My December Reads - Monthly Round-up

Monthly Reads

4 Jan

Written By Lulu

Happy New Year! After a rather testing year, we can (hopefully) start afresh this year. Now it’s 2021, it’s time to reflect and unveil my reads for last December. I managed to get back into a reading groove and enjoyed some very insightful, heartfelt and hilarious books.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

This quirky and charming book was my first read of the month and it was such a gorgeous and delightful tale about stepping outside of your comfort zone and facing life’s unpredictability. Nina’s life is perfectly organised with just enough time for her job at a bookstore, the trivia team with her friends and an annoyingly handsome rival, and her tabby cat, Phil. But she soon learns of her estranged father’s death and after growing up alone, she now has a whole side of her family she’s yet to meet. This book is sprinkled with humour and romance as Nina navigates her way around these new challenges.

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird

Genre: Fiction | Contemporary fiction | Romance
Author: Josie Silver
Year: 2020
Pages: 432

I didn’t get around to reading One Day in December, as much as I wanted to, but I did manage to read Silver’s latest work. This is a heartbreaking tale about learning to find yourself after losing the love of your life.

Lydia and Freddie are childhood sweethearts. On his way to Lydia’s twenty-seventh birthday celebrations, Freddie is in a car crash and dies. Now her life is empty without her fiancee, but she’s suddenly given the chance to see Freddie again. Teetering between two worlds, which one will Lydia choose? I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as Silver’s debut book, but The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is still a brilliant, beautiful read.

The Midnight Library

Genre: Fiction | Contemporary fiction | Science fiction | Fantasy
Author: Matt Haig
Year: 2020
Pages: 288
Content warning: Suicide, depression

This book is an absolute must-read – I can’t sing enough praise about The Midnight Library. Nora’s life is full of regret and heartache. A strained relationship with her brother, a long-distance friendship that’s drying up, being let go from her job and losing her beloved cat has pushed Nora over the edge. Between life and death, she comes across the Midnight Library, where she is given infinite chances to live her life differently. What if she had gotten married? Or formed a band with her brother? Or become a glaciologist? But the big question is – can Nora find the courage to truly live again?

This was an awe-inspiring book that really stayed with me afterwards, like any good book should. I’m not usually a big fantasy or science fiction reader, but I was pleasantly surprised by Haig’s latest work.

The Mothers

Genre: Fiction | Contemporary fiction
Author: Brit Bennett
Year: 2016
Pages: 275
Content warning: Details abortion

The Mothers is a poignant tale about the bonds of motherhood, following protagonists Nadia, Luke and Aubrey as their lives slowly begin to intersect after Nadia becomes pregnant. In the wake of losing her mother, Nadia bottles up her grief and becomes rebellious; pastor’s son Luke is struggling to find his footing after his hopes of playing professional football are dashed; and Aubrey turns to religion after leaving her mother and her abusive partner to live with her sister.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Vanishing Half and was eager to see if Bennett’s debut novel lived up to my high expectations. Again, I didn’t enjoy The Mothers as much as Bennett’s latest work but it’s still an emotional, breathtaking story.

Love Your Life

Genre: Fiction | Romance | Contemporary fiction
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Year: 2020
Pages: 368

This was a delightful book to cap off a successful month of reading. Ava’s sick of online dating and after multiple lack-lustre first dates, she’s decided to put all her energy into writing her novel. When she signs up for a romantic-fiction writing retreat in Italy, she doesn’t expect to fall in love. But then she meets someone and after spending the week together, they are head over heels for each other, despite not knowing any details about each other. Not even their names.

When they arrive back in London, the love bubble Ava and Matt have created is beginning to burst. The two begin to discover strange quirks about one another – he has a taste for rather scary-looking art, she has a gorgeous but cheeky little beagle. Will Ava and Matt be able to build a life together, or is their romance nothing but splash in the pan?

At the time of writing this, I’m in the middle of reading Women Don’t Owe You Pretty, but I’ll be sure to add this to my January Reads as well as writing a review. You can read my review of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill here, and I’ll be adding the reviews from my December Roundup to my site soon (I read so much this month that I now have a backlog of reviews to get through!).

I also read a total of 32 books in 2020, an impressive feat for someone who can struggle to read when life gets in the way. I’m hoping to read more this year! That’s it for 2020, make sure you stick around to see what books I’ll be reviewing this year!