December was a funny month between moving house, the flip-flopping over Christmas tiers, having covid while attempting Blogmas it was a fun time and I wasn’t sure how much reading I’d actually get done but between Christmas and New Year while I couldn’t really do much I found some excellent books.

I’ve been chatting to Yousra on Twitter for a while and was lucky enough to be sent a copy of her debut novel, Hijab and Red Lipstick, about a young woman who moves from London to the golf and how it changes her life. This is loosely based on Yousra’s own experiences and I learnt a lot while reading. I also absolutely adored Sara and really felt for her throughout the book.

A short poetry collection, Bloom very much falls into the category of Instagram poetry and the layout is beautiful. Some of these poems really spoke to me while others were a little more difficult to connect with. If you’re looking for a short collection I’d recommend it.

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I finally went back to where it all began for Alice Oseman with Solitaire, I much prefer these covers when I was originally released I didn’t pick it up because it looked like it was to do with gaming – which it’s not. It was lovely to see where Alice started and I adored this book and can see why it was so popular.

I also read Who I Was With Her by Nita Tyndall which has been buzzing around on BookTube for a while so I preordered it. It’s an interesting read covering what it’s like to be in a secret relationship, but also to grieve when you can only do so privately. I found it to be ok but felt there could have been more too it.

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Next up were two poetry/ verse collections. Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh is a novel in verse about a young women as she goes to college and learns about who she is, this was ok but to me it just seemed lacking, particularly in the second half of the book. I picked up Halsey’s first poetry collection I Would Leave Me If I Could because I love her lyrics and music. I think because she is a lyricist these didn’t work as well on paper as poems, not for me but I’m still a huge fan of her music.

Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal was also a gift, it had an interesting concept and a shorter read, if you’re looking for something kick with a feminist edge then this would be a good read for you.

I ordered The Silent Stars Go By by Sally Nicholls in the Waterstones sale after seeing it in the shop (don’t you miss browsing in bookshops?!). I’ll admit I was drawn in by the beautiful cover but the plot, set just after WW1 and the Spanish Influenza, and is about a young woman who found herself pregnant while her soldier boyfriend was presumed dead. After giving the baby to her mother he is revealed to be alive and will be home for Christmas, wanting to know why his sweetheart didn’t return his letters upon learning he’s alive. I adored this book, it’s short but so well written and easy to imagine.

I got a copy of The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige in my December Illumicrate box. I hadn’t heard of it be before but witches, sororities a cool over – I was in. This was excellent, it made me remember why I love books about witches and magic so much. It also worked really well within a modern setting and I’m really looking forward to the second in the duology, which will hopefully be released in 2022.

Did you get much read in December? Let me know in the comments below!