The Gone Dead by Chanelle Benz
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  December 2 – 3
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The two chapters of her father’s memoirs.
Least Favorite Thing:  Took it’s sweet time getting to the good stuff.

I’ll admit, up to halfway through this book I was considering DNF’ing it. It was well written, but the pacing was just not a good fit for me, personally. However, once I hit a little past the halfway mark it picked up and I found myself enjoying it more with every page. Overall I’m glad I read this one.

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Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
(Dorothy Must Die, book 1)
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review:  Yes
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 9 – 10
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I liked the Pete thing at the end.
Least Favorite Thing:  Did she have to stop during all the action scenes to have an internal monologue for several minutes?

I probably won’t be reading the next one.

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The Secret to Hummingbird Cake by Celeste Fletcher McHale
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  Yes
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 10
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Ella Rae
Least Favorite Thing:  Why did the author keep saying boobies like a ten-year-old?

I read this on a whim because it just happened to be available on Overdrive from my library. I actually found this audiobook really hard to put down. I was even listening to it sneakily at work. The narrator, Nan Kelly, was excellent!

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Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
(Outlander, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  September 22 – December 12
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!
Least Favorite Thing:  Why does historical fiction always have so much rape in it?

Well it took me three damn months, but I finally managed to finish this proper tome! I already bought the second one and I’m looking forward to starting it next year. There were several aspects that I didn’t really like, but the overall story was enjoyable.

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Caraval by Stephanie Garber
(Caraval, book 1)
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  Yes
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 11 – 12
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I guess I enjoyed that one kidnapping scene.
Least Favorite Thing:  The descriptive language chosen by the author.

I regret this book because I will never get the creepy sexual blood licking scene out of my head and actually I already had quite a stock of those thanks to House of Night…

And I’m still not a fan of this particular narrator.

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The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
Rating:  ★★★★★ – it was amazing
Review:  Yes
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 12 – 13
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The mature adults with their mature interactions and choices.
Least Favorite Thing:  Kept me up all night and made me cry 3 times 😦

God I loved this book guys! I can’t believe I put off reading it for as long as I did, I’m so stupid! Now I must go out and buy this book ASAP so I can reread it whenever I want.

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Holly Banks Full of Angst by Julie Valerie
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  Yes
Format:  Ebook
Reading Dates:  December 4 – 16
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Mary-Margaret St. James.
Least Favorite Thing:  That “Jack” thing Jack did.

Reading this book must be what it feels like to go insane! (I say that in the nicest way. It really was good, just crazy.) If you are a fan of funny women’s lit, give this a try.

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A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
(A Song of Ice and Fire, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 13 – 17
Read Count:  2 (1 DNF)
Favorite Thing:  Arya obviously, is that even a contest?
Least Favorite Thing:  I should say one of the bad guys, but honestly it’s Sansa being whiny and shallow… I know I’ll come to like her more later, but in this book she’s pretty awful.

Well I tried to read this once before and failed, but it was on my “bucket list” poster so I decided I’d give it a try in a different format and see if I could do it. And I actually liked it a lot more when it was read to me.

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The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
(The Chronicles of Narnia, book 1)*
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 17 – 19
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The way he kept being like “by the way never shut yourself in a wardrobe that’s bad” like some publisher went “hmm this could be a liability” and he had to cover his ass.
Least Favorite Thing:  The religious undertones were really heavy-handed…

This book seemed really mediocre. I can’t tell if I’m just too old for it or if it really is mediocre…

*Publication order

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Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 19
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Kept specifically mentioning signs that a person may be suicidal almost as if teaching the reader.
Least Favorite Thing:  Boring…

I can’t believe myself. Back in 2016 I rated this 3 whole stars. What was my past self thinking? This book sucks. It’s like My First Torture Porn or something. Like they challenged themselves to see how many bad things they could have a group of teens do to each other in just one novel. I couldn’t be invested in any of the things that are supposed to make my sympathize with the character because all I could do was think that if this book was slightly more graphic it would just be considered straight-up torture porn.

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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 20 – 21
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The reader, Cathleen McCarron
Least Favorite Thing:  Nothing, I liked it all.

This book was so good, both funny and poignant. I’m so glad I gave in to the hype and read it. And I think the audiobook version was particularly good because the narrator, Cathleen McCarron, read the book perfectly and has a great voice. Having it read to me really added something to the experience of this one.

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Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
(Dreamer Trilogy, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  November 15 – December 21
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Learning more about Declan
Least Favorite Thing:  No Gangsey

I guess I didn’t realize going in how different this was going to be to The Raven Cycle books. I’m disappointed, but not because the book was bad. In fact I would probably have liked it more if I had thought of it as completely separate, but it’s too late now.

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If I Run by Terri Blackstock
(If I Run, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 21
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Double investigations
Least Favorite Thing:  Preachy author…

Seriously this story was interesting, but the author preaching at the reader basically ruined it. I can tolerate the religion IN the story, but that Author’s Note? What the fuck? I don’t know if I even want to finish the series now.

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Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 21
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Fantastical
Least Favorite Thing:  Didn’t hold my attention

This book was decent, but it didn’t really hold my attention well. Obviously I am not the target audience so please take this rating with a grain of salt.

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An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 22
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Everyone is a freaking stalker.
Least Favorite Thing:  A few too many twists…

I can’t be sure how I feel about this book. It’s probably a 2.5 star book. I went ahead and put 3 stars just to be fair because it wasn’t actually bad. It just wasn’t great. To be honest it felt like the author couldn’t decide where to end the book and just kept adding twists instead. I went back and forth between being bored and being unable to put it down.

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Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
(Sookie Stackhouse, book 10)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  December 20 – 24
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  “This is your telepath on drugs.”
Least Favorite Thing:  So he’s been cursed for years and then y’all just kiss him on the cheek and he’s just….cured?

This wasn’t my favorite of the books so far, I did have a couple moments of boredom, but not many and I still enjoyed it.

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A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
(A Song of Ice and Fire, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 22 – 25
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Running for your life by staying in the keep lol I can’t believe that worked.
Least Favorite Thing:  Literally anything happening in the Red Keep?

I actually think the first book was better, but I’m glad the plot is moving along. I’m starting to see things being a bit different from the tv show where as the first book was almost identical, so that’s awesome.

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Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  December 10 – 26
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  SO ROMANCE
Least Favorite Thing:  I was really confused about Joan for a while, but I just decided not to care because I was enjoying the book so much.

This was a Travelling Book Project book. I never would have picked it up on my own because it isn’t my usual type, but it was soooo cute and good. I’m so grateful that this book was sent to me!

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Daddy Won’t Let Mom Drive the Car by Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  Yes
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  December 27
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Cute stories
Least Favorite Thing:  Not what I expected

I expected this book to be more: “check your abled-privilage this is what it’s really like” and what I got was “funny, cute stories  about my kid” but I enjoyed this little book anyway.

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