Reviewed: Everything I Read in December

 

I'm not sure why, but the month of December did not feel like a slow winter month this year. Not a bad thing, but I really didn't spend much time sitting around reading. Consequently, the only book I physically sat down and read was Little Women. Everything else was listened to on audiobook. I've got some good ones to share this month, though! Read on! 

Reading Riches: Everything I Read This Month

When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi

The first book I read was a memoir, written by neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi. His story is hearbreaking, but it isn't only heartbreaking. While finishing residency, Paul discovers he has incurable cancer and all of his life's dreams--the ones he has put on hold to become a neurosurgeon--become vapor. 

Despite the diagnosis, Paul continues to work and push for his goals. This part was inspiring but difficult for me. My mind was shouting, "Stop! You're pushing yourself too hard! How is your body supposed to fight cancer when you're working 100 hours each week?" I wanted to mother him and make him rest. But to Paul, more rest was not going to create a life worth living.  

Listening to the story's ending, I wept as I wiped down kitchen counters. I wanted to sit down and bawl, but maybe Paul's example encouraged me to stay the course and finish my work? He reminded me that the tasks I do (however mundane to others), are important and worth finishing. The afterward, written by Paul's wife, is simply told but tremendously powerful. This is a story of determination, meaning, transience, passion, and hope. I highly recommend it.

My rating: 5/5

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

Our December book club pick was Little Women, which happens to be the book that I have read the most times in my life. And still, I read it differently every time. This time I read it as a 44 year-old woman who has completed the child-rearing years. Whether I mean to or not, I often find myself looking back, wondering hopefully if I did a good job. 

But what does it even mean to do a good job? I felt Louisa May Alcott asking me that question with each of her characters: Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, Marmie, and Laurie. 

Reading it this time, I was reminded that doing a good job means a lot of things to a lot of people and that is as it should be, because God is doing different things with each of us. I felt compassion and empathy where I hadn't previously and sank in to each word. 

My rating: 5/5 eternally

Our Souls at Night, by Kent Haruf

This would have been my favorite read of the month had it not been for Little Women, which always wins. 

In this quiet story, Addie and Louis, both 70, find solace and strength in one another after deciding they don't want to continue on the lonely widow-and-widower paths they are on. They carry on despite the judgment and resistance they receive from family and friends. 

This book made me think about the unfairness of asking others to be content in the boxes we want them in for our own comfort. It was touching, sweet, and so worth reading. And an exciting bonus is that I just found a movie adaptation starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford! It's free to watch on Netflix, so I'm off to do that as soon as I post this!

My rating: 5/5

Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy

I tried this novel, which I've heard so much about. I was very interested in the premise and enjoyed the first third a lot. While I didn't go into it knowing that it was eco-fiction, it didn't feel as preachy as the genre typically does and listening to the audio version kept me in the story longer than a physical copy would have. Still, I reached a point when that familiar question popped into my head: You only get one life and can only read so many books. Is this what you want to spend it on? 

I put it down after reading 50%. 

My rating: DNF 

Ordinary Time, by Annie B. Jones

This is a non-fiction book about what it's like to be a person who stays, in a world where everyone seems to be moving away to chase dreams in new places. 

Annie B. Jones is an independent bookstore owner in Thomasville, Georgia--a quaint, all-American town. She describes what it's like to live in her community, move around its landscape, and be deeply integrated into that one singular place. All of this I listened to with a grin on my face. It sounds so cozy. But like everything, there are down sides. The people in the community have known her for her entire life, which means they know every mistake she has made and embarrassment she has endured. She also shares her experience in the complicated world of church politics and talks about the difficult road of leaving one when needed while still living in the same community. 

As a person with a naturally nomadic disposition, it was interesting to hear from someone in the other camp! 

My rating: 3/5

Signal Fires, by Dani Shapiro

This multiple POV novel was so good! It felt quirky and maybe not my bag in the beginning, but I'm glad I stuck with it.  A retired doctor meets his 11 year-old neighbor, who is obsessed with the night sky.  Then we discover how they are linked. The former's life reverberates with painful ripples after a tragedy, as the latter is grappling with how his oddities affect the people in his life. This one has content warnings, so I recommend checking them out before reading.

My rating: 4/5

Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik

I finished out the month with a magical fairy-tale. A medieval fantasy, the story is told through three main perspectives: a moneylender's daughter who turns silver to gold; a peasant girl escaping abuse; a noblewoman marrying a tsar. After finishing the story, I learned that it's a retelling of Rumplestiltskein, which makes perfect sense but was not obvious when reading. 

Listening to this tale was enjoyable. Fair warning, though: perspective-shifting in the audio version can sometimes cause confusion. I figured it out but there were a few times when I was confused about who was speaking.

My rating: 4/5

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Marked Passages: Thoughts That Made Me Feel, Think, or See Things Differently

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” 

-Rainer Maria Rilke, “Letters to a Young Poet”

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I’ve been confined to what’s within reach, and it turns out, there’s a lot of beauty and good within reach, if only we can bring ourselves to look for it. 

- Suleika Jaouad

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It is irresponsible to be more precise than you can be accurate. 

-Paul Kalanathi, When Breath Becomes Air 

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It’s easier for me to risk my life for a person than to be pleasant to them when I don’t feel like it. It’s a great misfortune to have such strong likes and dislikes, isn’t it? 

-Jo March, Little Women

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I'm happy to report that while it's only the first week of January, I've already got a couple of great book recommendations to share in next month's post! There are also handful of new releases that I'm so excited about that I set alerts on my calendar for their releases. I have a feeling that 2026 is going to be a fantastic reading year!