December Reading Wrap-Up + January Hopes

Hi, everyone!! I'm still making lists for the year of 2018, but before I uploaded more of those I think it's time to reflect on the last month of the year. I have loved doing wrap-ups this year and 2018 was the year I made them a priority. I didn't always do them monthly towards the end of the year, but I hope to continue doing them because I find them so much fun!

Books Read in December:

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter 5 stars The first book I finished in December was a Karin Slaughter who became an authors whose books I ate in 2018. They are fantastic. This standalone is different from other two I've read because we follow a mother-daughter dual narrative instead of two sisters and the mother's perspective is in an earlier time period. It's also got a cult/terrorist group in it, so if that's your kind of jam, then you will probably love that aspect of this novel. (I know I did!) Out of the two perspectives I preferred the mother's story because BRUTAL.

Nightingale by Amy Lukavics 3.5 stars This is a very weird YA horror that follows a girl in an insane asylum who has hysteria because she didn't fit the mold of a '50s young lady (that's the non-spoiler answer to why she's there) and has an obsession with writing her story about aliens. It was wild and almost impossible to put down. Lukavics' is a very gripping writing. Check out my review here.

Newborn on Her Doorstep: Harlequin Manga by Yuuki Mizusawa & Ellie Darkins 3 stars I thought this was a pretty standard cheesy romance. It wasn't anything remarkable, but I loved the art. Check out my review here. 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 4.75 stars This was a reread for me. I didn't love it the first time I read it and I was very underwhelmed by it, but I was also eleven-years-old and still finding my stance on reading. I listened to the audiobook of this and WOW. I fell in love. It's not a perfect novel and it lags a bit in the middle, but it's so beautiful and atmospheric. Check out my review here.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner 1.25 stars This was a painful audiobook to get through. It took me months to listen to because I dreaded listening to it and it kept having to go back to my library. At first, it started out strong with the sinking spaceship, but I quickly lost interest. Don't even get me started on this romance. GAG ME. 

Salt by Hannah Moskowitz 3.25 stars This follows four orphaned sea monster hunters. It's a fun concept, but it does not have a lot of world building and could have been a little longer. Check out my review here.

Child of the Moon by Jessica Semaan 3.75 stars This is a poetry collection about vulnerability, trauma, and healing. It's hard to judge poetry like this because it's a very personal account, but the art and illustrations were so stunning. Check out my review here.

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White 5 stars In this novel we follow the "cousin" and eventual wife of Victor Frankenstein from the beloved novel. I must say that everything that I thought was boring about Frankenstein was expanded upon in a whole new light. I enjoyed the Elizabeth was as manipulative as Frankenstein and that it caused a lot of problems in the end. Highly recommend if you are a fan of Frankenstein, but don't mind a new perspective on a beloved classic.

Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Are Meant To Be by Rachel Hollis 5 stars This is a memoir/self-help/Christian Living novel and it won't be for everyone. I saw a Buzzfeed article completely tearing Hollis' character to shreds and I don't agree with it at. Some of the points were valid, but it mainly read as a defamation of character. Hollis can't write for everyone because she is writing her own story and hoping it helps others. It's okay that it doesn't appeal to everyone, not all memoirs will. Even more, I think she is way too materialistic, but picking apart her Pentecostal background the way the article did left me feeling uneasy about the way our society so easily advocates for contradictory levels of acceptance. Just dropping my two cents in about that in case you were wondering. I'm not blind to Rachel Hollis being a "great" person, but I'm a Christian and I'm not a great person either. Thank Jesus for his grace because I make mistakes everyday. This is a lower 5-star rating for me, but I still feel that it deserves that rating.
All the Rage by Courtney Summers 5 stars I've been to read this for years and then all of a sudden I had this overwhelming need to read this. I couldn't resist the call of this novel anymore and it broke me. This is a dark novel about Romy as she struggles with being the social pariah of her high school. No one believes that she was really raped and everyone blames her for it because she "wanted it". The one person who may have finally started to believe her is now missing. This novel is intense, heart wrenching, beautiful, and everything I wanted from Courtney Summers. I haven't read her since high school and that is something I need to rectify. This was spectacular.
The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay 4.5 stars This book was brutal. Like yikes. We follow a young girl and her two dads enjoying their time in their cabin in the woods. Everything changes when Leonard approaches Wen and then a home invasion begins. The four strangers claim to have just met this morning and that they have decide to sacrifice one of the three of their family or the end of the world will come. It's intense, shocking, and heartbreaking. The reason I won't give this a full 5-star is because I hated the ending. What a cop out.
Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely by Lysa TerKeurst 5 stars This is one of the best novels I read all year. This book broke me. There were times as I turned the pages where I felt as if the Spirit was handing me a book that was just for me and saying, "Sarah, I know at times you hate yourself and often feel misunderstood, but I understand you. The rejection you feel is not fair, but I felt that rejection too." Instantly I realized that life is hard and I hard from the rejection of my past, but also from myself and current circumstances. I can't let those rejections cripple me because God called me to be a daughter of His kingdom and I will live loved even on the days when it hurts.

Overall Thoughts:
I read 12 books!! WOW! I didn't do too hot in October and November, but December meant reading as much as possible during my break. I gave 5 books a 5-star rating, which is fantastic. I felt that December was a strong reading month for me and I enjoyed what I was reading. If I were to rank the books I gave 5 stars it would be:
1. Uninvited
2. All the Rage
3. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein
4. Pieces of Her
5. Girl, Wash Your Face

2018 Goals:

 -I want to finish at least three series (five doesn't seem doable). COMPLETED 4/3 

*I finished The 5th Wave Trilogy with reading two novels!

*Burn for Burn trilogy was finally finished!

*I read and started The Lord of the Rings trilogy in one month! 

*I finished the original Sevenwaters trilogy by Juliet Marillier with two novels read.
-I want to read five sequels (I don't have to finish the series). COMPLETED 11/5 

*Flawless by Sara Shepard is book 2 in the PLL series. 

*The Infinite Sea and The Last Star by Rick Yancey are the 2nd and 3rd book in The 5th Wave series.

*The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon is the fifth book in the Outlander series. 

*The Lord of the Rings: The Towers and The Return of the King are the first and second in the LOTR trilogy.

*Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian is the last book in the Burn for Burn trilogy.

 *Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier is the second book in the Sevenwaters series.

*Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier is the third and final novel in the original Sevenwaters trilogy. 

*A Court of Frost and Starlight is the novella in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series 

*Prince Caspian is the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia. 

*P.S. I Still Love You is the second book in the To All the Boys I've Loved Before trilogy.
-I also want to read four short story collections. COMPLETED 6/4 

 *Harry Potter and Philosophy. 

*Manga Classics: The Jungle Book

*Starlings

*Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe.

*The Merry Spinster 
*A Wilderness Station
-I want to read three classics that are not Stephen King novels. COMPLETED 19/3 

*Manga Classics: The Jungle Book

*Anne Frank Remembered

*The ABC Murders

*Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe

*The Master Plan of Evangelism (Christian Classic) 

*The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 

*Heaven (It's one of the few real V.C. Andrews novels.)

*The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

*The Pursuit of Holiness (Christian Classic) 
*A Wilderness Station
*Against Forgetting 

*The Stepford Wives

 *Prince Caspian

*The Bible

*Frankenstein

*The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 

*A Passage to India

-I want to read five Stephen King novels (I've already read one in 2018). 4/5  

*The Long Walk (5 stars)

*Gerald's Game (5 stars) 

*IT (5 stars-reread) 
*The Shining (5 stars)

Read 2018 ARCs. Read 25!
Books I Posted on End of the Year Survey. YES! 7/18

*The Fiery Cross

*Ashes to Ashes

*Gerald's Game 

*God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

*Son of the Shadows 
*The Shining 

*You

*All the Rage

 Currently Reading/ Hoping to Finish in January:

Already Finished: Into the Drowning Deep, Amity, The Drawing of the Three, In Cold Blood, The 5 Love Languages
Netgalley ARCs: Into the Drowning Deep, An Anonymous Girl, A Woman's Battle for Grace, A Darker Shade of Magic
Edelweiss: Amity
I've started January off on a bang. Hoping to keep that momentum going. I do want to try to finish Helter Skelter because I haven't picked it up in months and I just want to take it off my CR shelf.

Books I Want to Try to Get To:
Ebooks

I'm excited about all of these ARCs. Love Looks Pretty on You because I've never read a Lang Leav collection. The Dreamers sounds so awesome. Snow White Learn Witchcraft is a story and poetry collection and Goss writes pretty good short fiction. Dark of the West sounds fantastic and I'm ready to see if it'll shake me to my core.
Audiobooks

Books I Own

 

I don't know what else to add at this time. I'm very much of a mood reader. 

What did you read in December? Have you read any of these books? Do you plan to? Let me know down below in the comments!