my life the next day.

I seemed to have cracked the case on my lack of reading in December.

I did finish two books that I wanted to finish by the end of the year, but I mostly scrolled TikTok and read some romance on my Kindle.

• A Conjuring of Light: VE Schwab ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this series, I genuinely don't know what took me so long to pick it up. However, the final book in this series wasn't my favorite of the three. Spoiler, but I think Schwab focused too much on the romance. I love when a romance is in the background of a fantasy book, but she made it one of the main plotlines and it just dragged on for 600 pages. I read fantasy for the story and the action, I read romance books for the romance. One of my icks is when fantasy authors bring too much romance into the story because that's what's popular right now on social media. Still a highly ranked series and I already picked up the spinoff at Target when I was supposed to be Christmas shopping for my nephew.

• Mistborn (The Final Empire): Brandon Sanderson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Our godfather of fantasy for a reason. Sanderson just knows how to create a world that is complex and unique and beautiful without overcomplicating it. The characters of the Mistborn world are so wonderful and the dynamic between them is crafted perfectly. Vin is such an entertaining main character and I love her uncertainty about the crew's prejudices against the noble class. I can't wait to read the rest of this series.

• Kingdom of the Wicked: Kerri Maniscalco ⭐️ I don't get it. I saw this on TikTok and then saw it at Target, so I thought it would be a good romantacy distraction and something that was just easy to read. But I started to feel like I was reading a Stanley Tucci tour of Italian food, and why did it take them so long to get together? The switch from enemies to lovers happened so fast I think I missed it. Not my favorite romantacy book.

• King of Battle and Blood: Scarlett St. Clair ⭐️ Just, no. I love a good romantacy, don't get me wrong. Especially at the end of the year when I've met my reading goal and I'm just coasting until New Year's. But this one was just so bad. I know plots aren't really the main focus in these kinds of books, but there was actually no plot to be found in the whole book. I feel like I wasted a perfectly good day of reading on this book. Ugh.

• Nettle and Bone: T. Kingfisher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I adored this book. It follows a woman on a mission to kill a prince (I won't go into why she wants to kill him). To do so, she enlists the help of an old witch, who gives her three impossible tasks in order to earn her help. Along the way, she meets a whole crew of characters who agree to help her on her mission. It felt like I was reading a fairy tale for adults, which I loved. It was charming and well-written, and it reminded me why I love reading fantasy. What a way to end the year.