December: What are we reading?

Have I started a duplicate thread? Or are we having a slow start to December?

I'm reading The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman.

I think Christina usually starts the threads, and if I recall correctly she's on vacation :)

I also just realized I forgot to pin all the December threads to the top of the group.....

I stayed up late to finish The Bullet That Missed which ended with a twist that I never saw coming! Looking forward to the next books in this series. Reading sample books now from Kindle.

Reading Oryx & Crake, listening to London Fields.

I think a slow start to December is appropriate.

I'm reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and listening to Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson.

I just finished Lapvona and Convenience Store Woman. Starting Hummingbird Salamander.

I am currently reading Glass Sword the 2nd book in a fantasy trio by Victoria Aveyard. I am also about to start A Sixpenny Christmas by Katie Flynn.

I just started A Dangerous Business.

I only have 2 books to complete on my plate: The Light in the Forest which I'm reading to see if it's a suitable book for my students and I so want to finish Journeyer, my doorstop (800+ pages) on Marco Polo.

Reading Yuletide which is a collection of stories that are based on Pride and Prejudice and the proceeds will benefit Chawton Great House.

I finished both The Wright Brothers (written and narrated by David McCullough) and You Better Not Cry (by Augusten Burroughs) this morning (couldn’t sleep).
The Kills (by Richard House is languishing on my bedside table. It' not bad, just not capturing my interest right now. I'll probably carry it over into 2023, picking at it as the mood suits.
I have The House of Special Purpose (by John Boyne) beckoning to me though :-)

Finished Oryx and Crake, next up for the eyes is Birds without Wings.
Still listening to London Fields.

Reading Adore Me which is a late in life romance by Autumn Macarthur and an anthology of Christmas regency romances. Just finished Her Winter Prince which is not showing up as a touchstone.

Reading two non-fiction books.

Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune is about younger sons and how they supported themselves in Georgian/Regency/Victorian times. It was a recent BookBub bargain.

Bulldozed is about Australian politics, the downfall of Scott Morrison who is a contender for the Worst Prime Minister Ever.

As soon as you click Save the touchstones disappear.

I am reading Crimson Snow, a collection of vintage mystery stories that have been assembled by author Martin Edwards. I also am about to start A Match Made at Christmas by Ellie St. Clair, a Regency Romance.

Read The African Queen ( by C.S. Forester) and; listened to The Zimmermann Telegram (by Barbra W. Tuchman; narrated by Wanda McCaddon) and Christmas Eve, 1914 (by Charles Oliver; performed by a full cast);

Have started The House of Special Purpose (by John Boyne) and A Christmas Carol (by Charles Dickens; narrated by Anton Lesser)

Read Adore Me by Autumn Macarthur which is a novel about late in life romance and is part of a series featuring the same characters. I liked it mostly but the ending was annoying and unrealistic! Bah, why ruin the book like that??

Currently reading Dead and Gondola and The Orient Express: Timeless Victorian which is an anthology of detective stories set on the Orient Express.

I'm having a poor reading month - just too many other things. But I'm almost finished listening to Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson so I've downloaded the Catch by Alison Fairbrother and hope to start it this week.

>2 rabbitprincess: Hah, you are correct! But thank you >1 pamelad: for starting the thread!

I read a few books on vacation -- Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold, Miss Moriarty, I Presume? by Sherry Thomas, and Daughter of Ancients by Carol Berg -- thus completing my series goals for 2022! Now I'm relaxing my brain with a pleasant Regency romance, You May Kiss the Bride by Lisa Berne.

Currently reading

• Best of friends by Kamila Shamsie


• The employees by Olga Ravn


• The white mosque by Sofia Samatar


• A game of fear by Charles Todd
(audio)

Hope to finish the first two this weekend.

Wrapped up my audio year with A Christmas Carol (by Charles Dickens; narrated by Anton LEsser) and;
am about a third of the way through The House of Special Purpose (by John Boyne).
I'll be carrying The Kills (by Richard House) into 2023.

Still reading Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune, a good reading in bed book because it's interesting enough to want to read, but not so much that I have to stay awake to finish it. Also reading The Scarlet Pimpernel, classic historical fiction for the Historical Fiction Challenge.

>22 pamelad: I love The Scarlet Pimpernel! I had no idea that I had a taste for the melodramatic until I came across that one (I think in the Serial Reader app?) years ago. It's kinda funny because my family calls me their "No Drama Llama" as I dislike IRL drama so much :-D

Finished Dead and Gondola for NetGalley and picked up a new one I pre-ordered that appeared on my Kindle today--An Amish Christmas Caper by Samantha Price

I've begun The Corner Shop by Elizabeth Cadell.

I read Was ist los mit dem Boo Hoo Baby in my ongoing bid to learn German.
Lots of repetition of animal names and noises, and some tense changes.

Just finished The Blood Tide, by Neil Lancaster.

Finished listening to The Cockroach by Ian McEwan. Excellent play on Kafka's Metamorphosis and sharp satire; A fi=uture classic, will be in about 10 years, when the pain has diminished a bit.

>23 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Very entertaining. The Scarlet Pimpernel surprised me because I wasn't expecting romance.

I just finished Piranesi by Susanne Clarke.

I finished Hummingbird Salamander and am about to start All the Murmuring Bones.

I continue to turn to Empire of Pain which, despite its investigation of a horrendous problem in our times, is also a brilliantly written book. I find myself saying, "Just one more chapter . . . OK, one more . . . " and dinner gets later and later and later.

I am reading Secrets of the Nile which is a Lady Emily novel. It is slow moving and the chapters alternate between 1904 and ancient Egypt. I would have liked it better if the stories were written as two separate novellas. I like the ancient story line better!

I'm about to start a seasonal mystery, The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly.

Also reading The Joy and Light Bus Company by Alexander McCall Smith, part of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency. I usually enjoy these novels but this one seems very slow moving and I am not seeing many mysterious happenings.

I finished A Better Man by Louise Penny and think I'll start An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear.

I'm getting an early start on 2023 and reading Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini. It fits in ClassicsCAT and the History Challenge. I've been meaning to read it for years.

Still reading Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune. It's about the careers undertaken by younger sons who needed to support themselves and doesn't need to be read all at once, because it covers a career at a time.

I finished Living Proof. I'm trying to pace myself with this series, but it's hard to do! I wasn't sure what I wanted to read next, but I suppose since I've been reading about the Three Pines series, I decided to reread the first few books. I think I found them just ok, but now I’m curious to see if my feelings have changed.

I think I got to book #3 or 4, then stopped, and that was about 12 years ago. There's no way I will recall any of the plot details from that far back, so I will be speed reading through book #6, until I decide if I'm going to keep my Kindle Unlimited membership, as the first 6 books are free.

I finished Secrets of the Nile in which all was tied up nicely at the end. I guessed what had happened to the person who was poisoned, but not all the details of why it occurred as it did. The ancient mystery was also tied in with the ending and it all made sense then.

I finished All the Murmuring Bones while waiting for everyone else to get up Christmas morning. My next read will likely be Matrix for my real-life book club, but I haven't unwrapped my presents yet.

Paused "Empire of Pain" to do some easier reading with Mercy Blade by Faith Hunter. Enjoying it better than Book #2 in this series.

I've finished Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune and Scaramouche and have started Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.

I am currently reading Peppermint Barked having finished the unsatisfying A Murder of Christmas Past which ended in a rush and confusion. Also reading one of my fave seasonal reads An Irish Country Christmas by Alice Taylor.

Chalking up an easy win with a short Doctor Who audio, Destiny of the Doctor: Babblesphere, by Jonathan Morris, read by Lalla Ward and also starring Roger Parrott as Aurelius.

Next I’m going to treat myself to the next volume in the Verlaque and Bonnet series: The Mystery of the Lost Cézanne, by M. L. Longworth.

I'm rereading Attachments by Rainbow Rowell for I think the fourth time. Still a favorite!

Finished Birds without Wings, which grew on me. Still listening to London Fields which I hate.
Next up, to finish the year, is Thief of Time
3 days and 2 books to go...

Finishing Peppermint Barked which is taking a long time to get going but I still like it. Also read Around the World in 80 Days (Illustrated Classics) by Jules Verne.

My focus has been making the transition to 2023 reading-- so some of these are legit December titles and others are hedges against January...
• Einstein's Dreams (by Alan Lightman) - Set in 1905 Switzerland, this features Einstein as he writes his famous papers that would change modern physics. Most of this book though consists of his "dreams" which are actually expositions on the perception of time. Surprisingly poignant and even a little heartbreaking in places;
• Four Princes Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe (by John Julius Norwich; narrated by Julian Elfer) - Non-fiction profiles of the four regents mentioned in the subtitle. In the first half of the sixteenth century, these four were contemporaries and their successes and failures reverberate down to us today; Highly engaging writing and well narrated by Julian Elfer (British);
• Southern Charmer (Charleston Heat #1; by Jessica Peterson) - A small town, contemporary romance which features a woman searching for happiness in a truer sense of herself and a South Carolinian chef dealing with the failure of one of his restaurants. Solid emotional arcs and, as a bonus mouth watering descriptions of food which will have you googling grits recipes.
• The Doomsday Book (by Connie Willis) - Time travel book set in in 2257 AD Oxford England and in which a history student is sent back to the fourteenth century. The dual plot lines, historical research, character arcs and vivid descriptions are all well done and, combined with an emotionally engaging plot, this makes for a fast read fdespite its 600+ page count.

• I'm not much liking The House of Special Purpose (by John Boyne) as the author has telegraphed early & strongly the plot twist-- so the tension has been robbed from the story arc. But I am determined to finish before the end of the year and write a fully informed review.
• I've also started listening to A World Undone (by G.J. Meyer; narrated by Robin Sachs), a non-fiction title about WWI (1914-1918). This is much more comprehensive than Barbara Tuchman's The Coming of the Great War duology-- but maybe I see things a tiny bit more clearly because I read her books first and did some preliminary googling. Still, a well constructed account which intersperses events with background chapters. The late Robin Sachs sounds robotic at times; but has a pleasant voice overall and doesn't sound lost in the material.

I'm feeling ambitious and want to try to finish Kenneth, by Nigel Tranter, before the end of the year.

I've read 148 books so far this year, and I'm going to try to get to an even 150! Right now I'm starting #149, A Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Matthews. And sure, it's a novella, but that still counts, right? :)

>50 christina_reads: - Of course! When you're that close, anything counts 😁

I am rushing to finish Frosted Windowpanes which is a Pride and Prejudice spin off novella in a contemporary setting. I like the story so far and want to finish it as my last read for 2022.

I finished Mercy Blade by Faith Hunter yesterday and enjoyed it very, very much. I have about 100 pages to go on Empire of Pain but doubt I'll finish it this evening. There's always 2023!

Happy new year everyone! Hard to believe it is already 2023. My last book for 2022 was No Gods, No Monsters, which I finished just before midnight while lying in bed and listening to gunshots going off outside.