Skip to main content

December Wrap-Up

Books Read This Month
1. Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik (Temeraire Book#2)
2. Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience,and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
3. Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
4. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
5. American Cookie by Anne Byrn

 Favorite Book This Month
Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

Tess of the Road appears more quotidian than its fantastical forebears. Although set in the same world where the half-dragon Seraphina wins the day along with (some) tolerance for her kind, her fully human younger sister Tess finds less kindness. Like her namesake of the d'Urbervilles, Tess is led to ruin, and then left by her family to wither. Against the religious claptrap of her upbringing, Tess's journey rises to numinous in its sheer visceral earthiness. A poignant back massage precedes a divine revelation. A childish prank of mooning reveals a man's existential pain. Tess of the Road turns bodies and souls inside out (or outside in), creating a contradictory tense mirroring the grammar of Tess's friends, the draconid quigutl. Tess's road doesn't end with her quest, and her quest doesn't end with a road. The familiar melancholy that pervades Tess's story somehow becomes what makes it Hartman's most fantastical yet.
Blog Posts This Month

1. November Wrap-Up

November and December were crazy busy for me, but I made sure to get the November wrap-up out!

2. Top Ten Favorite Books with Dragons

I've been really enjoying books with dragons lately, so I took advantage of the TTT freebie week.

 Things Baked This Month (mostly straight from Smitten Kitchen's newsletter on holiday cookies)

 1. Confetti cookies-These were probably the biggest success, easy to make, and a colorful hit!
2. Spicy gingerbread cookies
3. Linzer cookies-I wanted to make the traditional ones with raspberry jam instead of Smitten Kitchen's Nutella recipe
4. Jam thumbprint cookies
5. Sugar cookies from American Cookie!
6. Orange cranberry breakfast buns--making these for New Year's this year; did a test batch yesterday (Dec. 30th).

 Links I Liked This Month

 1. 2018 Is An Investment Year for Cookbooks--I agree!

2. I wasn't the only one thinking about books with dragons this month--more dragon series for me to read!

3. Harry Potter and the Secret Gay Love Story- Via the REWM. 
Labels:

Comments

Danny Winters said…
Thank youu for sharing this
May 25, 2022 at 11:56 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Books I Loved But Never Reviewed

 Reviewed is a strong word. I've mostly stopped doing formal book reviews except for author requests and/or when I feel like it, but I usually give some description and or opinions of books I'm reading, usually multiple times, through weekly and monthly wrap-ups. I do find that it' s more difficult to review my absolute favorite books than books I either disliked or engaged with strongly on an intellectual rather than emotional level. For example, I rarely review poetry beyond "I loved it'" or "Meh." It's much easier to explain criticism of vocabulary usage or a plot device than explain how the book felt like a snug little snow globe. So, for this Top Ten Tuesday , I'm listing books that I loved, didn't give a formal review, and (I think) didn't discuss too much.  Books I Loved But Never Reviewed A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman We Are Okay by Nina LaCour The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. J...
13 comments
Read more

Cozy Snowy Books and Books I Want for Hanukkah

 As usual, it's that time again to adjust the Top Ten Tuesday topic because tonight is the third night of Hanukkah. Hanukkah always starts on the 25th of Kislev but that sometimes needs some adjusting on the Gregorian calendar. Happy third night to my fellow celebrants, and happy almost-winter and/or winter holidays to everyone else! Since I also missed last week's topic, I've decided to share some cozy snowy reads--the topic was books set in snowy places but Jana added cozy and I like that as well-- to get into the wintery mood as well as some books I'd like for Hanukkah. Books Set in (Cozy) Snowy Places Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliott--This one is set during Hanukkah in Maine and NYC, so lots of cozy snow and wintry scenes in this evocative Hanukkah romance--and yes, it does involve a lot of food... The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis--Narnia is, of course, not an entirely nice place when the Pevensie children enter it, yet Mr. Tumnus, Mr. and Mrs....
5 comments
Read more

Books That Conjure Up Happy Memories

Happy Top Ten Tuesday!  I'm trying to get back in the swing. This one is asking for a bit more work than usual since I can't just pull up Goodreads, which I've only had as an adult. I do still have some of these on the shelves at least. Books That Conjure Up Happy Memories  The Source by James Michener-- Going to Barnes & Noble with my grandpa who wanted to pick out this book for me since he thought I would enjoy it (he was right) Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares--My friend lending me the first 2 books at camp The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis--Reading these aloud with my dad The books by she who must not be named--Reading these aloud with my brother A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle--Finding this in the children's section of a library I went to as a kid The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler--Reading this as a kid, teaching it as an adult, and sharing with other adults who appreciated it in one of my book clubs Last Day on M...
Post a Comment
Read more