Best Books of December
As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.
So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.
These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from December.
Helle and Death (Oskar Jensen): I really wanted to like this book. I mostly did, but I also had trouble connecting with the story. I didn’t believe the plot setup. And there were lovely moments, but there were also offensive moments. And those took you out of the story. I guess I would sum it up by saying it’s a solid mystery with some problematic features, which shouldn’t stop you from reading the book but may impact your feelings as you read it.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls (Haruki Murakami): This is a long book with an amazing payoff. The last part of the story is worth getting through the meandering portions where you don’t completely understand why you’re off on a tangent. There is a point to everything — every word in this book — and the story is like a lucid dream, one where you wake up understanding yourself better and feel comforted by what you’ve learned about the world. You will walk away feeling like you’ve been given a gift. The afterword just makes the book that much better.
The Blue Hour (Paula Hawkins): 3.5 rounded up. It was fine. I didn’t connect with the characters, which made it difficult to get into the story. It was well written, and I could see someone else liking it, but I couldn’t get into this one. But I’m leaving it on the list because if you like Paula Hawkins, you’ll probably like this one. But if you’re not a huge fan of Paula Hawkins, this book will probably not grab you.
Over My Dead Body (Maz Evans): I’m glad I ended the year with this book instead of the last book. This mystery was delightful. It was funny and campy, and I read the last page with a smile plastered across my face. Will you see every twist coming from miles away? Yes. Will you care? No. Because the point of this book isn’t really solving the mystery. The point — dare I say it — is the friends we made along the way. And I loved Miriam and Winnie.
What did you read last month?
2 comments
I am embarrassed to say – I have never read Haruki Murakami. I’ve heard so many good things about his books and yet, I’ve shied away from them. Perhaps this will be the year I’ll finally give his books a try…
Would you say “The City…” is a good place to start or is there another one I should read first?
I finished 5 books in December, albeit two were completed at the end of long readalongs (one of them a whole year long, the other since mid-July!). All of them are reviewed on my blog, as well as on Goodreads & StoryGraph.
* “The Windsor Knot” by S.J. Bennett — a re-read for one of my online book clubs (it’s the January book, but I’m leading the discussion and needed to refresh my memory!). The first volume in a fun mystery series featuring none other than Queen Elizabeth II in the role of detective (with some help from her Assistant Private Secretary Rozie). 4 stars.
* “Miss Buncle’s Book” by D.E. Stevenson — re-read chapter-by-chapter with my DES fan group. Social satire from 1930s England. If you’re curious about Stevenson, this is a great book to start with. 4 stars.
* “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” by Helen Simonson. There was a lot I liked about this book — great writing, a romance between two lonely older people from very different cultures — but also a lot that made me cringe — e.g., the blatant racism and colonialism displayed by some of the lesser characters, and the melodramatic climax. 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.
* “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy (!), at the conclusion of a year-long “slow readalong” hosted by the Footnotes and Tangents Substack — one chapter per day for an entire year! Who knew that reading and discussing “War & Peace” could be so much fun?? Book: 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4. Slow readalong experience: a solid 5 stars.
* “The Mirror and the Light” by Hilary Mantel — book #3 in the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy — part of a(nother) year-long “slow readalong” hosted by Footnotes & Tangents (dubbed “Wolf Crawl” by participants, lol). An amazing feat of writing and storytelling. 5 stars.
Footnotes & Tangents is repeating the War & Peace and Cromwell Trilogy/Wolf Crawl slow readalongs in 2025 for paying subscribers — along with a couple of other books for free, starting with “The Siege of Krishnapur” by J.G. Farrell. If you’ve ever thought of reading these books, this is a great way to do it — I highly recommend the experience! Details here:
https://footnotesandtangents.substack.com/