December '22 Reading Wrap-Up

Hey hi hello friends, and happy New Year's Eve! 

I can't believe it's the last day of 2022. God, I hope 2023 is better than this year was. Granted, the bar is on the floor it's so low, but really. I need a goddamn break from all the bullshit in life. 

Alright, December. Not the greatest month. Like, by far the worst reading month I've had. I read a grand total of 5 books: 3 novels, 1 short-story collection, and 1 manga. It's giving "ouch." I was just all over the place this month and I barely had time for reading, let alone reading a ton like I usually do. 

I did, however, go ham with the book shopping. I have the second-largest book haul of the year (second to March, where I had 16 books to haul. This month, I have 15). I needed some serious Christmas retail therapy after this month, that's for sure. 

Okay, let's just get into this very short wrap-up.

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Novels

1. Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology Retelling, Romance, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 out of 5 stars / 5.00 CAWPILE
Page count: 480 pages
Day(s) read: 12.07 - 12.15
Goodreads thoughts: I’m actually pretty disappointed in this book. I really liked the first one and had high hopes for this one but I found it rather lacking. It felt much too long, dragging in places and I was irritated with all of the back and forth between the love interests. The plot felt pretty copy and paste from the first book as well. And, though this is absolutely just my opinion, I think the wrong love interest was chosen. But again that’s just me. Anyway, it wasn’t bad by any means, but it didn’t really live up to the first book.

2. Babel by R.F. Kuang (Review here)
Genre: Historical Fiction, Dark Academia, Urban Fantasy, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 5 out of 5 stars / 9.00 CAWPILE
Page count: 545 pages
Day(s) read: 12.02 - 12.23
Goodreads thoughts: Asdfghjkl coherent thoughts? What are those?? I only register SCREAMING INTO THE VOID.

3. Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Fiction, YA
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4.5 out of 5 stars / 8.00 CAWPILE
Page count: 337 pages
Day(s) read: 12.24 - 12.30
Goodreads thoughts: Wow, what an ending! So big and dramatic and warm, exactly what I expect from this universe. Although I have to be honest, I wasn't sure if we were going to get a happy ending or not, just because Stiefvater isn't one to wrap things up with a pretty little bow. But I am so thrilled with the ending we got, it made me cry and it's really the perfect ending for the Lynch brothers.

The best way to end a year of reading, I think.

Short-Story Collections

1. Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Yawaguchi (translated by Geoffrey Trousselot)
Genre: Magical Realism, Literary Fiction, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 out of 5 stars / 5.86 CAWPILE
Page count: 222 pages
Day(s) read: 12.03 - 12.05
Goodreads thoughts: You know, I’m starting to think that the author just enjoys KILLING OFF EVERYONE.

Honestly, we can’t have one nice thing. Not a single happy ending to any of these stories. I’m sad.

AND THERES A FOURTH ONE THAT HASN’T BEEN TRANSLATED YET UGHHHHHH I WILL NEVER BE LEFT IN PEACE.

Manga

1. 5 Centimeters Per Second by Makoto Shinkai and Yukiko Seiki
Genre: Romance, Contemporary Fiction, YA
Star rating/CAWPILE: 2.5 out of 5 stars / 4.57 CAWPILE
Page count: 463 pages
Day(s) read: 12.17 - 12.18
Goodreads thoughts: I don't know, I just thought this was really unsatisfying. I know that this is a novelization of the movie and not the other way around so maybe something got lost in the translation, and I will for sure watch the movie whenever I'm able to access it, but yeah. Nothing really gripped me, sadly.

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Total page count: 2,047 pages

Favorite book of December: Babel by R.F. Kuang (obviously)

No DNFs this month

No unfinished books this month

December book haul: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
                                          The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni
                                          Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson
                                          Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
                                          The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
                                          The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina
                                          The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
                                          The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
                                          The Shattered City by Lisa Maxwell
                                          Temeraire books 4-9 by Naomi Novik
                                                Empire of Ivory
                                                Victory of Eagles
                                                Tongues of Serpents
                                                Crucible of Gold
                                                Blood of Tyrants
                                                League of Dragons

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Alright, that's a wrap on 2022! Boy, that's still so weird to think about...

What was your favorite book of December? Let me know in the comments. 

See you next year, friends!