December Book Roundup

Wellll, after a few months away...I'm back! I apologize for going M.I.A via the blog! To tell you the truth, December was just tough going through the holiday season in a new place, still in our apartment, with no holiday events, no holiday decor, minimal community...etc. I joke that it was our year of "Skipping Christmas" a la Christmas with the Kranks. Anyways, I just didn't find myself in the blogging mood. 

BUT, here we are towards the end of January. I'm going to try to blog just a few days a week again. We're in our new house, all of our belongings are finally here and are almost unpacked, and it's time for me to get back into the swing of things and to connect with my people again. I do have a bit of content to get caught up on, such as...my December Book Roundup!

If you read my November Book Roundup  you know that I found myself in the book funk of all book funks towards the end of the year, ugh! That book funk definitely did continue through December. The 4 that you see pictured above are the ones I made it through and mostly enjoyed, but I tried and put down so many others. November/December are always the hardest reading months because they're pretty much the only two months of the year with few to no new exciting book releases. 

That being said, let's get to it...

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak- ⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

I started out the end of November/early December with this one that was the highlight of my month! I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I typically am hesitant to read books by men authors but girl narrators, but this one was well done and didn't seem like it was a male writer at all due to the content and story. This book had really believable characters and dialogue. I loved the simple, everyday life type of details that were included. I actually loved the addition of the illustrations, was surprised by and liked the elements of faith, and was unsure of which way it would go.

 My only complaints are that it seemed to spend a little too much time on the red herring and then the plot was suddenly pieced together out of nowhere. There was also a little more horror and supernatural elements than I usually appreciate.

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book held my attention and was interesting, although I did wish there was a lot more Friends talk (that was super interesting to read about and why I picked up this book!) and a lot less drugs/alcohol talk, but I do get that that is his main focus. Whenever I write a review for a memoir, it seems like I'm reviewing the person more than the book (haha, oops!), but this book was nicely done.

The downsides of this book? It did seem a bit repetitive and he is very straightforward in a way that can come off as arrogant. It is definitely honest, sad and heartbreaking reading about him as a broken, hurt man and I just want to give him a do over. I pray that he gets the help he needs and I do wish that he could have a family that he so clearly longs for.

Some upsides? He's very self aware. He has his head on straight about some things and definitely has moments of clarity and reason. He hides nothing. He is respectful of everybody, has a surprising faith in God, and acknowledges that he had/has a spiritual hole.

It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover- ⭐⭐⭐

In November, I read my first Colleen Hoover book (the prequel to this book) and wrote lots of thoughts about her there. This one was okay, but I felt like it was dragged out, there wasn't much happening, and seemed to lack an overall main plot. By the end, she does pull it together well and she does have some powerful wording that made me glance twice, but this wasn't a must-read by any means.

PS- this isn't the best pic either but I thought it was cool to snap it with some of the DC monuments in the background!

Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel- ⭐⭐⭐

There's not much to say about this book; this one was just a big overall meh. I really enjoyed this author's books that I read earlier in the summer, and I appreciate her witty humor and banter, but this one (her first book) fell flat for me. I've seen rave reviews about it though, so who knows?!

Well, how was that for easing back in for this blog? I plan on being back a few other times this week with some other new posts for you! Thanks for your patience (and checking in!) when I was away! Here's to a better and brighter 2023 <3