December 2017 Wrap Up!

Hello everyone! This month, we finally started reading again! We ended our first semester of college and are excited that our winter breaks have already sparked an increase in our reading habits! Before we jump into this wrap up, we wish you all a happy, healthy, safe, and bookish New Year. And that 2018 is the year you achieve all your reading goals with time to spare! Happy new year! But, without further ado, here is our December wrap up! (If you'd like to read other wrap ups, click here!)

Annalise:

This month I read a total of 8 books - most of which I highly enjoyed! I read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones, Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell, The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella, The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro, and last (but definitely not least), This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab.

Me Before You: I missed the train on this one the first time around, but I am so incredibly happy that I caught up to this ride! Jojo Moyes has not only put together a heart wrenching, lovely, and poignant story, but her writing is equally as beautiful. I was genuinely suprised by the quality of this novel. The characters were real, honest, and compelling. The plot moved along pleasantly and never seemed out of reach or unnecessary. The romance had such a wonderful build, and such a gripping component, that made me just speed through, grasping onto every last moment with Louisa and Will. Moyes definitely earned the title of New York Times Bestseller, there is no doubt in my mind that the hype was worth it. I cherished every word in this novel and will be keeping it on my shelf for years to come. I gave this book 4.25/5 stars.

*UPDATED REVIEW* Recently, it was brought to my attention the ableist themes in the novel Me Before You. I am an abled bodied person, and this is not me speaking on behalf of the disabled community. However, I felt that this information was important enough for me to update my original rating. Because I am not disabled, I am leaving a link to a video by a disabled man discussing why this novel is so incredibly problematic and negatively impactful for the disabled community. I now give this book 2/5 stars. Here is the link, please take the time to watch: https://crippledscholar.com/tag/media-roundup/

Murder on the Orient Express: This year has been the start of my dive into the brilliant writings of Agatha Christie. After I was graced with And Then There Were None in October, and gifted with this lovely little novel for Christmas, I was happy to be able to continue this new found love of murder mysteries by Christie. While I didn't like Murder on the Orient Express as much as the former, for I found it less atmospheric, I can honestly say that it was an enjoyable read for me. Much like a Sherlock Holmes story, Hercule Poirot is leading your through this train, asking the questions meant to be asked, and finding the clues meant to be found. Christie, however, is a master of this genre, and I found myself stumped throughout this novel's entirety. With her simple, yet eloquent, writing and her artistry of storytelling (plus the blockbuster that just was released), I highly recommend this as a beginner Christie novel. I gave this book a 3.75/5 stars.

The Hearts We Sold: I received this book in my August Owlcrate box and was a little iffy at the synopsis. However, I found myself to be pleasantly surprised. The characters were flawed and real. The ways that they blended together was clear that they were made from the same stitching. The plot was good, it made sense, it followed a strong timeline, it never went too far into that abyss of "what the hell just happened?", only ever scraping the cliff of it. The adventure was fun and just dark enough to reach the realms of both fantasy and sci-fi, but also able to mesh many genres into one solid YA tale. I am happy that I gave this story a chance - there was something addictive about it. Overall, I gave this book a 3.75/5 stars.

Almost Midnight: This is a duet of festive short stories by one of my all time favorite YA contemporary authors: Rainbow Rowell (that I bought on a whim). While it's short and sweet, Rowell is still able to bring a lot of her charm and genuinely to her characters which makes them their lovable selves. Not only were these perfect for the holiday season, "Midnights" was in Stephanie Perkins' holiday short story anthology. But with the spirit of the holidays, I felt that it was totally acceptable to have a repeat (especially since it's such a beautiful and sparkly edition!) in my collection. I will always suggest a Rowell's works, they have never let me down, and I think that this book was such a perfect little read to cheer up the cold months ahead! I gave this book a 3.75/5 stars.

The Rabbit Back Literature Society: This book was different, novel, and a spin on so many of the elements I've seen in previous stories. Set in a small Finish town (I setting, I can pretty much 100% confidence, say have never experienced in a book before), with mythology, mysteries, and book culture, I highly enjoyed this story. I did a full review, that you can check out here to get all my thoughts! I gave this book a 4/5 stars.

Finding Audrey: This book was everything I wanted and more. I related to it a scarily amount (good scary, though), and felt that Kinsella understood and did justice to anxiety disorders and growing up. It was cute, it was funny, it was quirky, but most importantly, it was real. The characters were lively and the way they all puzzled together made it seem like you were watching an episode of Gilmore Girls. It was utterly perfect, not a single sentence I didn't enjoy. I can't believe it took me so long to get to this book. I recommend this to anyone who loves love, who has a mental illness or knows someone with one, who wants to be immersed in a world that is rich, humorous, and familiar, or just wants to smile. I will forever be grateful to Sophie Kinsella and can't wait to read more. I gave this book a 5/5 stars.

The Last of August: This is a fast paced and mystery filled blockbuster Charlotte Holmes novel. I read A Study in Charlotte in September 2016 and instantly fell in love with the concept: a female Sherlock Holmes? Yes please! And while I wouldn't rate this one as highly as the first, the repertoire, the fact that they were on holiday break, and the European settings made it a nice successor to the first. While at some points I felt like I wasn't completely immersed in the story, it still held many of the elements that I loved about Charlotte and Jamie and their adventures. One thing I would've liked to be different was the romantic aspects of their relationship. The first book ends on this tentative romantic 'thing', for lack of a better word, but I preferred their relationship when it was platonic. I understand that their relationship needed to grow and evolve into something more, especially since in the first novel, their relationship was like 0 to 100 instantly and stayed considerably stagnant, but I think they could've stayed simply friends. Or maybe, at the very least, show more growth in the characters individually (which I do recognize as being hard since while they are technically 'new' characters, they are based on their famous predecessors). Regardless, this was a fun, quick, and enjoyable read that I was happy to pick up, and feel confident in continuing onto the next book at it's release. I gave this book a 3.5/5 stars.

This Savage Song: This was a last minute read for me, and my god, I was addicted at the very first sentence. I knew I wanted to get into Victoria/V.E. Schwab's books eventually, and figured at this point, 2018 was the year to do it. But then I picked this up on a bit of a whim while vying for a dark adventure. This was the best possible book I could've finished 2017 on. It was dark, it was dangerous, it read like a wildfire, and never slowed down. I read this book in two sittings on one Saturday, and didn't think once about putting it down and doing something else. It is the complete opposite of boring, there were twists and turns, the characters were written with such jagged edges that were smoothed in the best and most quirkily possible ways - which made you love them even more (August Flynn is my new fave guy) and included the perfect amount of sentiment. I also loved that it didn't include romance between the two main characters, it wasn't needed, and I felt kept the story fresh and more powerful. For anyone iffy about this story, pick it up, like, now. It won't disappoint, it refuses to. If you want to hear all my thoughts, you can read my full review here! I gave this book a 5/5 stars.

Ellie:

This month, I read 7 books. (and to be completely honest, I've read five of that seven in the last two weeks!!)

My True Love Gave to Me: This collection of 12 short, holiday stories is one of the best collection of stories I've ever read! These stories are all so beautiful, and are perfect reads for the holiday season! I'm so happy I saved this read for the first week of December, it was the best read for the first snow of the season!! Stephanie Perkins arranged this collection of stories, and there's one for summer as well! (which is going to make my summer amazing, I'm sure!) I give this collection a 4/5 stars!

Crybaby Ranch by Tina Welling: This book shows the life of Susannah, a woman who decides to leave her husband and move to Wyoming. With her mom having Alzheimer's, her dad being angry at her for not moving to help them, and a boyfriend who is also sleeping with the neighbors (its confusing, I know) Susannah's life is far from peaceful and easy: but she has the best time exploring her new life. I give this book a 2.5/5 stars, because of some strange plot points that were never fully explained.

Wonder by RJ Palacio: WOW WOW WOW. You have to read this. ASAP. It is a heartwarming, multi-perspective novel that follows the family of Auggie, a boy with Treacher Collins syndrome. This novel is educating and heart-wrenching, and everyone should read it. It was also made into a movie this year! Click here to see the trailer! I picked up this book so I could read it before seeing the film, and I am even more excited now to see it!! I think this book is beautiful for more reasons than just the prose itself--it's beautiful in the way that it shows that everyone is human, everyone has love, and everyone deserves to be loved. Read it read it read it please! 6/5 stars.

Stand Tall by Joan Bauer: I read Hope Was Here by Bauer over two summers ago, and was in love with her writing and the story. However, this book did not meet my expectations. Tree, a 12 year old boy, stands tall (like a tree) at 6 feet 3 inches tall (and he is not done growing, much to his chagrin). His grandfather, a Vietnam war veteran, has to have a leg amputated, and their interactions as Tree's grandfather learns to walk again are the redeeming qualities of the story. I loved Hope was Here, and I truly think that if I had read Stand Tall when I was 12 or 13, I would've loved it. Sadly, I think I'm just too old. 2/5 stars.

Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom: If you haven't read anything by Mitch Albom, you absolutely must read one of his books next. He writes with such beauty, and this book was just as incredible as the rest of his works. This story is about a town, Coldwater Michigan, that receives, every Friday, phone calls from Heaven. This story follows the people receiving the calls, and the woman reporting on it, and incorporates lot of information about the invention of the telephone. This book is beautiful-read it now and treasure the feelings of God reborn this town experiences. 5/5 stars.

Other Fish In The Sea by Lisa Kusel: This book is a collection of stories about a woman named Elly (spelt wrong, in my opinion) who lives and loves to the fullest. We see Elly in chapter snippets that explore different relationships of her life--the men (or women) she is involved with have shaped her life in many ways. We get to see how much they shape her life through the course of the chapters, and as she ages from chapter to chapter, her relationships become more mature. This setup is incredibly intelligent, and I loved watching Elly mature and go through tens and tens of boyfriends (hahaha). 3/5 stars.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn: I got this book as a gift a year ago this month, so I figured it was time to read it! Gillian Flynn wrote Gone Girl, which is so popular, so I had high hopes for this novel! This book is about an investigation into two murdered young girls (sad and dark, I know). The reporter used to live in Wide Gap, the town where the murders occurred, and you get to see a small town community deal with loss and the possibility of a murderer amongst them. The underlying plot of Camille cutting herself flows intrinsically with the rest of the story, and really interested me. She carved words into her skin, and they are mentioned in ways that are new to anything I've ever read before. For example, she would talk to her new love interest and then say things like, "burden flared up on my knee". I had never seen cutting described in such an intricate way, and found that really vital to the plot. 3.5/5 stars (very dark, but so well-written).

I also started reading Extraordinary Means, but couldn't quite finish it before the start of January!

Happy reading, all! & a happy new year!!

Ellie

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