Happy New Year! Aren't we all beyond thrilled 2020 is behind us? 2021 didn't get off to the best start for my family as my dad needed an appendectomy on New Years Day, but I am glad they were able to do surgery quickly as his appendix was perforated and impacting the tissue around it when they removed it. And he only had to spend one night in the hospital. But hopefully this is the only hiccup for January?
2020 was a record reading year for me as I read 107 books - 2 more than 2019! I did not expect to read so much in December but Will was up SO MUCH and I read while nursing him so I got a ton of reading in. I did read a lot of light books in December because my brain needed easy reads! I'm hoping to tackle some more heady reads in 2021, but probably not until I'm out of this sleep deprived stage!
Mom's Reads:
I didn't have any duds in December! This first collection of books are the ones I liked best out of the 11 (!!) I read! I'd recommend any of these 4 books! The Invisible Life of Addie Larue took the longest for me to read as I started it right around when Will was born. I was getting 2-4 hours of sleep/night for that first week so my attention span for reading was practically non-existent! But had I read it during a less sleep-deprived stage of life, I would have read it faster.
Paul received a lot of new books in December between Big Brother gifts and Christmas gifts! I asked him what he wanted for his birthday in March and he enthusiastically said, "BOOKS!" I am so glad we have such a passionate reader on our hands! Here are some of the favorites from the month!
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| A new "That's Not My" book which was gifted to Will but is something Pablo will enjoy until Will is old enough to enjoy it! |
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| He received 2 Llama Llama books - this is one of his favorite series/authors! |
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| One of several "big brother" books he received. This one is about 2 foxes, which is one of his favorite animals! |
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| "Little Blue Truck Christmas" is easily his favorite Christmas book. There is a tree at the end of the book that lights up. We have all of the LBT books - they are all wonderful! |
How was your month of December? Did you read anything great?
I keep hearing such great things about Addie Larue. Definitely one I want to read this year!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the Lazy Genius Way, All the Devils are Here, and I also enjoyed Addie LaRue last month.
ReplyDeleteI was not a huge fan of the last Chanel Cleeton book, Next Year in Havana. I mean, I liked it but did not love it. Would you say that you liked this one better than that one, if you have read it? Otherwise I have all of your other top reads on my TBR. I really liked Schwab's other series of books, although they were fantasy (Darker Shade of Light etc.) which is kind of hit and miss for me at times. I can't wait to read Addie LaRue; it has been on a lot of the top 2020 lists this year!
ReplyDeleteI also had a good reading month in December. I gave one book two stars, but the rest were threes and fours mostly with one five (Christadora!) Others favorites for the month were Gimme Everything You Got (easy, fast YA read), The Black Swan of Paris (I jumped ahead!) and On Tyranny (interesting comparison between Nazi Germany and the current US).
I read some good ones in December -- mostly all mysteries. I just finished Mitch Albom's "Finding Chika." I cried. I knew what was coming and I still cried. It is the most poignant, affirming, heartbreaking book I've read in a long while. Maybe ever.
ReplyDeleteBook of the Month let me choose one of their "Favorites of the Year" books for free, so I added the Addie Larue book since you loved it!
ReplyDeleteMy last book of the year - Tell Me Three Things - ended up being one of my favorites. It was just SO sweet and exactly what I needed!
Congrats on 100+ books again! That's amazing, Lisa!!
I am really enjoying this Ann Patchett book I'm reading - Patron Saint of Liars! Thank you for recommending this author - I am going to check out the others you recommended to me by her.
ReplyDeleteI also finished "Indistractable" - which is a great book about a theory on time management.
And I am slowly chipping away at this book called "The Baby Sleep Solution" - it is really useful, but it's kind of boring.
That is an impressive roster for December!! I also love that Paul shares your passion for reading!!!
I haven’t started any books as December was so busy, and I just find time to do my spiritual readings every dauphinois, but hope the New Year will bring more hours to read, which so far hasn’t happened as I’ve been packing Christmas away and doing a deep cleaning of my house. Next is my sewing agenda so reading may not be at the top of the list. I’ve been itching to start a sewing project and now I’m ready!
ReplyDeleteI love seeing all of Paul’s books and his love of them! Your reading list is impressive!
Another impressive reading month! I'm definitely going to check out the top 4 you recommended. In December I read and really enjoyed my non-fiction "Christmas: A Candid History" book which I found fascinating, as a major Christmas fan. I also read and loved the 2nd book in The Bear and the Nightingale trilogy (book #2 is Girl in the Tower). I've mentioned this on my blog, but it's such a different style of book than I typically read yet so captivating for some reason to me!! I really, really have enjoyed this trilogy so far! Need to order up book #3 now.
ReplyDeleteA favourite read of mine from December was "Sapiens". At the start of pandemic I did a lot of searches online for "best books of all time" or "favourite book" or "life changing books" and this book kept appearing in lists. It was engaging throughout, and even though it's long, it was a quick read.
ReplyDeleteI love that he still loves books! Adeline is currently still loving Down by the Bay. She has started handing us Goodnight Moon, and any books that have animals in them!
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