Two Months Of Books…
As Christmas came around, I didn’t get the chance to put up my November reading wrap-up and so we have two months of book reviews!
During November I only managed to read two books, with another two at different points of finishing. I got busy and as December began, I wanted to read more Christmassy books. I did try to set myself a challenge to read a book every day in the countdown to Christmas. Unfortunately, I became too busy for that, but I made a great dent.
So, let’s delve into the last monthly reading wrap-up of 2023!
Nineteen Steps by Millie Bobby Brown
Let’s address the elephant in the room first, this book is ghostwritten by Kathleen McGurl.
When I saw this advertised I always saw Kathleen’s name alongside Millie’s as an author. But I can understand why many people don’t like books that use ghostwriters or don’t want to buy books with just the one name on the cover. But it wasn’t a secret.
Kathleen McGurl is an author in her own right and chose to take on this job. I was appalled by reviews I saw on this book, from people who never even opened the cover.
I loved this book, so much so, I managed to complete it in a day.
Set in Bethnal Green, London 1942, we meet 18-year-old Nellie Morris who has dreams of travelling the world. But she is always teased about marrying the boy next door, Billy, who is sweet on her. Then she meets American airman, Ray and falls head over heels for him. As their relationship develops, tragedy strikes during an air raid at the Bethnal Green Tube Station. A real-life event which you can read about here. Nellie couldn’t escape the devastation of war. Her life then takes the most unexpected turn…
This book is not only based on a real-life event but true events from Millie’s family history. Reading this made me realise how much did occur here in the UK during the war, that we didn’t learn about in school. Beautifully written, I cried reading this book. It will sound strange to say, but having the family connection element, just makes it a lot less textbook. I felt I learned more about the home war efforts through Millie’s ancestors than I did in school. 4.5 stars.
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
When I read the first book in this series, Fourth Wing, it put me in a reading slump. I knew I had to read this in a day or two. To give me more time in case the same thing happened.
Trying not to spoil this too much, but please skip ahead just in case. Iron Flame follows on from a huge cliffhanger. I was so glad that this wasn’t one of those sequels that glossed over it until a few chapters in!
After the events of Violet’s first year at Basgaith College, the real training begins. It’s physically and mentally grueling. With what Violet has recently learned, she is dealing with conflicting emotions and not knowing who she can trust. Insert a new teacher whose mission is to try and break Violet. But, the fragile young woman who everyone expected to die during her first year, is stronger than everyone expected.
But Violet still has so much to learn about and from her dragons. With a huge secret coming to the surface, will Violet live through her second year?
I loved this book but after sitting on it for a few days, it has me on the fence. There were many twists I didn’t expect, new characters I cannot wait to see developed further and I loved seeing more of the dragons. The writing style felt…rushed. There were a few plot holes and spelling mistakes, and some things were left hanging with no answer. Overall I was entertained. I cried, I nearly threw the book across the room and the ending has left me broken. But, I think for book 3, there needs to be an extra layer of checking it through. 4 stars.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
This isn’t a new read for me. I always like to start December by reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
I feel everyone knows this story but in case you don’t. A Christmas Carol is about Ebenezer Scrooge who is a greedy horrible man who cannot stand Christmas. But all that changes when the ghost of his long-dead business partner, Jacob Marley, visits him.
Marley warns Scrooge to change his ways and says he will be visited by 3 ghosts. Of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
Will Scrooge change his ways?
For me, this is a classic Christmas tale that goes towards showing the true meaning of the festive season. Although I re-read this every year, I decided to pop it in this year’s monthly reading wrap-up. I feel more people have watched movie or tv adaptations than read the book.
In my opinion, the book conveys so much more emotion and because of when it was written, the writing style emphasises the Victorian period. 5 Stars.
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
This is one of those The Works purchases, where I ordered about £40 worth of books and picked everything I liked the sound of.
I’m so glad I picked this up.
Carmen has worked in a department store since she left school. But when it closes for good, she has very few options. Her mother pushes for her to move in with her sister Sofia. Who in Carmen’s mind, lives the perfect life, in the perfect house with the perfect family.
Nestled in the streets of Edinburgh is a bookshop owned by Mr McCredie, one of Sofia’s clients. With the bookshop in trouble, and Carmen’s experience in retail, Sofia thinks it’s the perfect place to put Carmen. She isn’t exactly thrilled with housing her sister. What with a new baby on the way and their strained relationship.
At the bookshop, Carmen realises this is going to take more skills than she has. And then, to throw in the mix, an egotistical writer, Blair, and a quiet Quaker student, Oke.
This is one of those stories that I really could relate to, and I feel most people in their 30s can. I feel we were raised in a time where we needed to prepare for the way the world was, as society changed. Navigating starting over in that, with Christmas and a strained family dynamic. It felt like a story I was hearing over drinks with friends at the pub.
The Christmas side to this story, how Carmen works hard in the bookshop and the nods to childhood favourite stories were perfect. I also really enjoyed Jenny Colgan’s writing and I’ve added her to my list of authors to read more from. 4.5 stars.
Midnight At The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
When I saw this in ASDA, I thought, don’t I have this? Before realising it was the sequel!
Carmen is about to throw everyone out of the bookshop. We start the story in the middle of summer, with a cheesy Christmas movie using the bookshop as a filming location.
Getting on Carmen’s nerves for sure, but then her sister decides she wants her out of her house, her boyfriend decides to fly halfway around the world and Mr McCredie wants to sell up!
The buyer is very much a “make a quick buck” kind of businessman. Selling mass-produced items and having no form of identity other than “tatt”.
Carmen decides that the bookshop can make the profit Mr McCredie needs, so he wouldn’t have to sell. It’s going to be hard work, but Carmen is up to it… she hopes.
Without spoiling too much, we do see Carmen develop stronger relationships, particularly with her nieces and nephews. I also liked how much more confidence in her working abilities Carmen gains. To see that contrast with her wavering in her personal life hits home to how people are not always 100% in every aspect of their lives.
With how Jenny writes, we do see extended chapters of other character’s lives and I like which moments she chooses. And how she places them with Carmen’s timeline. 4.5 stars.
The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett
I am going to use the Goodreads synopsis for this book;
“The Christmas season has arrived in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for a new church roof. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking among the amateur theatre enthusiasts with petty rivalries, a possibly asbestos-filled beanstalk, and some perennially absent players behind the scenes. Of course, there’s also the matter of the dead body onstage. Who could have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they investigate Christmas letters, examine emails, and pore over police transcripts to identify both the victim and killer before the curtain closes on their holiday production—for good.”
When trying to explain this book to people, I find it difficult. Which is why I used the synopsis. This is a book of emails, text exchanges, legal documents, and WhatsApp messages… all to tell the story. It is very strange to get into, even for such a short book.
I am on the fence with this book. I enjoyed the storyline, the twists and the unusual format. For me, not reading the first book, The Appeal, has thrown me off. There are mentions of what happened in the first book that kind of spoils it a little. Overall I would say it isn’t an overly Christmassy book. But this gives an overlooked insight into Christmas at the theatre. 3.5 stars.
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
This was one of those books I saw all over Booktok last year as well as this year.
Stella recently bought a Christmas Tree farm. But it’s in financial trouble. After scrolling through social media one night, she came across a competition by influencer Evelyn St. James.
All she had to do was talk about her Christmas Tree farm and how it was a romantic destination for the holidays. With publicity and a $100,00 cash price it’ll be easy…right?
But Stella lies on her application. Talking about how she owns Lovelight Farms with her boyfriend. Only, there is no boyfriend.
But there is Luka Peters. Stella’s best friend, who agrees to fake date Stella whilst Evelyn St. James visits for the competition. Luka seems very happy to help Stella, could fake dating his best friend might be the best Christmas present he’s ever received?
Booktok has come through once again. I’ve read quite a few books recommended across social media and I am so glad I listened to all those people.
Luka and Stella have that friendship that straight away, you question why they are not already dating. It’s quite a cliche but in the best way. Their humour and little acts of friendship are adorable. I found their relationship in a Christmas story worked very well.
The small town setting felt very Hallmark Christmas movie, the other characters were very relatable and wholesome. B. K. Borison has created a great series premise here. I feel quite late to the party, but excited to read the other books in this series. 5 Stars.
Christmas At Corgi Cover by Annie England Noblin
I pre-ordered this book back in the summer! I love corgis and I love Christmas so picking this up was a no-brainer. This became my favourite Christmas read of 2023 and I want to visit Corgi Cove!
We meet Rosie Reynolds who is quite the lost and troubled teenager. Her mother decides to send her to live with her aunt and uncle at Corgi Cove. What she didn’t know was that it would become home.
Fast forward and the small town inn is being squashed by the big hotel corporations popping up in the area.
Everett St Claire has been sent to Corgi Cove in the hopes of getting it sold to his company. Yes, one of the big hotel corporations. Rosie wasn’t having it. No matter how handsome and charming Everett may seem, he is the enemy. But is Everett seeing the inn through Rosie’s eyes?
Rosie, having entered an online competition, is hoping the publicity will boost business at Corgi Cove. Meaning her aunt and uncle would not need to sell and she can keep her home. Will she succeed?
In a similar circumstance to Lovelight Farms, but with a more enemy-to-lovers style premise for the romance side. I cannot tell you, how Christmassy and how cosy this book made me feel. I started at 10 pm one night and finished at 1:30 am. Of course, the corgis, Bonnie and Clyde, are the stars of the book, but chapter by chapter, the story just takes you in. I highly recommend this. Especially if you are after a cosy Christmas story. Someone contact Hallmark! 5 stars.
The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan
It’s a book about a book club. Of course, I bought it.
Erica, Claudia and Anna have this amazing friendship bond and they go on a book club holiday every year. This year, there was just so much going on in the summer, when they’d usually go. So, they decided on a Christmas trip.
But something is afoot. Erica, who isn’t your typical small-town getaway person, decides to book at Maple Sugar Inn. A cosy, small town, snowy location. Although it strikes as odd to Anna and Claudia, they don’t dig deep as to why Erica has chosen this inn.
Until they arrive at check-in, where Erica comes face-to-face with the owner, Hattie.
Hattie, who is recently widowed, is struggling to run the Maple Sugar Inn whilst juggling being a single mum, having a head chef with rage issues and fretting over an awkward romantic encounter with Noah. Her friend and the town’s ‘Christmas Tree Man’.
Over the week, secrets are revealed. Unspoken truths shake everything we come to know about the characters. And, the friends read a new book.
This is going to be so difficult to talk about without spoiling the big reason why Erica chose that location. I think it becomes clear as you read the first few chapters, but I like how it isn’t too obvious.
What I enjoyed most are the differences between the characters and yet, how well they gel together. I think it’s great to see how friendships can last, even when on different life paths.
I hadn’t read anything by Sarah Morgan before. This book was suggested when I ordered Christmas at Corgi Cove. Very happy I picked it up. I really like how Sarah describes the relationships between characters. 4.5 Stars.
The Christmas Love Letters by Sue Moorcroft
A secret romance. A small town. A man has gone missing.
We meet Maddy Cracey, a single mum who lives in Nelson’s Bar. A small village on the Norfolk coast. Six years prior, Maddy’s husband Adey walks out after a row, never to be seen again. Some believe he fell victim to a blizzard that swept the coast that night. Maddy believes he hauled out as they were in a financial pit.
Not being able to tell Adey she was pregnant, Maddy has not only raised her daughter alone but become a carer to her great aunt Ruthie.
Ruthie, who was more of a parent to Maddie than her own, is sitting talking to a handsome stranger, Raff when Maddy comes home one day. Raff is holding a handful of love letters. Ruthie reveals a secret that she had been harbouring for decades.
As Maddy helps support Ruthie with this big family secret coming to light, she starts to wonder, is Raff legit? As she gets close to finding out, she grows closer to Raff. Is there a romance on the horizon? But then, Maddy starts receiving some very strange and mysterious messages…
Sue Moorcroft was another author recommended when I bought Christmas at Corgi Cove. I was quite shocked at the amount of Christmas books she’s written! This one stood out to me because of the family secret. It’s a premise that always takes my fancy and I was excited to see how it would play out. What I came to enjoy was Sue’s writing style. I’ll definitely be picking up some more of her work.
Not quite the usual go-to cosy Christmas story. But one I recommend you read. It was nice to break up all of the Hallmark-style romance with something a little more complex. 4 stars.
And that is all the books these past two months. I am so excited to delve into January and play my new Bookopoly game.
I’d love to know what you read over the festive period. Comment below or find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.
As always, thanks for reading…