What I Read: December 2022

I forgot I have a podcast + end of the year reads.

I’m sending this a day early to get ahead of all the NYE energy. I hope you are reading good books as the year winds to a close! It is a delight to show up in your inbox each month to talk about my favorite subject. Thank you for reading, really and truly.

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Sometimes I forget I used to co-host a podcast (two, actually!). I haven’t recorded anything in almost an entire year, and that is a first since 2015.

Ashley Brooks and I dug the Chasing Creative podcast feed out of obscurity for a single episode this year, and it’s all about books, which feels worth mentioning here. We share what we read, how we read, if we were happy with it… if you’re reading this and enjoy podcasts, it’s probably a sweet-spot kinda listen for you.

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Here’s what I read in December:

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox & The Horse

by Charles Mackesey

This was cute. I suspect it originated as small, illustrated Instagram posts that then got strung together into a book, so it doesn’t really have a narrative as I suspected, just a collection of sweet sayings between the four characters, each looking to share kindness and love. I am glad I picked it up secondhand after hearing rave reviews, because I didn’t feel like it was something I’d appreciate paying full price for. Worth a read, but nab it from your library before you buy to see if it’s something you’d want to own on your shelves.

Goodreads | Bookshop

Hello Stranger {e-book ARC}

by Katherine Center

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in December, and I’ve vowed to always read a Katherine Center as soon as its available. This is another delightful rom-com from Center, although my favorite remains What You Wish For. Hello Stranger is about a portrait painter who suffers a freak accident… which renders her unable to see faces. It happens just weeks before a major contest deadline approaches, a day after she meets a cute stranger, and you can guess where the story goes from there. It’s not too fluffy, not too swoon-y, and just right for when you are in a reading slump and need a pick-me-up (which was me in early December). It comes out in July 2023 — add it to your library list ASAP.

Goodreads | Bookshop

The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue (#3) {audiobook}

by Karina Yan Glaser

The series continues! And we still love it. Five siblings, three pets (plus some bonus critters), a mix-up with a home baking license, and lots of chances to fix mistakes and make things right. This book continues the series well, and we can’t wait to keep reading more about the Vanderbeekers and their Brownstone in Harlem.

Goodreads | Bookshop

The Book Jumper

by Mecthild Glaser

My husband, Scott, purchased this for me as my Christmas Eve book (our favorite tradition is one we’ve lifted from Icelandic culture, even though we’ve never been), and it was perfect. It’s a fun YA read about a lineage of people on an island off the coast of Scotland who can "jump" into books and affect the story. A wonderful pick for those wishy-washy days after Christmas where your attention span is meh and you just want a good escapist book to read while next to the Christmas tree. I read it in 2 days, and that’s the hallmark of a perfect Christmas Eve gift book.

Goodreads | Bookshop

Currently…

I’m about halfway through Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder (I mused on Chasing Creative that this might be the first time I end up loving a Patchett novel) and am eager to finish soon.

I’ve got so many non-fiction books in progress that I need to finish: The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr; Attached to God by Krispin Mayfield; and Aundi Kolber’s Try Softer. I’d also love to plunge back into Middlemarch after a l-o-n-g time away alongside Lisa Hensley. Maybe 2023 is the year?

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What I’ve been Reading with the Kids:

So many Christmas books! Here are some favorites that we got from the library and some that we enjoyed from our own collection:

They are mostly all collected in this list, but here’s some notes on what was new to us this year:

• Dasher — Cried my eyes out. So sweet.

• Silent Night — The lyrics of the song, set to gorgeous illustrations. Another in the series I want to check out.

• The Trees of the Dancing Goats — About an immigrant family who celebrates Hanukkah, but helps their neighbors who are ill to celebrate Christmas when they need the boost. A joy. More tears.

• The Night of His Birth — By THE Katherine Paterson of Terabithia fame, this is told from Mary’s perspective and it is tender and sweet and made me cry, too. Above the heads of most kiddos, but moms will love it.

• Maple & Willow’s Christmas Tree — A cute story about two sisters and their first real tree. Tennyson (almost 3) has it practically memorized.

• The Christmas Book Flood — I picked this up almost at first glance when we visited a bookstore in December because it illustrates our Christmas Eve tradition so well. The pictures are marvelous, the words are just OK — I want them to be more lyrical than they are; rhyming wouldn’t hurt here, but it’s not consistent.

• Last Stop on the Reindeer Express — Magical and sweet, and with lots of cut-outs and flaps that take you through the story. A girl gets a special trip to see her grandfather far away on Christmas Eve. Beautiful.

• Pick A Pine Tree — We really enjoy this one on tree-cutting day.

• A Simple Christmas on the Farm — A great message about keeping Christmas quiet and focused. Nice illustrations, and features a bi-racial family which is so good to see represented in a book about a farm.

• The Christmas Eve Tree — I did not realize how sad this book would be, but I love it. The main character is a homeless boy, who adopts the smallest tree no one else wants that brings joy to him and his neighbors.

• Christmas Farm — An older woman and her 5yo next door neighbor start a Christmas tree from scratch. It’s a favorite over here.

• The Legend of St. Nicholas — We read and listened to this on audio this year, and it was a good companion to our St. Nicholas Day celebration that we’re trying to lean into more each year.

As Arthur continues to lean into audio books, I catch snatches of what he’s listening to at home or in the car. I’ve caught bits of Anne of Green Gables, The Wild Robot, and the Mercy Watson series this last month. He has enjoyed all of them multiple times during our library hold window.

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And that’s it! That’s another year of reading.

Do you have reading goals for 2023? Need a great next read to get you out of a slump? Hit ‘reply’ I’d love to hear about them, and I’d love to help.

Happy New Year!