December 2023 Wrap Up

It’s the last monthly wrap up of 2023. I can hardly believe it. December was a hectic month that flew by, but it was filled with love and laughter and that’s all I could ever ask for. And somehow, I still found time to read. So, let’s do my December 2023 wrap up.

Iron Flame

Synopsis:

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College–Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is-unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits–and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College–and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

My Rating: 3.5/5

My Full Review: Iron Flame Review

Bright Lights, Big Christmas

Synopsis:

When fall rolls around, it’s time for Kerry Tolliver to leave her family’s Christmas tree farm in the mountains of North Carolina for the wilds of New York City to help her gruff older brother & his dog, Queenie, sell the trees at the family stand on a corner in Greenwich Village. Sharing a tiny vintage camper and experiencing Manhattan for the first time, Kerry’s ready to try to carve out a new corner for herself.In the weeks leading into Christmas,

Kerry quickly becomes close with the charming neighbors who live near their stand. When an elderly neighbor goes missing, Kerry will need to combine her country know-how with her newly acquired New York knowledge to protect the new friends she’s come to think of as family,And complicating everything is Patrick, a single dad raising his adorable, dragon-loving son Austin on this quirky block. Kerry and Patrick’s chemistry is undeniable, but what chance does this holiday romance really have?

My Rating: 3/5

My Full Review: Bright Lights, Big Christmas

Mr. Dickens and His Carol

Synopsis:

Charles Dickens is not feeling the Christmas spirit. His newest book is an utter flop, the critics have turned against him, relatives near and far hound him for money. While his wife plans a lavish holiday party for their ever-expanding family and circle of friends, Dickens has visions of the poor house. But when his publishers try to blackmail him into writing a Christmas book to save them all from financial ruin, he refuses. And a serious bout of writer’s block sets in.

Frazzled and filled with self-doubt, Dickens seeks solace in his great palace of thinking, the city of London itself. On one of his long night walks, in a once-beloved square, he meets the mysterious Eleanor Lovejoy, who might be just the muse he needs. As Dickens’ deadlines close in, Eleanor propels him on a Scrooge-like journey that tests everything he believes about generosity, friendship, ambition, and love. The story he writes will change Christmas forever.

My Rating: 4/5

My Full Review: Mr. Dickens and His Carol

A Christmas Carol

Synopsis:

This classic 1843 tale by Charles Dickens has all your favorite characters in their original telling: Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and the rest. This beautiful hard cover edition includes the original illustrations, in full color, by John Leech. The cover is also very close to the original. All in all, if you want to read “A Christmas Carol” as nearly as it was when it was first written, this edition is for you.

My Rating: 4/5

My Full Review: I have read this many times before but for some reason it just really resonated with me this year.

The Haunting Scent of Poppies

Synopsis:

The War is over, but for petty criminal Charlie his darkest days are only just beginning.

Charlie Briggs is never off-duty, even when a botched job means he’s forced to lay low in a sleepy Hampshire town for the holiday season. Always searching for his next unwitting victim, or a shiny trinket he can pilfer, he can’t believe his luck when he happens upon a rare book so valuable it will set him up for life. All he needs to do is sit tight until Boxing Day. But there’s a desperate story that bleeds beyond the pages; something far more dangerous than London’s mobsters is lurking in the shadows.

Could the book be cursed? Why is he haunted by the horrors of war? Can he put things right before he’s suffocated by his own greed?

My Rating: 4/5

My Full Review: Don’t go into this expecting A Christmas Carol like change of heart. That doesn’t happen. Butttt it was a great ghost story. It absolutely creeped me out. It’s a quick, impactful read. It could have probably been a little longer because this would have been a really good full-length novel.

ReDawn

Synopsis:

“Don’t trust their lies. Don’t trust their false peace.” That is the warning that Alanik of the planet ReDawn gave the human pilot Spensa after Alanik’s ship crash-landed on Detritus. While accepting an invitation to meet with her people’s enemy, the Galactic Superiority, Alanik heard Spensa’s cry for help across the vastness of space, and she used her cytonic powers to hyperjump her ship to the source of that cry. What she found there was a shock – a whole planet of free humans fighting against the Superiority. Were they the allies her people desperately needed? 

When she recovered from her injuries and met the friendly humans Jorgen and FM of Skyward Flight, she found that her warning to Spensa had gone unheeded by the government of Detritus, and they were considering a peace overture from the Superiority. Now having returned to ReDawn, Alanik is dismayed to learn that her own people are falling into the exact same trap. 

The faction in ReDawn’s government that wants to appease the Superiority has gained the upper hand. With Alanik’s mentor, Renakin captured, she has no one to turn to but Jorgen, FM, and their friend Rig. An ancient technology may have the power to save both of their planets from disaster, but can they discover its secrets before it’s too late? 

My Rating: 4/5

My Full Review: I’m glad I finally finished this one, but at the same time I’m ashamed that it took me this long to get to it. I love this series. That’s all I’m going to say. I’ll probably do a deeper dive into all three novellas after I wrap up the entire series.

Once Upon a Northern Night

Synopsis:

In this exquisite lullaby, a parent paints a picture of a northern winter night for their sleeping child, describing the beauty of a snowfall, the wild animals that appear in the garden, the twinkling stars, the gentle rhythm of the northern lights and the etchings of frost on the window pane. As the young child sleeps, wrapped in a downy blanket, a snowflake falls, and then another and another.

The parent describes the forest of snow-covered pines, seeing a deer and fawn nibbling a frozen apple, a great gray owl swooping down with its feathers trailing through the snow. Two snowshoe hare scamper and play under the watchful eyes of a little fox, and a tiny mouse scurries in search of a midnight feast. When the snow clouds disappear, stars light up the sky, followed by the magical shimmering of the northern lights — all framed by the frost on the window. Jean E. Pendziwol’s lyrical poem reflects a deep appreciation of a northern winter night, a desire to share it with her sleeping child and the love that underlies that wish. Isabelle Arsenault’s spare, beautifully rendered illustrations, with their subtle but striking use of color, make us feel that we too are experiencing the enchantment of that northern night.

My Rating: 5/5

My Full Review: This is a children’s storybook that I decided to read on Libby because the illustrations were beautiful. It was a great cozy storybook for sure.

My Side of the Mountain

Synopsis:

Sam Gribley is terribly unhappy living in New York City with his family, so he runs away to the Catskill Mountains to live in the woods–all by himself. With only a penknife, a ball of cord, forty dollars, and some flint and steel, he intends to survive on his own. Sam learns about courage, danger, and independence during his year in the wilderness, a year that changes his life forever.

My Rating: 4/5

My Full Review: I read My Side of the Mountain when I was younger, and I thought it was awesome. Now that I’m an adult I realize just how impractical it is. But obviously, I’m not the target audience so I didn’t let that effect my enjoyment of it. It’s still a great read.

Frog and Toad 1-5

Synopsis:

Frog and Toad are always there for each other–just as best friends should be! From sledding in winter to eating ice cream on hot summer days, these two friends have fun together the whole year round!

My Rating: 3/5

My Full Review: I don’t know how I fell down the storybook rabbit hole but here we are. I listened to the Frog and Toad bundle on audiobook. I enjoyed parts of it but there were parts that I felt could have been better.

So that’s my December 2023 wrap up. What did you read this month?

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