Hey bookworm friends! Due to December’s merry-making, parties, and endless things to do, I’m going to merge both of my monthly wrap-up posts into one! My reading wrap-up and non-bookish monthly round-up posts combined into one super wrap-up—hence the title “December All Gift Wrapped Up” 🎄🎁. Additionally, since I’ve practically been neglecting my blog, I missed out on posting songs for Music Monday! So the ‘Bow on Top’ will be a seasonal song to enjoy, you’re welcome 😉!
Link-ups
Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality. It’s all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, whether it be physical or virtual. Reading Reality posts on Saturdays but you can post any day that works for you— don’t forget to visit the link-up on Saturday to join in on the fun!
The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Caffeinatedreviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap-up.
December Wrap-Up Reading Stats
Total Books Read: 6
| Format Breakdown |
|---|
| 📚 Physical: 1 |
| 🎧 Audiobooks: 5 |
| Genre Breakdown |
|---|
| ⏳🕵🏽♀️ Historical Mystery: 1 |
| 🎄🕵🏽♀️Christmas Cozy Mystery: 3 |
| 🚀Science Fiction: 1 |
| 🐲Fantasy: 1 |
What I Read
⏳🕵🏽♀️ An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn │🎧
Veronica Speedwell, #6 and still loving the series. This one focuses on solving the murder of a lady mountaineer in 1889. It made me want to read more about women during the golden age of alpinism.
🚀 Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld│📚 (Re-Read)
Buddy read this with two friends and we had the best time! I remember loving this in my teens but I never finished the series—hopefully, I’ll finish it before the anime adaptation comes out.
🐲 The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien │🎧 (Re-Read)
I’m currently listening to this audiobook for the ‘Heist’ prompt in the Choose Your Own Adventure Reading Challenge. I had been wanting to listen to the audio narrated by Andy Serkis and I’m enjoying it (except for the songs 😅)!
🎄🕵🏽♀️ Have Yourself A Merry Little Witness by Dakota Cassidy│🎧
Marshmallow Hollow Mysteries, #2. I read the first one last year and had fun with it, I enjoyed the light-hearted tone of a witch in a Christmas-themed town. Whimsical but with higher stakes than I expected.
🎄🕵🏽♀️ The Darkness Outside Us by Dakota Cassidy │🎧
Marshmallow Hollow Mysteries, #3. I guessed the murder weapon from just reading the synopsis but it was still a fun ride!
🎄🕵🏽♀️Carnage in a Pear Tree by Dakota Cassidy │🎧
Marshmallow Hollow Mysteries, #4. These were the perfect brain-candy Christmas reads that I wanted for bus rides and chores & I liked the way it ended.
Stacking The Shelves
Going shopping for people’s Christmas gifts, I couldn’t help getting myself some books at a used bookshop too. And then I accidentally stumbled upon a surprise book my husband had hidden under his computer (very cute but not a very good hiding spot😘). I also spent some of my Google money on books—literally the only thing Google 💵 is good for!
Purchases
- Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
- The Kraken’s Sacrifice by Katee Robert
- The Succubus’s Prize by Katee Robert
Google Play Books
- Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Big Damn Hero by James Lovegrove & Nancy Holder
- Witch King by Martha Wells
- Firebird by Mercedes Lackey
Monthly Reset & Round-Up
December Highlights
- I had two Christmas celebrations: food, drinks, board games, and crafts with my family. We started a new tradition of making a Christmas village, and each person made one building. I’m working on a “candy shoppe,” and we all had so much fun that we decided to continue working on them next Christmas! Then I travelled to visit my in-laws the next day. Since my family has always celebrated on the 24th, it works out perfectly that my husband’s family celebrates on the 25th!
- Catching up with several friends back-to-back during the rest of the holidays—that gap before New Year’s is my favourite!
What I Watched In December
I put quite a few Hallmark-style Christmas movies on in the background but I didn’t keep track of them. The only non-rom-com Christmas movie I watched was Red One. It was very silly but I was there for it; It’s a Dwayne Johnson movie so I was expecting a cheesy action movie and it kept me entertained. I also watched Wicked and had a blast, I loved it! I remember liking the book when I read it years ago and also loving the musical and I think the movie did a fantastic job adapting the story. My only criticism is Jeff Goldblum’s performance, but honestly, I was mostly there for Elphaba & Glinda anyway. Lately, our evenings at home are mostly watching Doctor Who, we’re now in the middle of season 6 and my brain is melting! I like the Eleventh Doctor but not nearly as much as the Tenth.
Finished Watching
- Wicked
- Red One
Currently Watching
- Doctor Who (S2 to 6)
Games I Played in December
- We took advantage of the Steam winter sales to finally get a copy of Baldur’s Gate 3 for myself so that I could play with my husband. So far we’ve played around 30 hours, we’re in the Underdark where I’m greatly enjoying the creepy fungal aesthetics. I’m playing as a Dark Urge dragonborn bard and my party consists of my husband’s character (a Githyanki monk), Shadowheart, and Karlach. I hope to eventually romance Karlach, so far she’s my favourite but she feels nothing towards me yet 😥.
Around The Blogosphere
Posts from other bloggers that I loved this month.
- The Game Night Book Tag (Charlotte @ Bewitching Books, Ravenous Reads)
- Top Ten Tuesday ~ Old(er) Cozy Fantasy (Nicole @ Book Wyrm Knits)
- Wulfsyarn – Review (Nic @ Dragon Rambles)
- Authors First, Last and Favourites (Louise @ Foxes & Fairy Tales)
Music Monday
Music Monday was created by Drew from The Tattooed Book Geek
This Christmas, Karliene‘s beautifully haunting voice and songwriting talents gifted us with this chilling song about the Christmas demon, Krampus! If you want something that’s less traditionally “Christmas Cheer” but still enchanting, give this a listen 🎶!
Krampus – Single │ Year Published: 2024 │ Genre: Christmas/Folk
Let’s chat in the comments!
What was your favourite book of December? Did you watch any TV or movies that you want to recommend to me? Or, tell me something that you’re thankful for in 2024!
I hope you love Big Damn Hero! I was gaming during Christmas break, but it was the ‘definitive version’ of GTA Vice City. Very pretty, but adjusting to console controls is….something. I’m struggling with missions I sail through on the PC.
Thanks, I certainly hope so too! Ah sounds like a fun time but I can relate to having difficulty adjusting to controls you’re not used to! sounds like an extra challenge haha! My husband also plays on the PC but I only ever play on the Steam Deck so very different controls for us generally haha
Thanks so much for including my post 🥰 I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that you also have a wonderful new year. It sounds like you had two lovely days of celebrations and lots of catch ups in-between. The village making idea is so cool and such a nice idea to work on something creative together too. We don’t do all of our celebrations on the 24th but for the last few years we’ve had Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve as it means my mum can actually relax and make the most of Christmas Day rather than spending most of it in the kitchen. It’s lovely that you got two Christmas celebrations in a row.
I can’t believe how much you read given how busy this month tends to be. Well done. I haven’t ever read The Hobbit but even so I’m surprised to hear that songs are involved 🤔 and I’ve read two Westerfeld series in the past but never got to that one. I’m glad you enjoyed the reread. Good luck finishing the series before the anime comes out.
It’s always good to get something for yourself when visiting a Bookshop 😂 it looks like you got a lovely mixture of books too. I’m particularly curious as to how you find Middlegame and Witch King as I’m curious about both. From how much you’ve mentioned her I’m getting the impression I should check out Katee Roberts too.
Oh wow brain is melting doesn’t sound great in regards to Doctor Who 😬 I get where you’re coming from given my experience from somewhere around that point though.
I’m also definitely going to have to look that game up properly. I hadn’t heard of it before but it looks/sounds (from a very quick Google search) intriguing. I hope you continue to enjoy it.
I wasn’t expecting the song about a Christmas Demon either 😂
I hope you have a lovely new year whatever you do ❤️
My pleasure, Charlotte and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years too and wishing you the best for 2025! 🖤Thanks, we all had fun doing it and it was lovely to do something different. That is a really smart idea and super fair that your mom also needs a rest and a relaxing holiday, I love that! What do your holiday traditions or activities normally consist of?
Honestly, I’m a bit surprised too but it helps that a lot of them were audiobooks. I was surprised to find songs in The Hobbit the first time I read it too but when you remember that he wrote the book for his son it makes more sense to me. Even still, I’m that grumpy person who hates song lyrics in books, I just find it cringey when it’s not actually put to music for some reason.
Oh cool, Which Westerfeld series have you read? & thank you!! 🙂
I agree about getting books for yourself 😉I will keep you in the loop on my thoughts when I get to them. Witch King was recommended to me by a friend last year and I still haven’t gotten to it so that’s why I got it haha. & There’s just something about Katee Robert’s writing that I enjoy and I like monster romances so I’m happy to keep exploring her works slowly.
Haha brain is melting because it can be confusing to follow but in a fun way where I have questions and theories. So it’s a fun watching experience but OH BOY, ARE THINGS WILD!
I am indeed continuing to enjoy it, I played it some more today and it’s still great. It’s really fun from a story-telling perspective and if you like D&D it’s one that so many fans are playing!
Ahaha sorry to surprise you but there it is, something entirely unexpected 😂🎶
Thanks for engaging with my blog and all of the lovely comments you left this year, I look forward to more chats this year my friend 🙂
Thank you, I has a lovely time 🥰 I’m glad you all enjoyed it. I think it’s wonderful that it’s something you can add to each year too. I think she first tried it when she was working one year as she generally has to work either Christmas or Boxing Day. This year she had it all off though which was lovely. My sister usually comes for dinner so this year we swapped presents on Christmas Eve too and watched my niece open hers which was wonderful. We do the rest of the presents on Christmas Day but I think it’s nice to be there to watch people open their gifts which is why we exchanged the ones to each other earlier. Go for a dog walk on the beach. Play some games, watch the Christmas specials of shows we like. And at some time during December we tend to go to a Christmas market and go see the lights at a safari park as seeing the animals is lovely and they do really amazing lights. Whenever I post my wrap up it’ll have some pictures of them. Do you have any others that you didn’t mention?
That’s true about audiobooks as you can do other things whilst listening to them. Oh I didn’t realise he wrote that one for his son too. And thinking about it I guess it isn’t that odd, I know other series with them. It’s just not the kind of read I’d associate with a song. I kind of get what you mean. I don’t mind reading the lyrics on a page but I’m not sure what I’d think if I heard them simply read aloud in audio format.
The first four Uglies books (the later ones were released after I read them) and The Midnighters although I don’t really remember that one.
I’m not surprised 😂 and thank you. Ah makes sense. I hope it ends up being worth the delay. Have you read the authors other series? I’m glad it works for you. I haven’t really read any monster romances but at least I know where to start 😅
Oh that sounds more positive than my experience but that’s a good thing. I’m glad you’re finding it fun. It just got too bizarre for me in the end. But I really want to watch the prior two Doctors properly as I loved what I saw of Tennant and want to see the introduction of Rose.
Yay that’s wonderful to hear. That’s good that it works well storywise. I’ve never tried D&D although I was surprised to love the movie if that counts 😅
Well it made a nice change to the same few always being played 😂
Aww thank you 🥰 I’m so glad you found my page (I think it was that way round 🤔) and I’ve really appreciated all of your lovely comments too ❤️ I look forward to chatting more this year and checking out more of your content too ❤️
Probably won’t see Wicked as we haven’t been to a movie house in ages. I watch a lot of Netflix movies and dramas and they keep me going!
Love your colorful Christmas tree. We have to take ours down tomorrow to make space for a huge new sofa. The result of giving away a lot of unwanted furniture plus our old sofa. Will love the new look and comfort! Have a great week.
That’s very fair, I used to go to the movies all the time we I don’t much anymore. Thank you, that Christmas tree is at my parent’s house but it has all the ornaments I grew up with so I love it too ♥ Ohh a new big sofa is very exciting, I hope you get to enjoy it a lot! Have a great week and happy new year to you 🙂
I really liked An Unexpected Peril. I think it was the next book or maybe the one after that I kind of stalled on. I wanna get back to the series!
Oh Nice, I’m so glad. It made me want to learn more about women climbers of history! As much as I’m loving the series, they are getting a tad ‘samey’ so I can see why you might need to take a break. However I hope to finish the series next year!
I’ve been wanting to read Dakota Cassidy’s books. They look really good. I think I have a couple on my e-reader. I love the covers of her books, too. I love all your pics. Hope you have a great week and Happy New Year!
Oh, I liked the tone of Cassidy’s books, they are very readable and entertaining. I hope you like any that you pick up 🙂
Thank you so much 🥰 And wishing you the best for 2025 and a lovely rest of your week too 🖤!
It looks like you had a great December! Happy New Year!
I absolutely did 🙂 Thank you Jodie, and I really hope you did too 🖤 Happy New Year!
Looks like you had a great December! I want to read more Historical Fiction, especially a mystery. We have had so many christmasses. So many different groups of family! Today will be the last one then we can chill for the rest of the holidays, maybe 🤣
Have a great week!
I hope you get to read a historical mystery soon then, I find I enjoy those too!Ahah oh my, celebrating is fun but also tiring lol I hope you got to rest a bit too!
Have a lovely rest of your week too 😄
The new Christmas village tradition looks like loads of fun. I’d love to see pics of the full village made if you have them to share.
Thanks for including the link to Wulfsyarn. I’m glad you liked the sound of it, and hopefully more people will be introduced to this excellent book through you sharing it.
Thanks, Nic & it was fun! That’s so sweet of you but Alas, I don’t have a picture of the whole thing put together because it was along the length of a window ledge but I do have individual pics of each building haha. And my pleasure, here’s hoping! 🤞🏽