November Minireviews // Part 4

Towards the end of November, I decided it was probably close enough to Christmas to start reading Christmas books haha

The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman – 3.5*

//published 2002//

This one was a decent mystery, but I was somewhat aggravated by how much trouble Bernie got in, considering she had no reason to suspect that the body she found had been murdered.  Still, it was nice to see the Chee/Bernie relationship finally getting some traction!

25 Days Til Christmas by Poppy Alexander –  3.5*

//published 2019//

My first Christmas read of the season was a bit of a mixed bag.  I liked the characters and even the overall story, but Kate’s life started bad and kept getting worse and worse!  Every time there was a chance for something to go wrong, it did, so the majority of the book was kind of depressing.  Then, everything gets magically resolved in about five pages towards the end.  I don’t always need my Christmas romances to feel super realistic, but after so many pages of unrelenting things-going-wrong, it would have been nice to have more reassurances that the turn for the better was actually permanent and not a fluke!

Christmas Ever After by Karen Schaler 3.5*

//published 2020//

Schaler’s books are always a mixed bag for me, mainly because she is always a little obnoxious about herself and how popular her own books are, something she somehow manages to work into these stories in a meta fashion.  My original review says that “this one was pretty terrible, but that’s kind of what I’m into when I’m reading Christmas romances,” and I have to say that still stands haha  The drama meter was at max here, but it was still an okay read.

A Treason of Thorns by Laura Wemouth – 3*

//published 2019//

Sometimes a standalone fantasy definitely feels like it should have been more than one book, and this was the case here.  I wanted more of everything – more character development, more worldbuilding, more conversations – the concept here was SO intriguing and interesting, and I felt like we barely got the surface of what was happening.  There were also a lot of weird jumps in characters – someone is a bad guy, oh no wait actually a good guy after all! Without a lot of in between to explain why we suddenly trust this person when we didn’t trust them at all a few pages ago.  I really wanted to like this one because I found the concept so interesting, but in the end it just didn’t work for me.

The Blythes are Quoted by L.M. Montgomery – 4*

Somehow, I had never heard of this book until it was picked for our Kindred Spirits Buddy Read in November!  Apparently, shortly before her death, Montgomery gathered together some short stories and poetry and put them together, although it wasn’t published this way until just recently.  The poetry is presented as though written by Anne or Walter, with usually a few lines of commentary afterwards by whichever family members were gathered to hear it read out loud.  The majority of the book is set during the era of Rainbow Valley, with a shorter section (maybe a third of the book) set after WWI, as WWII is looming on the horizon.  If you come to this book hoping to get a lot of post-Rilla of Ingleside information about the lives of the Blythes, you won’t find it here.  We get hints that everyone married the “right” person (Rilla/Ken, Jerry/Nan, etc), and you did see some of the emotional difficulties that the family faced after the war was over, adjusting to the fact of Walter’s death.

My biggest issue with this book is that the Blythes are SERIOUSLY quoted.  Like, constantly.  Usually 3-5 times per page.  I almost wonder if Montgomery was purposefully trying to be obnoxious since everyone wanted her to keep writing Anne books long after she had lost interest in the characters.  Most of the mentions of the Blythe family (and Susan Baker) are tangential – along the lines of, “he knew it to be true, because he had heard Dr. Blythe tell the story last week” or “she reminded him of Dr. Blythe’s wife – not exactly beautiful, but still captivating.”  I recognized some of these short stories from other collections, except with a generous sampling of Blythes sprinkled in!  I was reading these just one or two stories a day for the entire month, so it worked for me.  However, I think the Blythe-references would have gotten pretty aggravating if I had tried to read this entire book in one go.  I’m not sure this is one I’ll pick up again, and I definitely don’t think that it adds anything to the Anne series as a whole, but it was still very interesting to read once.

Running Total:  I’m going to try something new and keep a running total of how many reviews I have left to write at the bottom of each of these posts! I’m curious to see if I’m gaining any ground at all, or if I will always be five months behind!!  Current number of books read but not reviewed: 86!

December Minireviews – Part 3

Am I writing as many of these posts on Monday as I can, and scheduling them to post throughout the week?  Yes, yes I am!  I am going to catch up!!!!

Sometimes I don’t feel like writing a full review for whatever reason, either because life is busy and I don’t have time, or because a book didn’t stir me enough.  Sometimes, it’s because a book was so good that I just don’t have anything to say beyond that I loved it!  Frequently, I’m just wayyy behind on reviews and am trying to catch up.  For whatever reason, these are books that only have a few paragraphs of thoughts from me.

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren – 3.5*

//published 2020//

This one was perfectly fine, but it weirdly felt not-quite-gimmicky enough, if that makes sense.  If you’re going to do a Groundhog Day thing, then you should do it more than just like, three times.  I also was a little confused about what the “message” was supposed to be… I guess the universe just wants the MC to “be happy”??  Or something??  While I was actually reading it, though, I enjoyed it just fine, and it did check off some pesky time-travel-y bingo squares for all my holiday bingos, so there is that!

The Birds’ Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggins – 3.5*

//published 1886//

This is classic late-1800s reading material here – the dear, sweet, girl not long for this world, who does her best to make Christmas a little better for her impoverished neighbors.  While it was a little over-the-top with the sweetness, it was still a perfectly lovely little story, even if it was really sad.  I wasn’t surprised to find out that this was originally intended as a play – it definitely has that vibe about it.

Finding Christmas by Karen Schaler – 3.5*

//published 2019//

Another one that I struggled with a little.  Emmie has an amazing Christmas getaway planned with her boyfriend, including a scavenger hunt with clues for him to follow so that he will end up at a magical Christmas village where she has reserved a spot for them at a B&B and has loads of fun holiday activities planned.  She’s excited about introducing her to a season that means a lot to her, especially since it helps her cherish the memories of her parents who have passed away.  But things get a little mixed up, and the wrong guy follows the clues – Sam writes detective novels, but he’s been stuck ever since his sister died of cancer the year before.  He thinks the clues are a set-up by his agent to help get him back in the groove.  What with weather and other things, Emmie and Sam end up spending a lot of the week together, which was fine – except this was one of those borderline-cheating books, since Emmie is still in a relationship with her boyfriend, a relationship that, until this week, she thought was really serious/heading towards marriage.  Even though “nothing happens” I still didn’t like the vibe.  Schaler is also the author of a few Hallmark movie/books, and it was pretty eye-roll-y when she had Emmie talking about Schaler’s books and movies in this book, referring to them as “Christmas classics”.  All in all, another perfectly fine but not amazing holiday read.

The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss – 3.5*

//published 2020//

It’s funny because this one is a reread – I really enjoyed it last year so I decided to read it again this year, but actually didn’t enjoy it as much this time around.  The overall story was still really enjoyable and some of the dates humorous, but I was more aware of how it really felt like Kate’s best friend/secret crush is kind of a user… he’s always expecting her to help him with the cafe, or do some more baking for him, or run errands for him, etc.  There was one scene in particular where she is on her way back home late at night and is exhausted and thinking about how excited she is to go to bed… and Matt basically waylays her and guilt trips her into coming to help him do some more baking, and it felt kind of manipulative.  I think this story would have benefitted a lot from getting Matt’s perspective, as that’s part of the problem – we’re only in Kate’s head, so it’s hard to tell what Matt is really thinking, or what is motivations really are.  I did enjoy rereading this one, but I’m not sure it’s going to become an annual tradition.

A Christmas to Remember by Jenny Hale – 3.5*

//published 2019//

I realize all these books are pretty predictable, but this one felt extra predictable.  Girl goes to work as a nanny for a rich guy who is always busy at work… gee, I wonder what is going to happen next?  In this one, the dude is divorced, which honestly felt weird just because why does he need a nanny when his kids don’t even live with him??  He also has an awesome family… so again, why does he need a nanny??  It wasn’t a terrible read, but I kind of ho-hummed my way through it.

December Minireviews – Part 4

Sometimes I don’t feel like writing a full review for whatever reason, either because life is busy and I don’t have time, or because a book didn’t stir me enough.  Sometimes, it’s because a book was so good that I just don’t have anything to say beyond that I loved it!  Frequently, I’m just wayyy behind on reviews and am trying to catch up.  For whatever reason, these are books that only have a few paragraphs of thoughts from me.

Someday, my friends, I will be caught up on December reviews!! …but today is not that day!

The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss – 4*

//published 2020//

This was one of my favorite reads this month. Kate lives in a small town where there aren’t a lot of dating prospects, so she’s pretty much ready to resign herself to a peaceful life of singleness. However, she decides to give love one last chance when her best friend convinces her to sign up for a holiday blind-date event – 12 different dates with 12 different people in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

There’s always a danger that this type of story is going to lead to something super weird (plus I was extra paranoid after the train-wreck read of Match Made in Manhattan with its complicated timelines that made it basically feel like the MC was cheating on all the guys she was dating) but here it was exactly as it should be – fun and fluffy with a likable character and a good balance of guys on the dates instead of “wow every dude out there is a jerk.”

My biggest complaint about this book is that because it’s set in a small town everyone knows everyone – but I do not know everyone! Bayliss would casually mention someone’s name and how they were connected to someone else, and then just expect me to remember that person two chapters later. There were a LOT of names going on and it got a little confusing for me. But overall, a mild complaint for what was, on the whole, a fun and enjoyable read that I’ll probably revisit again next year.

Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia Wrede & Caroline Stevermer – 4.5*

//published 2003//

This one isn’t Christmasy, but it was my other traveling book club book for December. A reread for me, this is actually an old favorite of mine. It’s set in early 1800s England (just after the Napoleonic wars) except in an AU where magic is just a part of life. Cecelia’s cousin Kate has just gone up to London for her first Season, leading to a great deal of correspondence between the two, who are close in age and best friends. Shenanigans both magical and romantic in nature take place, making this one just a great deal of all-around fun. I also read this one back in 2016, if you want a more detailed review.

Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler – 3*

//published 2018//

This one was trying just a little too hard, and I wasn’t surprised to find out that it was written by one of Netflix’s screenwriters rather than an actual author, as the entire story felt like someone was telling me about a movie they watched, and I can’t even exactly explain why. The sentence structure and dialogue was just off somehow, making it really difficult for me to get into the story and actually embrace the cheesiness. Instead, it was just toooo much, like a sugar overload. Every Christmas movie cliche possible was jammed into this one book. Decent writing could have overcome it, but the whole thing just felt stilted. Ironically, I think it would make a fun movie (and actually it may already have done so) but the writing wasn’t good enough to make it work as a book for me.

Snowflakes at the Little Christmas Tree Farm by Jamie Admans – 4*

//published 2019//

One would expect that if I was so willing to pooh-pooh Christmas Camp for being too cheesy, that I would be ready to completely tear apart a book whose premise is that the MC accidentally purchases a Christmas tree farm in Scotland and then has to depend on the goodwill of the hunky pumpkin farmer who lives next door to help her get everything organized, but this was actually a super fun story and ended up being one of my favorites for the month. Leah is a really likable character who has been struggling somewhat with her life after the sudden death of her parents in a car wreck the year before. While drunkenly purchasing a Christmas tree farm sight-unseen is, in fact, a crazy thing to do, Admans makes it work with Leah’s character, especially as we learn more about her parents, their dreams, and Leah’s background. I really liked the male MC as well, and while this was definitely a fluffy romance, Admans balances it with some more serious themes about grief and loss (the guy’s dad died of cancer when the guy was in his teens… sorry, can’t remember the guy’s name right now haha), and just about how you move on when a huge chunk of your life is suddenly not there any more. There were times that this book got a little too silly (and Admans was OBSESSED with having Leah be obsessed with the guy’s lip piercing; she mentions it CONSTANTLY, like okay, I get it, even though he’s a Scottish pumpkin farmer in a remote corner of the country he’s still HIP and HOT because he has a PIERCING!) but on the whole this one really hit the spot.

Three Christmas Wishes by Sheila Roberts – 4*

//published 2016//

While I don’t see myself returning to this one again and again, it was really fun as a one-off read. Much like The Christmas Sisters, it balances the fun and fluffy with some more serious storylines that made it a story of substance as well as entertainment. Riley’s fiance dumps her in the first chapter of the book – three weeks before their Christmas wedding. Riley’s best friend, Noel, and Riley’s older sister, Jo, convince her to come to the mall with them for some shopping therapy. While there, they decide to visit the mall Santa on a lark – except this Santa seems strangely omniscient…

All three of the story lines were good fun. I related the most to Jo, who has been married several years and is due to have a baby at any minute. Her husband is in the Navy and so is gone on tour for large chunks of time and she’s struggling with his decision to re-up when what she really wants is for him to be home now that a baby is in the picture. While my life doesn’t look anything like Jo’s, I found Roberts’s handling of trying to find balance within marriage to be done really well.

My biggest issue with this one was with Noel’s story – Noel writes children’s books about a character named Marvella, and Marvella frequently “talks” with Noel in Noel’s mind – “Marvella” is rather obnoxious and I was pretty over the internal monologue. But on the whole this was a fun one that I enjoyed.

Christmas Comes to Dickens by various authors – 3.5* average

//published 2020//

This is a collection of ten stories, each one by a different author, but all set in the same New England town of Dickens, famous for their celebration of Christmas. On the whole these were pretty regular, for lack of a better term. I was hoping for a little more continuity between the stories, but other than mentioning the same stores along the main drag, they didn’t feel connected in any way – I wasn’t even sure if they were supposed to be happening during the same Christmas season or not. Some were pretty terrible and some were decent, but none were outstanding. Entertaining but not enthralling.