December 2020 Reading Wrap-up

An emoji of two books next to each other, with the text "Monthly Reading Wrap-up"

December was not only a good reading month, but I managed to get back into reviewing regularly! Apparently having an accountability thread on Twitter can work wonders! I’ve still got two books to review, but those will be coming in the next few days. So without further ado:

PAST MONTH’S READING:

Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles, Strange Planet by Nathan W. Pyle, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle, The Binding by Bridget Collins

The Binding by Bridget Collins (fantasy – 4 stars – review)
Strange Planet by Nathan W. Pyle (comic – 5 stars – not intending to review)
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (YA contemporary – 3 stars – review
Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle (comic – 5 stars – not intending to review)
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles (YA fantasy – 4 stars – review
The Iron Line by L. M. Merrington (historical fiction – 3.5 stars – review
A Very Krampy Christmas (Gretchens [Mis]Adventures #8) by P. A. Mason (fantasy/humour – 4 stars – review
She’s Having a Laugh, edited by George McInroe (creative non-fiction – 3 stars – review
Universal Love: Stories by Alexander Weinstein (short stories/sci-fi – 4 stars – review forthcoming
A Whole New World by Liz Braswell (fantasy/fairytale retelling – 3 stars – review forthcoming

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell, Universal Love: Stories by Alexander Weinstein, She’s Having A Laugh, edited George McInroe, A Very Krampy Christmas by P. A. Mason, The Iron Line by L. M. Merrington

BOOKTUBE:

I have a YouTube channel where I promote Australian books using the hashtag #AusReads, and also indulge my compulsion for signing up to readathons. Here are the latest videos:

FAVOURITE BOOKISH PHOTO:

Whoops, I didn’t post a single bookish photo throughout December. (In my defence, I spent the month feeling exhausted). Here’s one I just posted yesterday, an aesthetic for my circus fantasy, Facing the Music, which I’m hoping to finish writing this year.

a 3-by-3 grid with nine images. The images are as follows:

top-left: a man in a red shirt tosses a hat in the air.
top-centre: a couple kiss in the sunshine - in sillhouette
top-right: a woman plays the violin surrounded by golden magical swirls
middle-left: a long-distance shot of a circus ring with cast members parading around with lots of coloured lights.
centre: a roll of tickets saying "Admit one" .
middle-right: a ticket booth with a circus tent in the background
bottom-left: a woman in a pink leotard hangs upsidedown from a trapeze.
bottom-centre: four acrobats stacked in a pyramid. They are mostly doubled over backwards, but the person on top is doing a handstand and has their legs in the splits.
bottom-right: a woman twirling flaming torches. She is also on fire, but she is smiling. It's a bit magical.

You can see all my bookish photos (plus some RL as well) on my Instagram.

CURRENTLY READING:

The cover of "A Wild Winter Swan" by Gregory Maguire. The background is grey paintstrokes. The title and author's name are at the top, above a hand holding a snow globe that depicts the New York City skyline.

Physical book: A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire. I’m reading this for the Swell Publications book club, but I have to be honest, I’m not really into it. It’s a bit too literary/magical realism for my tastes.

The cover of "The Rising Rooks" by Celine Jeanjean. An armoured, mechanical hand sticks out of a hole surrounded by cogs and clockwork on a blue background.

Ebook: The Rising Rooks by Celine Jeanjean. This is the last book in the Viper and the Urchin series and I can’t believe it’s coming to an end. This is an ARC and the book comes out on January 9, so I geuss I’d better get a wriggle on!

The cover of "Hench" by Natalie Zina Walshots. The title is in mint green all caps. A red sillhouette stands near a wall at the back of the image. Her shadow is taller than her and also wears a cape.

Audio book: Hench by Natalie Zina Walshots. This is a really interesting deconstruction of the superhero genre. While superheroes aren’t generally my cup of tea, this one was highly recommended by Seanan McGuire and so far I am liking it.

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

The cover of "Plain Bad Heroines" by Emily M. Danforth. The title is white on a black background, the first two words in a plain font, the word "heroines" in a more gothic font. Around the edge are red line drawings of various flowers. It looks ominous.

I have a huge pile of library books all due back on January 16, so it’ll need to be one of those. I’m not 100% sure which yet, though Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth is fairly high up on the list.

What are you reading? 🙂