It was a busy month where audio books kept this reading habit moving!

Total Books: 7
Audio: 5
Physical: 1
Mix: 2
DNF: 3

Genre: Sci-Fi
Format: Audio
Rating: 4/5

Summary: Arthur Dent experiences a series of ridiculous events when Earth is destroyed.

I finally read it! And it was very British (more so with the audio book narrated by Stephen Fry). My husband warned me that it was a “set up” book for the overall series, and I’m glad I was warned. I had to battle my brain to figure out what to focus on (there are a LOT of names and new words thrown in there), but if you just buckle up and go along for the ride through the galaxy, you will experience some good chuckles.

Genre: Cozy (very cozy) fantasy
Format: Audio
Rating: 2.5/5

Summary: An insecure librarian finds a hot dude on an island, and she sells jam.

I wanted to like this book so much. I tried. In fact, after previously quitting it at 37%, I picked it up months later to try again. It is sooooo popular and sooooo loved, and I tried. This book was incredibly frustrating because of the massive potential. It was a cool world with a sentient spider plant as a sidekick. There were winged cats! She had blue hair! But good gracious, I was bored out of my gourd with this whiny librarian and descriptions of everything. There. Were. Winged. Cats. And. No. Point. To. Them. Anyway, it was a cool world with many lost opportunities to do cooler stuff with it. The only reason this got a three was because she used the word defenestration correctly multiple times. Did she show the emperor being thrown out the window and dive into political unrest? Not really. Oh well. (I should also dock it for a mer-horse birthing scene, but I have some holiday generosity in me I guess. No one needs a mer-horse birthing scene. Thank you very much.)

Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Format: Physical
Rating: 4.25/5

Summary: A young outsider marries into a bonkers rich neighborhood and everyone is a suspect when her husband disappears.

I picked this one up at a thrift store and really enjoyed it! I’m usually very distracted by choppy writing and “gotcha” moments in thrillers, but this novel flowed well and had an equal-opportunity suspect list. The end fell a little flat but I enjoyed the mystery and (literally) rich characters.

Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Format: Audio
Rating: 2/5

Summary: A caretaker moves into a spooky house full of secrets and creepy people.

This was my second chance for a Riley Sager book, and it will likely be my last. He has joined the exclusive group of “good-for-you-but-not-for-me” authors. It started out with such a strong premise and just the right amount of mystery. However, it spiraled from there, needing to be three hours shorter with 87 fewer twists. It felt like the brainstorming meeting for twists ended with: “Yes! Let’s just do ALL of it!” It was exhausting and unsatisfying.

Genre: Fiction
Format: Audio
Rating: 4/5

Summary: Ghosts visit Scrooge and he’s all like, “WHAT!?”

You guys. This book was JUST like Mickey’s Christmas Carol. Almost word for word. It was amazing.

Genre: No-Fun Fiction
Format: Mix of Audio/Physical
Rating: 3/5

Summary: Strangers trauma-dump for an entire week.

I read this book, because I was sick of seeing it on every list ever. What was the hype? It was driving me crazy, and I was sure I would hate it – since my least favorite genres include popular literary fiction with sad main characters. The good news? I didn’t hate it! The bad news? It was just fine. If you like whiny people with baggage complaining for 367 pages, this is the book for you! Trigger warnings: pet death, parental death, infertility/IVF, miscarriage, adultery, toxic workplace environments, post-Covid settings, toxic parental relationship, spousal death, suicidal thoughts – ARE WE HAVING FUN YET WITH THIS CRITICS’ DARLING!? Goodness. Also, it was crass and annoying. I guess the fact that I’m still rating it a “3” is high praise and worthy of getting on some lists.

Genre: YA Fiction
Format: Audio
Rating: 3.25/5

Summary: Nerds fake-date until they real-date.

Overall, this is a solid YA novel. It’s refreshing that this romcom stays in its lane – tension and angst without sex or language (YA can mean ANYTHING these days). The main character is self-absorbed and the dude is oblivious: a match made in high school rom-com heaven. It was obnoxiously sweet, built for theater/gamer kids. I could be picky and go on tangents, but it was cute and appropriate for a general audience.

The Quit List

22% I was lukewarm about this author’s other book, but it was mostly because of the twist. I gave her another chance, and there were many things I liked about this book. However, a character was introduced that seemed like a “checking of the box” situation, and I was annoyed. Next!

15% I honestly enjoyed the start of this book. It would be great for fans of The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife. It was purely a mood thing – old-people-adventures are a gamble for me. Next!

10% Again, not bad. But I wasn’t in the mood for the orphans-save-the-world-but-you-better-remember-they’re-orphans story.

Gotta wrap this up – it’s time for the End of the Year Review!