Show Us Your Books Link-Up: December 2018

Last monthly link-up of the year! And thankfully, the last month has been an awesome reading month.

3 Stars

★★★

The Friendship Test by Elizabeth Noble

This was a similar vein to The Reading Group (see below), but I didn't enjoy it quite as much. It discussed a smaller group of lifelong friends, death and mourning, motherhood, found family, and jealousy. Not a bad read, but not a must read.

The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances

Think I found this on the link-up last month. It was...okay. Interesting, but didn't suck me in quite as much as I wanted. May just be over this genre. Basically like reading a Hallmark movie. I didn't really like either of the main female characters...each had moments where they were understandable, and then other moments where they were completely awful. Kind of reminded me of The Marriage Pact- each had a lot of possibility but something about the pace and writing just didn't do it for me. Worth checking out though, if that's your genre.

4 Stars

★★★★  

The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble

Continuing my chick-lit/female friendship vibe from last month, this was an enjoyable read. It follows the lives of several women who intertwined to varying degrees, for varying lengths of time. The women join together for a book club, where they rotate taking turns picking a book and discussing it monthly. I am actually not normally a fan of books about books/readers (or songs about songs, FYI), but it was thoughtful and moving and I enjoyed it a lot. Discussed female friendship, family, motherhood, lack of motherhood, love and marriage, adultery, and youth.

Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw

This was a really fun fantasy mystery. It follows a doctor to...monsters? Non-humans? Vampires, ghouls, etc. Basic plot problem- someone, or something, is attacking both humans and the undead. Can't exactly go to the police with additional information like "Hey, they are also specifically targeting undead" because...well, the undead aren't supposed to exist and that would just make things worse. So Greta and her Scooby-Doo like gang are on their own. I feel like they identified the problem almost too easily, but giving a pass because I enjoyed the characters and specifically the way modern medicine and traditional monsters interacted. Definitely checking out the rest of the series.

 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
 I checked out Caitlin's books after watching her YouTube channel Ask a Mortician. While her second book (From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death) sounds more interesting to me, this one was available right away via audiobook so I downloaded it. It was an interesting sneak peak behind the death industry and worth picking up if you like learning random facts about random things like...the death industry. Caitlin is funny yet respectful and thoughtful. 

5 Stars

★★★★★

 Circe by Madeline Miller

This was my favorite read of the month...and will probably stand as one of my favorites of 2018. I had been wanting to read more about Greek mythology and this follows one of the witches, Circe, probably most notable for turning Odysseus' men into pigs in The Odyssey. Some have complained that the pace is very slow or boring, but I personally really enjoyed it. It worked with the idea of an immortal being, the almost calm version of time, unconcerned with the hustle and bustle of hurried and short human lives. I loved the background story and development of what could easily be seen as a villain. I loved Circe's quiet power and determination and sight/intuition. The beginning pushed a little too much of the "non-human" aspect, repeatedly talking about her golden eyes/etc. But thankfully that calmed down after the first quarter of the book or so and everything flowed very smoothly.

What have you read this month? Link-up & let us know!