December Books

Today I am sharing the books I read in December!

Here were my reading goals for 2023:
1. Read 250 books. This includes the books I read to the kids, audiobooks, and anything I read for myself. COMPLETED (256)
2. Read twelve (new to me) classics/award-winners. COMPLETED (13)
3. Read twelve self-help/education books. COMPLETED (12)
4. Re-read thirty books. There are so many good books I have been meaning to re-read, so this is my goal to help with that! 15 DONE
5. I joined a cozy mystery challenge on Facebook, and my goal is to read 26-50 cozy mysteries. COMPLETED (42)

A few formatting notes:
1. I have inserted pictures as well as Amazon links to the books I enjoyed most for the month so that it is easier to read more about each book if you are interested. Hopefully, your local library system will carry most of these.
2. If I completed a more detailed review of any of these books, I included a review link after my comments.
3. If a book is not available yet, you will see the publication date in parenthesis after my comments.
4. I have rated each book using a bold numbered star after each comment.

The rating system is as follows:
*5-This book was so good, I either bought it, or think it is worth buying. I am pretty picky about the books I buy, so this is as good as it gets!
*4-This book was worth reading, but not necessarily worth buying-look for these books at your local library
*3-This book was just OK. I wouldn’t need to read it again.
*2-Don’t bother
*1-There probably won’t be any of these, because if it was THIS bad, I wouldn’t finish it. 🙂

Well, I still had 48 books to read going into December if I wanted to reach my Goodreads goal.

I wasn’t TOO worried though, as I always read a lot of Christmas books to the kids this time of year.

We have a tradition where we wrap up our Christmas books, and the kids take turns opening the books and we read some each night. We have accumulated quite the stack of Christmas books over the years, so many nights we read more than one book. Some are for really little kids, and even though our kids are growing up fast, they love to revisit these childhood favorites. :)

I highly recommend doing this if you have kids-it’s so much fun! And, if you don’t have many Christmas books, you can do what I did when I first started doing this many years ago-I wrapped library books!

I did manage to pack in several novels this month too, which was nice.

Here is what I read in December:

1. The Plan for the Gingerbread House by Darcy Pattison-this is a fun one *4
2. Snow Bugs by David A. Carter-a family favorite *5
3. The Legend of Old Belfana by Tomie dePaola-OK *3
4. Country Angel Christmas by Tomie dePaola-OK *3
5. Merry Christmas, Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola-OK *3

6. Once There Was a Christmas Tree by Jerry Smath-this is one of my favorites! *5
7. My Merry Christmas by Sally Lloyd-Jones-cute *3
8. Absolutely Not in Love by Jenny Proctor-pretty good *4
9. Big Bird’s Tree-Trimming Party by Lee Howard-fun *4
10. Cookie’s Christmas Cookies by Lee Howard-fun *4
11. Grover’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by Lee Howard-fun *4
12. Olive the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold-OK *3
13. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston-such a good one! *4
14. Banana Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swenson #21) by Joanne Fluke (audiobook)-good! *4
15. Meet the South Police (North Police #2) by Scott Sonneborn-OK *3
16. Robin Hill School: Secret Santa by Margaret McNamara-OK *3
17. While Everyone is Sleeping by Sarah Mackenzie-sweet story, loved the pictures *3
18. Caught on a Book (Antique Bookshop Mystery #4) by Laura Gail Black-good *4
19. Snowman Magic by Katherine Tegen-a favorite around here *4
20. The Christmas Walk by Andrew M. Rector-we like this one! *4

21. The Cat on the Dovrefell by Tomie dePaola-another of my favorites! *5
22. Merry Christmas, Peanut by Terry Border-this one is so cute! *4
23. Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery #6) by Vicki Delany-good! *4
24. Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett-OK *3
25. Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swenson #22) by Joanne Fluke (audiobook)-very good, and such a cliffhanger! *5
26. The Gingerbread Cookie Mystery by Judy Katschke-fun *4
27. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson #2) by Rick Riordan (audiobook)-was fun to do this one again *4
28. Reindeer Games (North Police #4) by Scott Sonneborn-OK *3
29. Amy Carmichael: Rescuer of Precious Gems by Janet Benge-very good! *5
30. The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving by Jan Berenstain-good *4
31. A Royal Christmas by Melody Carlson-good! *4
32. The Hole Story by Kelly Canby-one of my favorites *4
33. The Mitten by Jan Brett-very good *5

34. Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett-I love this book so much-it’s fabulous! *5
35. Pinkalicious Merry Pinkmas by Victoria Kann-OK *3
36. The Bears’ Christmas by Jan Berenstain-OK *3
37. The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas by Laura Murray-fun *4
38. Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun-good *4

39. Rent Yourself an Elf by Savannah Scott-very good *5
40. Christmas at Chamberlain by Becca Wilhite-OK *3
41. The Attic Christmas by B.G. Hennessy-very good *4
42. Bear Stays Up by Karma Wilson-very good *4
43. Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swenson #24) by Joanne Fluke (audiobook)-it was good, but darker than previous books, so not my favorite *4
44. Never Fall for Your Enemy by Kate O’Keefe-OK *3
45. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Rick Bunsen-OK *3
46. Christmas in Paradise by Brittany Larsen-OK *3
47. Mistle Text by Whitney Deneen-good *3
48. Cranberry Christmas by Wende Devlin-excellent *5
49. A Charlie Brown Christmas: A Pop-Up Version by Charles M. Schulz-fun *4
50. Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp-good *4
51. Christmas Wish by Lori Evert-OK *3
52. A Berry Deadly Welcome (Kylie Berry Mysteries #1) by A.R. Winter-good *4
53. A Berry Murderous Kitten (Kylie Berry Mysteries #2) by A.R. Winter-good *4

This month I read thirty-four books to the kids, and I read/listened to fifteen books just for me. I read four picture books to myself for review.

For the year, I read ninety-five books to the kids and one hundred and eighteen books just for me. I’ve also read forty-three picture books to myself for review.

2023 Reading Recap
I am pretty happy with how much I read this year. 

The only goal I did not reach was re-reading 30 books this year. I think I really overestimated how many books I could re-read in a year. Fifteen is still a pretty respectable number of re-reads, and I will set this goal again for 2024-just for a lower amount.

I read a lot more novels than I usually do, and really enjoyed digging into some cozy mysteries this year. Goodreads says I am in the top 25% of readers this year, so I’ll take that!

Well, that’s it for today. I will share my January books, as well as my 2024 reading goals the first Tuesday in February!