December Reading

This was a great reading month for me, I guess because we were on a school break the whole time.

GROWN-UP READS:

📖 Bespoke: A Tiny Christmas Tale (Christian, historical fiction, 🎄)... I love Amanda Dykes' lovely writing style! This one was very short but it was a good one.
📖 The Christmas Book Flood (Christian, historical fiction, 🎄)... This sweet, bookish Christmas novela was set in WWII Iceland. I enjoyed it- it felt so incredibly cozy!
📖 Evergreen (Christian, fiction, 🎄)... This was book 3.5 in the Christiansen Family series and it was focused on parents John and Ingrid in their first Christmas as empty nesters. It was of course a little sad in some ways but I loved it!
📖 Marley Madison short mysteries 1-3 (Christian,  fiction, mystery)... This is Christina Suzann Nelson's new mystery series. The deaths were a bit much but they were not shown on-page. I am more sensitive to suspense these days and probably won't read the next set (but ill still read her main body of work.
📖 Mr. Nicholas (Christian, fiction, 🎄)... This was sweet, about a man kind of getting to know his son with Down Syndrome for the first time- of course duringthe Christmas season. This had some depth and richness to it I really loved. I can see why it was a Christy Award winner!
📖 Tidings of Comfort and Joy (Christian, fiction, 🎄, historical fiction)... I liked this grandmother-grandmother Christmas novela. This was my second Davis Bunn Christmas story and I'll absolutely try more in the future!
📖 Unwrapping the Names of Jesus (Christian, nonfiction, 🎄)... I read this one with my church book club. It wasn't quite what I was expecting but it was still a good read.

* My mom and I abandoned our buddy read, The Gift of Christmas Present, this year, because of a rape storyline we weren't expecting in a Christmas novela.

📚 Plus applicable sections of The Wonder Weeks

YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS

📖 Arcade and the Triple T Token (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... I didn't expect this book to have so many lovely messages and moments! I enjoyed it and know some of my kids will really enjoy it, too. I'll definitely try book two.
📖 The Case for Heaven (Christian, middle grade, nonfiction)... This was such a great book! I really love books about Heaven and this one was quite moving. 
📖 I Saw Three Ships (secular,  middle grade, fiction, 🎄)... I've been curious about this one for years because Sarah Clarkson recommends the author for fans of Anne of Green Gables. I did enjoy this very short Christmas read and added it to my kids' shelves.
📖 The Trees Kneel at Christmas (Christian, chapter book)... This was a short, sweet Christmas story by the author of the Betsy Tacy stories.
📖 A Weird and Wild Beauty: The Story of Yellowstone,  the World's First National Park (secular, middle grade, nonfiction, history)... This was a great nonfiction, full of details + color photos, and now I hope we can take our kidsto Yellowstone one day soon!
📖 Who Were the Beatles? (Secular, middle grade, nonfiction, history)... One of my kids is taking a music appreciation course and is really into music history in general right now. The history of rock n roll gets talked about in this one and we had some great conversation about the various changes in music over the years.

*I also read part of Stella by Starlight as a buddy read with one of my kids and The Angel Tree & Adoration at the Manger as read-alouds all together.

PICTURE BOOKS WE LOVED: God's Animals, my baby's current favorite// The Golden Hour // The Wonderful Book // all of these Christmas picture books

Favorite reads this month: Evergreen and The Case for Heaven