 Welcome back to my channel. So today I'm coming at you with my notoriously perpetually late December recent reads. What with my worst books of the year and my best books of the year and my anticipated releases as well as my December reads all coming at the end of the year. I never know what order to put them up in and inevitably end up late on something. I also realized that I hadn't worn my Christmas jumper yet in a video this year so you're getting that today. Plus I have multi-coloured nails as well so we're feeling chaotic. So I read quite a lot in December, didn't we all? I read some literary fiction, some poetry, some historical fiction, some children's fiction, a classic, a festive romance. Yes, you heard me. I also finished some books that I really wanted to read before the year was up which was great including the final book I'll be talking about in this video which was one of the best books I have ever read in my lifetime. If you've watched my best books of the year video you will already know which one I'm talking about. So let's just get into this. I have a feeling it's going to be a bit of a long one. First up in December I read Your House Will Pay by Steph Char. This was a very lovely gift from my very lovely friend Laura in celebration of my marriage towards the end of the year. The novel follows two characters, one African American, one Korean American whose very different families collide when a tragedy occurs in the novel. So Laura, you smashed this. I absolutely devoured this book. It was basically everything that I thought it would be and hoped it would be from a book recommendation from Laura. It's pretty literary with great writing and great characters, quite social commentary but it also has a wonderful tense affecting storyline. It's a great package. I love what this book is exploring. It is a snapshot of racial tensions in LA, police brutality, protests and vigils, as well as a look at the criminal justice system and loss and family. There is a lot going on in here. It's all felt very shocking and convincing as well as ultimately educative and enlightening. The characters are also really good in here. I really enjoyed the books structuring, following one of the characters perspectives in half of the chapters and the other characters in the other half. I really enjoyed learning about the characters differences and their different stances on things. Both of the characters had many shades of grey to them as well, which I really appreciated. There was also just a really great pace to this book, long buried secrets and tensions rising throughout made for a really suspenseful reading experience. This whole thing just worked together really really well. It was a great read, totally contemporary, really engaging and affecting. I loved it. So in the end I gave this one 4.5 stars. Next up in December I read a poetry collection, and that was Hold Your Own by Kay Tempest. This is a contemporary poetry collection that I have already discussed here on my channel in my best books of the year video. A poetry collection made into my top top reads of the year. We love to see it. So for those of you who may not have seen that video yet, this poetry collection came out a couple of years ago and it is based off of The Myth of Tiresias. The collection is split into four sections, mirroring Tiresias's journey from childhood to manhood to womanhood to profit. Obviously I absolutely adored this collection. I was blown away by it. It is just everything that I want personally from a contemporary poetry collection. We have a gorgeous central idea. The collection being comprised of classical myth elements and social commentary elements and autobiographical elements. I said in my best books of the year video that that made this collection feel age-old and fantastical, as well as feeling totally contemporary and I'll say it again now. The four-part structure in this collection means that the poems really gorgeously and perceptively explore themes of sex and love, youth and gender and community. We have a mix of longer and shorter poems in here, all of them being a joy to read aloud. This is one of those poetry collections that just ticks both of the vital boxes of the collection feeling so sublime to read in so far as the language and the imagery is so flowing and vivid, while also hitting you hard and really making you stop and think. I couldn't love this more, I just think it's a fantastic collection. Obviously I gave it five stars. Next up I read Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward. This is a book I discovered earlier in 2020 when it was long listed for the Booker Prize. It was one I was particularly excited about due to it basically being a mix of character-focused literary goodness and philosophy. This book is essentially a love story, primarily following two women, Eliza and Rachel, as they decide they want to have children, and the book is structured through chapters that are based off of well-known thought experiments from the philosophy of mind. I love literary fiction, I also have a philosophy degree, this should have been a dream. But unfortunately this book didn't really work for me and here's why. Nothing about this book was bad. I actually really like the central idea here. I really enjoy the themes that were explored and I thought that the thought experiments that were chosen were good. But the more I read this book the more I just realized that I don't like my fiction and my philosophy mixing in such an obvious way. As I was reading I just couldn't shift this feeling that I wasn't getting enough of anything that I was reading. I either wanted a literary fiction novel that allowed me to delve deeper into these characters' lives and all of their feelings and their personalities, or I wanted to read the original philosophy papers where these thought experiments originated. Essentially for me the philosophy limited the storytelling and the story limited the philosophy. That all being said I do think that this was in a large part due to the fact that I already knew about these thought experiments. This book didn't really teach me anything new at all. If you haven't studied philosophy before then you may find this more of an interesting introduction to these ideas than I did. But for me I was just kind of left feeling rather frustrated and like I wanted the book to commit one way or the other. So yes a sound and a fidea with some good moments. Sophie Ward is clearly very intelligent and creative but for me it just didn't really give me enough to latch onto and love. So in the end I gave this one 2.5 stars. Next in December I read Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine. This is a historical romance novel that follows a contemporary woman in the 1980s who through her journalist work undergoes hypnotherapy and is regressed discovering her past life as a 12th century noble woman. The novel then alternates between these two different timelines throughout. This is a book that I have been meaning to read for quite a while now because it is a book my mum really likes. If you would like to watch a video I filmed with my mum in which she talks about her favourite books then I will leave it linked around. So I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand I did kind of enjoy it. When I picked it up I was really in the mood for a chunky cozy historical novel. I was totally up for the whirlwind romances and the intrigue and the drama and the decadent time settings. I don't think any of those aspects were particularly brilliantly executed. I wasn't blown away at any point. Nevertheless Barbara Erskine's talent for storytelling is undeniable. You get the sense that this all came very easily to her. She knows what she's doing. She knows what her audience wants and it did all seem to flow along very nicely. That all being said I did have a couple of major problems with this book that I just couldn't get over. The main thing being the persistent misogyny and even physical abuse of the female characters in this book. This occurred both on a small scale in the ways that the male characters talked to the female characters as well as on a larger scale in the form of hitting and other forms of physical abuse including rape. And obviously the most concerning thing about all of this being written in the 1980s is that these things weren't always addressed as such. So this was an odd one. In one sense I can see what Barbara Erskine is doing. I can see why she is popular and why people would enjoy this. But reading this 40 years on it just had aspects that made me so uncomfortable and frankly furious. I just couldn't see past them. So in the end I gave this one 2.5 stars. Next up in December I picked up The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. This is a very well known beloved children's novel. It tells the story of an autistic teenage boy named Christopher who essentially sets out to solve a mystery when his neighbour's dog is killed. Funnily enough this is another one that I picked up because of family. This is actually one of my sister's favourite books of all time. I will leave a link to a video I did with my sister Jade around as well. Go and check that out. And thankfully I did really enjoy this book. I also now know what people are talking about when they talk about this book. So that's nice. The biggest strength of this book is certainly its first person narrative. Christopher's voice is totally convincing in this novel. You really get a sense of how he works, the logic he applies to everything in his life, the rules, the patterns, as well as his sense of panic and loss of control when any of these things in his life are compromised. I also really enjoyed the story here. I thought it was an excellent frame to present this character. I enjoyed the inner story of the mystery of the dog. I also enjoyed the outer story involving Christopher's relationship with his parents. The whole thing just felt pretty poignant and touching and often funny. I did have a couple of little quibbles with this book. I thought the first half was pretty significantly better paced and more engaging than the second half. There was also the odd thing that came up with the parents that I didn't totally buy. They certainly weren't as convincing as characters as Christopher was. Definitely hints of them acting in certain ways that just felt convenient to the plot rather than it feeling totally organic. But overall I thought this was pretty great. I can definitely see why it is so popular. Very well crafted and engaging and entertaining as well as being quite eye-opening. So in the end I gave this one four stars. Next up I read The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan. This was the second year in a row that I decided to pick up a straight-up romance novel at Christmas. It was also the second time I'd ever read a straight-up romance novel. And I am happy to report that this year's attempt was far more successful than last year's. This novel follows a middle-aged couple who live in the snowy Scottish Highlands who are having their four grown-up adopted daughters home for Christmas. All of the different sisters are going through their own personal struggles and crises and tensions end up running high. Honestly I just loved this book. The reading experience was so fun. I was just so absorbed by it. I completely devoured this book via audiobook. I was here for all of the drama, all of the highs and lows, all of the romance. And it wasn't just that this book was fun either. The characters were all very well thought through, really interesting. I loved witnessing all of their different interactions and their individual struggles. I was totally convinced. I loved that we explored themes of careers and parenthood and pursuing your own path away from family. This was just great. It was the perfect level of easy to consume, enjoyable, kind of fluffy, but not lacking any substance like it had some shit. So yes I really enjoyed this. I will definitely be reading more by Sarah Morgan in the future and in the end I gave this one four stars. Next up in December I read The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaki Amezi. This is a literary novel set in southeast Nigeria when a woman discovers her dead son's body. And the novel is then essentially an exploration of Vivek's somewhat controversial life. So I'd heard a lot of good things about this book in the past few months. I've never read anything by Akwaki Amezi before. Cameron had read and enjoyed Freshwater but I heard that it had a lot of trigger warnings surrounding self-harm. As such I stayed away from that one but I was really excited to give this author a go. And I really liked this book a lot. The central characters were really interesting. Vivek has always felt different. They have never felt seen by their distant and traditional parents and the community around them. Learning about all of this and learning about Vivek's identity through different characters and different story lines and different time periods was so fascinating and really quite touching. I loved the mix of themes in here. We obviously explored themes of family and friendship but also love and sexuality and gender identity. And all of these themes were explored through the framework of Nigeria and its customs and its norms. Overall this book just felt very fresh and unflinching and unique and I loved it for that. I think it had a lot of interesting things to say and on the whole the ways in which Akwaki and Mezi said these things were pretty effective. I will say I didn't fall in love with this book. There were a few things in here that led me to feeling a bit distant from it. I didn't feel totally connected to or invested in the characters themselves. More so what they were representing if that makes sense. So I do think this book was really good in a lot of ways. I think Akwaki and Mezi is clearly a talented writer and has a lot of interesting things to say. I love what they're pursuing and exploring so in the end I gave this one 3.5 stars. Next up in December I picked up a boy called Christmas by Matt Haig. This is an upper middle grade fantasy book that I picked up just before Christmas. It follows the story of a young boy named Nicholas who lives in Finland. He ends up going on a journey to find his father and comes across elves and reindeer and all kinds of magical shit. This book was an utter delight. It is just what you'd want from a magical kids book to read while curled up by the Christmas tree in front of the fire. It has a wonderful endearing storyline about the origins of Father Christmas and Christmas itself. Who doesn't love that? We have a cast of lovable humorous characters including humans but also elves and reindeers and various other creatures. It's nicely paced. It is wonderfully illustrated. It's just a very good solid easy to read book that I would recommend to adults and kids alike. There isn't much more to say about this one to be honest. It delivered. I got what I wanted. I would definitely recommend it and in the end I gave it 3.5 stars. Next up I read Tamarind and the Star of Ishtar by Jasbinda Belan. This is another magical adventure upper middle grade type book. One I've had my eye on ever since it came out earlier in the year. It follows the story of a young girl named Tamarind who never knew her mum when she visits India and her mum's ancestral family home for the first time. I really liked this book. I loved how it was family and self-identity focused while also feeling really magical. On one level we have this really touching and relatable story about this young girl who is trying to figure out who she is, wanting to discover who her mother was, and learn about this large part of her cultural heritage. But then we also have this shroud of mystery, this glowing ring, this friendly monkey, clues that keep surfacing. It worked really well. I also just loved the setting in here. The large ancestral home in which this book takes place has large luxurious gardens. It is set amongst the Himalayas. The colours of the place and of the clothes and the tastes of the foods they ate were all so vivid and rich. I built up a really clear picture of everything while I read. So yes this is a great middle grade book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes reading kids books, but also if you are looking to buy a book for kids soon then buy this one. So in the end I gave this one four stars. And the final book I read in December, indeed the final book I read in 2020 was Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. This is of course an epic French classic written and set in the early 1800s. It follows a whole host of characters over many many years, but most prominently an ex-convict named Jean Valjean. It is a tale of love and injustice and poverty and heroism. And it is one of the best things I have ever read in my entire lifetime. If you've already seen my best books of the year video you will know how much I love this book. If you haven't seen it yet then I would highly recommend you go and watch it. I gush about this book rather nonsensically. Suffice to say this is a new all-time favourite book of mine. It was my best read of the year by a mile. This book is just pure art. It is so beautifully and perceptively written. I have never underlined a book so much in my life. I have never read quotes allowed to anybody around me who would listen so much in my life. The characters are fascinating, complex, all shades of grey. The journeys they go on throughout the book are exhilarating and heartbreaking. The plot is always engaging. It has a surprising pace to it. There were some scenes where Hugo goes off on one. It does have to be acknowledged but honestly I just didn't care. This book made me weep. It made me laugh out loud. It made me gasp. It made me stop and think. Honestly it just blew me away and I'm really sad that the reading experience is over. I actually took longer to read this book than I've ever taken with a book before. I was reading the book for the majority of 2020 and I cannot think of a better way to read this novel. I absolutely loved it. It really felt like a friend. I loved picking it up whenever I fancied. It was always there and always immersive and engaging whenever I picked it back up. This is honestly a novel like no other. It was a reading experience like no other. This is an incredibly crafted novel and more than that it is now a personal favourite novel. This is what reading is all about. Obviously I gave this one five stars. So there we have it. All of the books that I read in December and that concludes my 2020 reading. Thank you so much to everyone who has watched this video, who has watched any of my recent reads videos this year. I appreciate you all so much. I would love it if you would comment down below and say hi. Tell me what you thought about these books. Tell me what you've been reading. I always love chatting to you guys in the comments genuinely. I hope you're all doing well. I hope you're all having really nice weeks. I can't wait to keep chatting to you throughout 2021. I've got some really cool video ideas coming up soon. I can't wait to film them and share them with you. So hopefully I will see you soon with some more videos and until then take care. Bye everyone.