Because I can’t seem to be able to keep to this month.
Happy New Year, folks! I hope yours is starting off well—I didn’t read a word until after 10pm on January 1, so I’ve got nowhere to go but up.
It’s a new year, and I…did not manage the book reading I hoped for December. I started a lot of books, but I can’t say I finished many of them. I definitely didn’t finish all the ones I’d started in order to begin the new year with a clean reading slate, but who’s got time for that? (The Teen Wolf fanfiction, on the other hand, has indeed continued. So many one shots mixed in with 100K word stories.)
Okay, let’s talk about Jess’s bookish December!
Book Riot
As you might recall, I am a contributing editor for Book Riot, where I co-host the When In Romance podcast and write content for the main Book Riot site. Here’s what you can read and listen to from December:
- I wrote about my dream bookstore and cafe, which isn’t really my goal in life but if someone ever wanted to fund it and my ability to have healthcare without having a government job? I’d totally take it. Honestly, though, I just want it to exist in my city, so I can go there and hang out with whoever owns it.
- In our final When In Romance episode of the year, we talked about our last book club pick of 2021, Sweet Disorder, and some books we thought could use a little more love.
My Book
I cannot believe that Black Love Matters comes out in a month, y’all! It’s been pretty quiet since all of those reviews and stuff I shared last month, but there’s some awesome stuff coming, including virtual events and other fun stuff. And there’s a giveaway coming up, starting on the fifth! (Keep an eye on my social for info about that, it looks amazing.)
Other People’s Books
I mentioned that I haven’t done very much reading this year (or at least finishing books; I’ve started plenty), but here are the ones that I read, enjoyed, and am willing to talk about.
The Lights on Knockbridge Lane by Roan Parrish
This was my highlight holiday romance this year. No surprise, since I will gobble up anything Roan Parrish has written. It’s notable as the first print Harlequin category (not published by their imprint Carina Press) with a gay main couple, and while there is some side-eye that a cis woman (as far as I know) was given the honor, but it’s still really fucking good, so there’s that. There are feels, precocious children, and lots of laughs. But mostly feels. Because this is still Roan Parrish we’re talking about.
Sweet Disorder by Rose Lerner
As I mentioned, we read this for the final When In Romance book club, and I’m really glad I had to read it for them, because I might have put it down otherwise. It was really good, but it was…dense. This is not a category length book. But it’s not like any Regency I’ve ever read, and is only the third Rose Lerner I’ve ever picked up (the first being her novella in Hamilton’s Battalion and the second being her Jane Eyre retelling that I also set aside because it was also long…and on audiobook). Neither main character is a duke (though the male protagonist is the son of an earl, I think?) and the female protagonist is a fat widow. There are 19th century politics involved, and there are layers upon layers of angst. And sexytimes.
Scandal in the VIP Suite by Nadine Gonzalez
And speaking of category romances, I’m working on reading more of those. This one features a writer planning to stay at the Miami hotel her mother dreamed of visiting and the actor who usurps her and takes her suite. They come to an agreement and share it, but you know how this kind of thing goes.
Punderworld by Linda Sejic
I have been on a bit of Hades and Persephone kick (as has the world) but I have mostly been consuming it via comics. After sharing my love for Lore Olympus somebody recommended Punderworld, which was already on my list (lol) and I might have enjoyed it even more? I love Linda Sejic’s art and Hades is just so perfectly awkward and Persephone is hella precious. I look forward to reading more of it (and might just read the rest of the webcomic instead of waiting for the next trade release…who am I kidding I’m not going to remember to do that).
The Ubiquitous Other
I finally posted more books on Pango Books! I haven’t sold anything, but some people have wishlisted, so we’ll see? I think I’m actually going to do a true purge and pull stuff to take to my local used, if I can find the time to do it, but we’ll see. The groups of stacks on my Athaeneum floor and my book cart and my couch and the credenza behind my couch and my dining room table and my kindle and my library apps have reached a fever point, and I really need to just…do something about it. New year, new me? Nah. New year, new book organizing. Or something.
I posted my reading year in review to instagram, but might do a bonus wrap up on my website—no idea, but we’ll see.
That’s it for December. I’m hoping at least one of these books sticks for the weekend—otherwise it’s back to that 230K word Devil Wears Prada fic for me. (I’ll be honest, it’s probably gonna be that.)
Here’s to 2022. Ease in slowly, and be vewwy vewwy quiet, and maybe it won’t be quite this trash year.
—Jess