It seems anti-climatic to post what I read in December at this point, but this is a record for me. This month I read:

• Happiness Falls by Angie Kim – I read and loved Miracle Creek by this author, and was excited to read her newest book after I heard Laura Tremaine talk about it on 10 Things to Tell You. This was such a great read and so propulsive! The story begins with a father gone missing. Mia, the only daughter, narrates the story. She introduces us to her twin brother John, their younger brother Eugene, who has both Autism and Angelman’s Disorder, which leaves him unable to communicate with his family, and their mother. As we get to know the family, the mystery of what happened to their father becomes more intriguing and more concerning. This was a beautiful tale about family, communication, language, people who speak more than one language, and people who communicate using different methods than we are used to. I LOVED this story!
• The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende [audiobook] – Allende writes beautiful stories, with descriptive, vivid language. This sad and yet hopeful story starts in Vienna in 1938, as young Samuel’s Jewish family deals with the Nazi takeover of Vienna. Then we flashforward to meet Anita, a young girl who fled El Salvador with her mother in 2019 to come to America, where they were separated at the border. We learn more about both Samuel and Anita as we live through their troubles with them. This was sad, a heartbreaking reminder of horrible atrocities done to humans in our past. It was also beautifully poignant and sweet, full of other rich characters and hope.
• XOXO Cody: An Opinionated Homosexual’s Guide to Self Love, Relationships, and Tactful Pettiness by Cody Rigsby [audiobook] – I have only had a Peloton since April, but I love Cody Rigsby’s classes. He is funny, goofy, sarcastic, and such a good time! His book is just like him – full of fun stories about him and his life, mixed with serious elements of a challenging childhood, and details of his rise to Peloton fame, his time on Dancing with the Stars, and his dating excapades. This was a delightful audiobook!
• Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie – This was a fast-paced thriller that kept me interested and by the end I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough! We meet Syd just as she is forced to return to her hometown in Oklahoma, in Cherokee land, to help with a missing persons case. Then we learn that her sister is also missing. As Syd battles the demons that chased her away from town, she is forced to reckon with her past and her family, all while fighting for the lives and rights of Indigenous people, and all of the LGBTQIA+ girls who go missing without anyone caring all over. This is a sad and compelling tale based too much on facts from our history.
• Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson – I have heard a few podcasts discuss this book, as a funny mystery, and thought it would be a light read for the end of the year. It was light and it was silly-funny, but not my favorite kind of writing.The entire Cunningham family reunites for a family reunion just as one of the crew gets out of jail (for murder). As more people die during their icy reunion, we learn the deatils of the family’s crimes and misdemeanors in silly ways. The book is very meta, with the narrator talking to the reader throughout the book, and listing off rules of a mystery in a joking way. It was a little too silly for me, with too many flawed characters that I didn’t care enough about.
• Fireworks Every Night by Beth Raymer – I received this book for Christmas from my cousin (Thanks JJ!). She had read it and it was a perfect vacation read. We meet CC in two timelines: her childhood growing up in a tumultuous family in Florida, and as she is newly married to a very wealthy man from a wealthy family in Connecticut. CC struggles to find herself in both timelines, and we meet her family and learn their sad stories along the way. This was a beautifully written story about some sad topics.
• Criminal Mischief (Stone Barrington #60) by Stuart Woods – I only have a few more Stuart Woods books left to read (he passed away recently), so I am reading them sparingly. I used this as a palete cleanser after a darker book, while on vacation. This is an easy read, because the main characters, Stone and Dino, have been with me for 60 books now! In this story, Stone is chasing a pyramid scheme con artist around the world, flying his jet from NY to Hawaii to the Middle East and back, helping the FBI chase down this criminal.
• Cold People by Tom Rob Smith – This felt like one of my cli-fi books, even though it doesn’t really fit this category; it’s more a sci-fi mystery. In this, all people of the world must get to Antarctica in a short period of time. From there, so much happens to the world. I don’t want to spoil anything, but this is an interesting study in human evolution, creativity, and what matters for a good life. I really enjoyed it!

Favorite Books of the Month

Fiction–> Happiness Falls

Nonfiction–> XOXO Cody: An Opinionated Homosexual’s Guide to Self Love, Relationships, and Tactful Pettiness