December Wrap-Up | A Cold But Otherwise Okay End to the Year

Hey, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. Happy New Year’s Eve! We are so close to 2022 and I can’t believe it. This is the last time I am going to say this: How did 2021 go by so fast? It’s like I blinked and the year was over. Are we ready for 2022? I don’t know. This is my last post of the year, which is kind of crazy, honestly.

BOOKS READ

I read 5 books which I’m happy about. I didn’t really stick to my TBR, but I read 2 out of 3 books that I planned to read this month, plus a couple others.

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The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah|📖|★★★★.5|My Review
This book was an emotional roller coaster. Set in 1940s France, The Nightingale tells the story of two sisters during WW2. This book was powerful and evocative, told with vivid writing. I loved the strong, female protagonists in this story and learning about what the women had to face, against the Nazis.

The Queen Will Betray You (Kingdoms of Sand and Sky #2) by Sarah Henning|📱|★★★★
This was the sequel to The Princess Will Save You and it was just as entertaining as the first one, if not more so. The stakes are higher now and Amarande and Luca are separated for some of the book, trying to save their own inheritance and find a way back to each other. The action was definitely cranked up a notch and that ending was a surprise twist! I’m looking for the third book when it comes out!

One Way or Another by Kara McDowell|📱|★★★★
This was a such a sweet story! I loved Paige as a protagonist and how she grew. There was great anxiety representation, something I don’t read a lot of in novels. This is set during Christmas time and it had so many cozy, winter vibes.

When All the Girls Are Sleeping by Emily Arsenault|📱|★★★★.5
This was the first mystery I’d read in a long time and luckily, it did not disappoint. This book was engaging and kept me on my toes. I had a bunch of suspects in my head and it was interesting to figure out all the clues along with Haley. There were a lot of names to keep track of and I would often forget what significance so-and-so would have to the ghost stories. The big reveal at the end was not what I expected, but it was definitely intriguing.

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee|📖|★★★★★
Wow, I do not know what to say about this book, other that it was so good. I wasn’t sure what to think when I discovered that there are fourteen different POVs in this book, but Traci Chee did an amazing job with giving each character a distinct voice. Following the lives of Japanese-American teenagers, in the internement camps during WW2, I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a good historical fiction novel.

CURRENTLY READING

TBR FOR JANUARY

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As you can see, my reading for January is mostly going to be dominated by The Poppy War trilogy. However, if I finish the series before the month is over, I’d also like to get to another series.

• The Dragon Republic & The Burning God (The Poppy War #2 & #3) by R.F. Kuang – I’ve only read a little bit The Poppy War, so I don’t have a lot to say about these two books, but I’m excited to finally get to these books to find out what all the hype is about.
• The Awakening Storm (City of Dragons #1) by Jaimal Yogis & Vivian Truong – I haven’t read a graphic novel in a very long time, so I’m eager to get to this one. It’s about dragons and my blog is named after my childhood imaginary dragon, so I feel like I’m going to like this one.

MY POSTS

I had a pretty good blogging month, though I disappeared for two weeks in the middle because of finals. Nevertheless, I was able to blog quite a bit once winter break started, which I’m happy about. Here are the posts for the month:

• Let’s Talk Bookish: Top Dos and Don’ts For New Bloggers
• Get to Know Me From A to Z|100 Followers Special!
• Christmas Songs Book Tag
• Review + Moodboard: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah|A Powerful Story of Two Sisters During WW2
• Bookish Pet Peeves
• My One Year Blogiversary!|Reflections and Gratitudes
• December Wrap-Up|

AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE

• Emily @ Frappes and Fiction wrote a discussion on identity politics in the book community.
• Ritz @ Living, Loving and Reading celebrated 200 followers with a Q&A.
• Maddie @ Inking and Thinking wrote a discussion on diversifying your reading and also shared some diverse recommendations.
• Cherry @ Letters to the Lost shared book she read this year but doesn’t talk about.
• Rachel @ A Bookworm’s Paradise shared her top 10 reads of 2021.
• Prutha @ Moonchild Lexicons shared 40+ diverse 2022 releases to anticipate.
• Suhani @ Random Reader’s Rambles shared her thoughts on her best and worst reads of 2021.
• Gauri @ A Book and Chai shared books to look forward to in 2022.

You won’t believe it, but I actually got some writing done! Not a lot, but I wrote a few pages of my WIP. I’m starting to understand my characters better, so the writing is a little easier. I’m working on making the dialogue of each character more distinct and also changing around some of the scenes so they’re more believable and just better overall. I know I’m not going to have as much time once school starts again, so I’m planing on writing some more before then. So far, it’s coming along pretty well!

December was a pretty good month! I honestly don’t remember what happened at the beginning of the month. The beginning of the month seems like it was forever ago, but at the same time, I can’t believe December is over. Here are a few interesting things that happened this month:

• I had two orchestra concerts this month. One wasn’t really a concert, but the city mayor wanted the advanced orchestra to play at the Tree Lighting Ceremony and we agreed. It was a lot of fun, but it was also very cold. Because we had our original concert to focus on, my teacher got us some easy middle school-level Christmas carols to play, and we put it together the week of. Our orchestra consists of only thirteen people and the people didn’t think to mic us, so a lot of people couldn’t hear us, but it was fun regardless. And afterwards, the people who asked us to perform payed for us to have pizza, so we walked across the street to the pizza place. It was a lot of fun, getting to play and then hanging out afterwards.
• Our actual concert was the winter concert for the school and consisted of all the music groups at the school: symphonic band, wind ensemble, both orchestras, and jazz band. The pieces we played were a lot of fun and the advanced orchestra and lower orchestra did a piece together, along with the jazz band which was probably the best part, in my opinion.
• Christmas this year was alright. Things were a little weird this year, but we still had a good time. I got a lot of new books, which I’m excited to read. I think my favorite one I got is The Poppy War, which I am very excited to read.

December Goals:

• Read at least 4 books ✅
• Post at least 5 times ✅
• Referee courses ❌
• Work on WIP ✅

January Goals:

• Read at least 5 books
• Post at least 7 times
• Work on WIP
• Finish transcribing English notebook

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How was your December? Did you read any good books?
Do you have any fun plans for January?