Happy first day of 2016, friends! There’s something so pure and hopeful about a brand-new year. I’m ready to put 2015 behind me and look ahead to 2016. I have some big plans for this year and I can only wish it is a beautiful year full of love and success and peace for all of us.

I wanted to publish my last book review post for 2015. I’m uncertain if I’m going to bring back these reviews in 2016, but I’ll always leave the door open for that possibility.

In any event, I’m dubbing December my month of romance. I’m always in the mood for light, fun reads in December, and romance novels fit the bill for me. I just don’t have the mental capacity for anything too heavy! So, in December, I read a ton of romance. I spent many a night snuggled up in bed with a sweet romance novel, and I have zero regrets about it.

I ended up reading 10 books in December, bringing my total for 2015 to 90 books. It was a pretty successful year of reading if I do say so myself.

Enjoy the reviews!

Book club read: My True Love Gave to Me by various authors (4 stars)
Short story collections are typically not my favorite, but I enjoyed this one. I ended up really, really loving six of the stories and really, really not liking the other six stories (anything involving fantasy was not my cup of tea). But the ones I loved made me so happy! It was definitely a feel-good collection to read in December when I want all of my books to be light and fun and romantic. If you love YA, I’d recommend giving this a read!

TLC Book Tours Read: One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis (4 stars)
I reviewed this on my blog earlier this month and you can read my review here.

Others (read for fun!)

Something About You by Julie James (4 stars)
This was a lighthearted read and would be the first of the romance novels I binged on in December. I read it to give me some sort of inspiration for my romance novel since it’s in the same style as what I am writing. It’s a reread, but I loved it just as much as the first time around. Julie James is such a talented romance novelist, and reading her novels is such a good lesson in writing great romance!

A Lot Like Love by Julie James (5 stars)
This is the second book in James’ FBI/US Attorney series, and I liked it even better than the first. Although she writes characters that are a little too perfect for my tastes, appearance-wise, I still devour her novels. This one was fun to read and the mystery element was quite intriguing!

Talk Me Down by Victoria Dahl (4 stars)
Victoria Dahl novels tend to be a little heavy on the sex and light on actual plot, but this one wasn’t too bad! One of her better novels, in fact. The main character was a little nutty and not as well-developed as I would have liked, but I loved the setting Dahl created with this book.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (4 stars)
This novel was included on my “Top 10 Books” list, so you know I loved it! The novel was slow in the beginning and involved a lot of characters, but halfway into it, the pace of the story picked up and I couldn’t put it down. The characters were charming and fun and funny, and while parts of the novel were heavy (the island of Guernsey was occupied by Germans during WWII, and there is a lot of information about how this affected the characters), it was still a delightful read.

Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis (4 stars)
Originally, I read this book back in 2010 and decided to reread it in December. It only took me a few days to finish and it was just a really fun romance novel. I really liked the main characters in this novel because the female was a strong one and the male was vulnerable and real.

Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson (4 stars)
This book was a lot different from what I was expecting, but I still really enjoyed it. It follows the story of Lilly, who grew up in an affluent family but always longed for something more than marriage and motherhood. The story takes place during WWI and when it is announced that women are needed to help in the war, Lilly joins the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and becomes an ambulance driver. She asks to be placed in a certain unit because this is where Robbie, a dear childhood friend and love interest, is serving as a surgeon. I loved the time period of this novel, and the love story was sweet and pure. The ending was a little cookie-cutter, but eh, I was glad for it because most stories about wartime are tragic and heartbreaking.

Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas (4 stars)
I really liked this novel! It had two well-written main characters and an intriguing overarching plot that had me staying up late to finish it. I was sad when it ended, which is always a sign of a great novel.

It Happened One Wedding by Julie James (4 stars)
Continuing my Julie James binge! This one was in the same series as the ones I read earlier in December, and it was just as good as those books. I didn’t quite connect with the main characters (they weren’t people I could see being friends with in my real life, you know?). Ah, well. Still a fun read with lots of sizzling romance!

BOOK STATS // DECEMBER

# of books read: 10
# of pages read: 3,175
quickest read: Talk Me Down (less than 24 hours)
longest read: My True Love Gave to Me (10 days)
diverse: 1
formats: ebooks (9), physical books (1)

What was the best book you read in December?

I had a solid reading month in November. I read six books and enjoyed most of them (one will easily be my favorite book I’ve read this year, and possibly of all time). I’m actually surprised I found time to read so much since I was also trying to complete NaNoWriMo and post regularly on the blog. As I always say, you make time for the things you love. I can always make time for reading, no matter how busy my schedule is.

I also managed to knock off three categories for the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge, so I may end up completing this challenge after all. I only need to complete two more categories.

This month, my favorite book was The Martian and my least favorite book was Bright Side.

Book club read: Bright Side by Kim Holden (3 stars)
I wasn’t a fan of this book, but I was in the minority in my opinions, as everyone else in my book club loved it. I just had many, many issues with the novel. I thought it wasn’t particularly well-written and could have used a good editor (an issue I often run into with self-published titles, as this one was). I thought the characters were completely stereotypical and the main character was so damn perfect that she wasn’t believable. And I thought the twist a little more than halfway into the novel was ridiculous and I didn’t understand the point of it. I guess if you’re a John Green fan (I’m not), you’ll probably like this novel, but the cheesiness of it was too much for me.

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge (a sci-fi novel): The Martian by Andy Weir (5 stars)
If I could give a book more than 5 stars, I would. I loved this novel. I couldn’t stop thinking about this novel for weeks after I finished it. (I still have residual book hangover moments, even now.) I’m not even sure why I loved it so much – was it the character of Mark Watney, who was incredibly funny and impossibly charming? Was it the fact that it took place in space and I am constantly fascinated by space and astronauts and NASA? Was it the way this story moved at a slow and steady pace, allowing you to truly sink into this crazy world, a world where a man is living on Mars? I’m not sure, but this might be one of the best books I’ve ever read. GO READ IT. And then lie to me if you didn’t love it because this is one of those books where I’m giving serious side-eye to people who don’t love it.

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge (a book that is a retelling of a classic story): A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James (3 stars)
This was a fun and easy story to read. It was framed as a retelling of Cinderella, though it didn’t resemble that story very much. I also found some of the dialogue to be inauthentic as to how people talked during the time period, so the novel didn’t always feel believable. I still enjoyed it, though, and I might even pick up some of James’ other fairytale retellings in the future when I need something light to read.

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge (a book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture): The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (4 stars)
I loved this novel! It was fascinating to read more about the Native American culture since my knowledge of this culture has been tainted by media portrayals. Some of this book was very heavy and sad, but it was written from a teenage boy’s perspective, which made it seem a little more light-hearted than you’d expect. One of my favorite quotes from the novel was this: “When anybody, no matter how old they are, loses a parent, I think it hurts the same as if you were only five years old, you know? I think all of us are always five years old in the presence and absence of our parents.” I had to stop and soak that in, tearing up as I read it, because how true is it? Oh, so true. So much wisdom and heartache in the book. I completely recommend it.

Others (read for fun!)

Savor by Monica Murphy (2 stars)
Meh… I got this book for free a long time ago, and it’s just been sitting on my Kindle. I read it during bouts on the treadmill/elliptical at the gym. Fairly mindless, but not particularly well-written.

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah (5 stars)
Kristin Hannah is easily one of my favorite authors and no, I haven’t read her most recent novels. I’m slowly working my way through her book list and am thoroughly enjoying myself. I didn’t know what to expect from this novel – some of her books are fantastic while others fall short – but this was the former. This book is about family and setbacks and learning from your mistakes. It’s about trust and finding hope and faith in people. It’s a novel that will inspire you and leave you totally and completely satisfied. One of my favorites from Hannah.

BOOK STATS // NOVEMBER

# of books read: 6
# of pages read: 1,926
quickest read: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (3 days)
longest read: The Martian (8 days)
diverse: 1
formats: ebooks (4), physical books (2)

What was the best book you read in November?

October felt like an incredibly slow reading month, but I ended up finishing 5 books. For me, that’s a low month of reading, but all things considered, it was a pretty solid reading month. It’s been hard lately to focus on books so I’ve opted for a lot of easy romances, which don’t require much brainpower and I’m always rewarded with a happy ending.

So, let’s jump into my reviews!

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge (a book published by an author from Africa): Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (4 stars)
I’m so glad I finally read this book, and it’s all thanks to the Book Riot reading challenge. I hadn’t even heard of this novel before I started listening to the Book Riot podcast, but they raved about her writing and this book especially. So I went in with high expectations and I’m happy that all of my expectations were completely met. My only complaint, if I had to give one, was the length of the novel as it’s almost 500 pages long. It took me two weeks to finish, and I read pretty fast, so just be warned that this is a novel you are going to have to devote some time to. But I loved the characters and the plot, and it was such an interesting look into race and culture. This novel had an impact on me and I feel changed after reading it.

TLC Book Tours Read: Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter (2 stars)
I reviewed this on my blog earlier this month and you can read my review here.

Others (read for fun!)

The Secret King by C.J. Miller (4 stars)
A fun Harlequin romance! This involved royalty, made-up countries, arranged marriages, a murder plot, and a sweet romance. I loved every cheesy minute I had with this novel.

To the Brink by Cindy Gerard (4 stars)
I’m rereading The Bodyguards series by Cindy Gerard because I love it so much. This story is one of my favorites. It’s a fast-paced romantic thriller that involves a kickass heroine who made me smile the whole way through this book. The characters are vulnerable and heartbreaking, and the plot keeps you on your toes from beginning to end. Love this author!

My One and Only by Kristan Higgins (3 stars)
This was probably not my favorite novel from Higgins, but it was sweet and lighthearted and romantic. I wasn’t a huge fan of the love story in this book, and the fact that their issues were never fully resolved bugs me. (I hate the “love conquers all!” concept because it’s so unrealistic.) But hey, I don’t read romance novels for realism – I read them for the escape they provide. And escape is exactly what this novel gave me.

BOOK STATS // OCTOBER

# of books read: 5
# of pages read: 1,903
quickest read: The Secret King (3 days)
longest read: Americanah (14 days)
diverse: 1
formats: ebooks (3), physical books (2)

What was the best book you read in October?