Wrap Up: December 2015

The month of December is over (and so is 2015!) and I’m here to tell you about all the wonderful books I read this month. I read a huge amount of books this month and I’m super happy with how I ended the year (2015 wrap up coming soon!). I read a total of 21 books this month, with 7 of them read in the last 4 days of the month. It’s also interesting that those 7 were the ones that I read after I completed my 2015 reading challenge (I guess I read faster when I feel liberated?). Without further ado, let’s check out what I read!

As always, these books appear in the order that I read them and their reviews are linked. I am a co-blogger at Happy Indulgence and I also post YA reviews there.

1. A Corner of White – Jaclyn Moriarty  

A wonderful contemporary and fantasy cross-over involving parallel worlds, this novel reads like a contemporary story, set partly in a fantasy world. This is the first book in The Colours of Madeleine, an Australian YA trilogy.

2. The Cracks in the Kingdom – Jaclyn Moriarty  

The second book in Jaclyn Moriarty’s YA trilogy, The Colours of Madeleine. A really, really great sequel to A Corner of White. This book reads a bit more like a fantasy novel and the ending made me really excited for the third book.

3. Sway – Kat Spears  

This contemporary novel was not for me. I found it to be pretty offensive and I disliked all of the characters, as well as the romance.

4. A Study in Charlotte – Brittany Cavallaro  

This is the first book in a Sherlock-inspired trilogy that’s set to be released in March 2016. I was highly anticipating this one but it fell a little bit short of my expectations. A review of this will be live on Happy Indulgence in mid-February.

5. The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan  

I finally read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series this month. The Lightning Thief was a really enjoyable first book and I absolutely fell in love with the world and Percy.

6. The Sea of Monsters – Rick Riordan  

This was a wonderful sequel to The Lightning Thief and is probably my second favourite book of the series. I loved the characters that were introduced in this book and Percy’s quest was so much fun!

7. The Titan’s Curse – Rick Riordan  

This was my least favourite book of the PJO series but it was still a great book. I found the beginning to be kind of slow, with nothing much happening, but the rest of the book was great.

8. The Battle of the Labyrinth – Rick Riordan  

I also thought this fourth book of the PJO series was slow at the beginning. But their quest through the labyrinth was so action-packed and so much fun that I couldn’t help loving it too. I just didn’t always enjoy Rachel Elizabeth Dare…

9. The Last Olympian – Rick Riordan  

This is the last book of the PJO series and my favourite of the five books. It was action-packed from the very beginning and the whole book was just epic. Rick Riordan couldn’t have written a better ending to the series.

10. Feeling Sorry for Celia – Jaclyn Moriarty  

A hilarious Australian YA contemporary, written entirely as a collection of notes and letters. We follow the life of Elizabeth as she exchanges letters with a penpal from a nearby school. It’s a great story about friendship, family and romance.

11. Emmy & Oliver – Robin Benway  

Another wonderful contemporary with the most sweet and adorable romance, I loved this one so much! I had some problems with the plot and pace of the book, but it was a great book anyway.

12. The Raven Boys – Maggie Stiefvater  

A mysterious and magical story about a teenage girl and a group of boys from a private and elite high school, the Raven boys. This novel had amazing writing and the most atmospheric setting.

13. The Dream Thieves – Maggie Stiefvater  

The sequel to The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves follows the story of Ronan, one of the Raven boys. We get to learn more about his past and his unique abilities in this book.

14. Blue Lily, Lily Blue – Maggie Stiefvater  

This is my favourite book in The Raven Cycle so far. It was faster-paced than the others and had a plot that moved along nicely. I just can’t get enough of Maggie Stiefvater’s writing.

15. Snowflake Wishes – Maggie McGinnis  

A holiday-themed novella about a second chance romance. This was short and sweet, perfect for a winter’s day.

16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Illustrated edition) – J.K. Rowling & Jim Kay  

I highly enjoyed rereading this first book in the Harry Potter series. The illustrations were the perfect accompaniment to the story and I loved all of the intricate and beautiful drawings. I could reread this over and over again.

17. One Hundred Great Books in Haiku – David M. Bader  

A really funny collection of haikus. I laughed out loud on so many pages. The author tried to capture the language and theme of the original works and was pretty successful at it.

18. Marly’s Ghost – David Levithan  

A reimagining of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with a Valentine’s Day twist. This book is about a boy who loses his girlfriend to cancer and has a hard time letting go. Spirits visit him during the night to show him the past, present and future. My problem with this was that the plot was unoriginal and predictable. I needed some sort of twist in the book to keep it interesting.

19. Hark! A Vagrant – Kate Beaton  

This is a collection of comics by Canadian, Kate Beaton. They focus on important moments in history as well as important works of literature. I found a lot of the comics to be funny but there were also many about Canada or North American history that I didn’t understand. The book does have some descriptions to help those who are really struggling though.

20. This Raging Light – Estelle Laure  

A contemporary novel about a girl whose parents both disappear on her and her younger sister. She has to learn to take care of both herself and her sister while keeping the situation a secret. I didn’t like the writing, characters, romance or plot in this book.  A full review of this will be up on Happy Indulgence next week.

21. Everything Leads to You – Nina LaCour  

An LGBTQ+ book about a girl who works in set design. It was fast-paced and charming and I really enjoyed it. I should have a review of this up soon.

I did three best books of 2015 posts:

• Top Ten Books I Read in 2015 on this blog
• Top Ten YA Releases of 2015 on Happy Indulgence
• The Thinker Awards 2015, hosted by Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts

In December, I did five Top Ten Tuesday posts:

• 01-12-15: Ten 2016 Debut Novels I’m Looking Forward To
• 08-12-15: Ten Favourite New-To-Me Authors I Read for the First Time in 2015
• 15-12-15: Top Ten Books That I Read in 2015
• 22-12-15: Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year
• 29-12-15: Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2016

---

 

Happy New Year! I will have my End of Year Survey post up on Saturday!