Happy New Year!! I hope 2020 will be kind to you 🙂
Did you manage to reach your Goodreads goal? And what is your goal for 2020? I read the most books I ever had in a year in 2019, which is a grand total of 451 books! And for 2020, I set my goal to 366, aka a book a day. To follow my reading, feel free to add me on Goodreads!
In December, I read a total of 50 books, which is quite a lot, but a lot of those were novellas.
As always, I’ll share my 4 and 5 star reads in this post.
Shelby Eileen – their body and their afterthought
You can read my review here!
Shelby Eileen – poems i sleep next to
You can read my review here!
Annabeth Albert – Better Not Pout
I listened to this almost in one sitting. It’s exactly what I wanted out of a Christmas read, with just the right amounts of fluff and angst. There was a lot of character development, and I really liked the grumpy/cheerful dynamic.
Incidentally, this was my first time listening to an adult romance on audiobook, and I wasn’t sure it would work for me. But the narrator was excellent, and I had a really good time.
CWs: past death of siblings, alcoholic parent, gun robbery, mentions of a heart attack, sex
Lisa Jenn Bigelow – Hazel’s Theory of Evolution
This book was very different from what I expected, but it was also very good. It’s mainly about one of Hazel’s mums being pregnant again after two miscarriages, and Hazel having a hard time dealing with her anxiety surrounding this pregnancy. At the same time, Hazel is starting at a new school and feels her best friend drift away from her when she becomes friends with Hazel’s former bully. She learns that there’s always room for hope in any situation, and that you can always make room for new friends.
I loved reading about this baby ace so much. This part of the storyline was more of a side plot than the actual focus, but that’s okay, because it was lovely, it inspired a wonderful chat with one of the Hazel’s mums, and we need different types of representation anyway. It was just so wonderful to see this represented in a middlegrade novel!
Rep: questioning aromantic & asexual MC, sapphic mums, one of which is black, trans Latinx side character, disabled Asian side character, Jewish side character
CWs: miscarriage, ambulance, hospital, bullying, mention of suicidal thoughts
Adriana Herrera – Mangos and Mistletoe
I had such high hopes for this, and it didn’t disappoint! I had such a fun time reading this novella. I loved the setting, and I loooved the romance.
I will say the writing style didn’t always work for me though, and this could have done with more thorough editing.
Ashley Elston – 10 Blind Dates
This was so much fun!
Lily Seabrooke – The Christmas Ball
This is one of my favourite f/f adult romance novels I’ve read so far, I liked the romance a lot. I liked the writing style, and felt like everything progressed naturally.
There was a good amount of fluff, but this does come with a trigger warning for pretty intense (religious) homophobia, so please be mindful of that.
Nathan Burgoine – Faux Ho Ho
I enjoyed this so much!! This was one of my most anticipated reads for this Christmas, so I’m glad I was still able to get to it. I read most of it in one sitting as I really couldn’t put it down. It was a very fast read, and I loved the characters. There was also some excellent disability rep in the form of two side characters.
Rep: gay MC, bisexual love interest, disabled side character, f/f couple, several gay side characters
CWs: homophobia
Roan Parrish – The Remaking of Corbin Wale
I would die for Corbin.
What I loved most about this, is the autism rep. I adored seeing a love interest who’s pictured as being genuinely attractive not despite of his autistic traits, but because of them. The MC never infantilized him and felt attracted to every aspect of him, including his neuroatypical behaviour. The MC also always respected boundaries. All of this felt so accepting and respectful, and it was wonderful to read.
Rep: gay Jewish MC, gay autistic MC
CWs: ableism, abusive relationship/physical abuse, bullying, homophobia, sex, past death of relatives, grief
How many books did you end up reading in November? What was your favourite read of the month?
Anniek's Library 
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