Weekly Mews: Goodbye December & 2020 (Or should I say good riddance?) (Please Vote in my January TBR List Poll!)

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

As part of my monthly wrap up, I am linking up to Nicole of Feed Your Addiction's Monthly Wrap-Up Post and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Team Tynga's Reviews and Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently. 

New to the Shelves:

My December purchases: 

Subversive (Clandestine Magic #1) by Colleen Cowley

Radical (Clandestine Magic #2) by Colleen Cowley

Revolutionary (Clandestine Magic #3) by Colleen Cowley

Caught Dead Handed (Witch City Mystery #1) by Carol J. Perry

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

While I did not find any books under the Christmas tree, my husband and daughter did.

Anjin's Christmas Books:

Reckless by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips

Cruel Summer by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips

Pulp by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Bosh

Mouse's Christmas Books: 

Time Museum 2 by Matthew Loux

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (a duplicate copy of a book we already own and have read, but it's the thought that counts)

Fairest of All (Whatever After #1) by Sarah Mlynowski

If the Shoe Fits (Whatever After #2) by Sarah Mlynowski

Sink or Swim (Whatever After #3) by Sarah Mlynowski

My Haunted House (Araminta Spook #1) by Angie Page, illustrated by Jimmy Pickering

Nightlights (#1) by Lorena Alvarez Gomez

The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner

What I Am Reading: I ended the year with three graphic novels, two of which were Mouse's Christmas presents (The Okay Witch and Nightlights). The third was Book Love by Debbie Tung, which I think all book lovers would relate to. These books were a great way to end out an otherwise stressful year. 

Conversations with my daughter after I finished reading her graphic novels:

Me after the 1st one: This one is so good! You're going to love it!

Mouse: Okay. [Still unread.]

Me after the 2nd: I'm not sure about this one.

Mouse [immediately reading it]: I loved it, Mom!

Mouse and I are currently reading the 4th book of the Dork Diaries series. I am debating my chances of recommending we take a break after this one to read something else before picking up book 5. It is a fun series, but I think I am developing series fatigue. 

The first book I picked up to read this year was Lisa See's The Island of Sea Women. (Check out my First Read of 2021 post to see what Mouse and Anjin selected too!) As I was going through my TBR shelves I found two more historical novels featuring women from Jeju (White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht and The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn). I may have to pull those from the shelves and read them too!  

My next read will most likely be whichever book wins my January TBR List Poll. I hope you will vote! I can't wait to see which book comes out on top.

What I Am Watching: This past month I watched so many Christmas movies! And some Halloween movies for good measure. We watched Soul and Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas Day. Soul was much more than I expected. I really enjoyed it. Wonder Woman 1984 was fun, if a bit silly at times. My husband thought they did a good job of making it feel just like a movie out of the 1980's. We ended up watching the pilot episode of the original Wonder Woman show starring Linda Carter Christmas night before going to bed. Boy, did it bring back memories! Mouse loved it. 

Last weekend was musical weekend. Mouse was in the mood to re-watch The Greatest Showman and then we all agreed it was time to re-watch Hamilton. My daughter disappeared while my husband and I watched La La Land for the first time.

After reaching the part in the book Wonder where Auggie talks about how much he likes The Sound of Music, Mouse expressed an interest in watching it. She does not remember seeing it before--but then, she'd been less interested then and got distracted by her toys. She loved it this time around. It helped that she knows some of the songs fairly well already. 

I tortured my daughter and husband with the first couple episodes of Doogie Howser, M.D. the other day. And then rewarded them with The Mummy. It may not be the best movie, but there's just something about it that brings us back to it now and then.

And of course, there's been more Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer watching.

Off the Blog: My family and I had a nice Christmas. If you celebrated, I hope you did as well.  My mom joined us virtually for opening presents early in the day and then we had a big family virtual get together with more of my extended family. It was almost like being together in person. But not quite. We had our traditional salad, spaghetti and pie. There was a snow ball fight (fuzzy snow balls; not real ones) reading time (at least for me), and movie watching.

My mom had to say goodbye to her long-time companion, Allie, right before Christmas. She had a lot of health issues, and so it was not sudden, but it was still a blow. She had been with my mom nearly nine years, since just after my dad's death. My mom had adopted her from her local animal shelter at a Senior Adopt an older dog type event. Allie would often come visit us when my mom came to town. She was such a sweet dog, so calm in temperament. We all miss her very much.

It was nice to have a week off from work. I tried not to follow the news too closely, although it was hard at times not to notice the many pleas from local hospital staff for people to follow the public health directives to stay home and avoid gathering as the number of people in the hospitals rose considerably. The situation is dire with the Emergency Rooms and ICUs throughout the county overflowing and too few staff. The National Guard was recently called in to help. I think I heard that 20% of the staff in my office have active cases of COVID right now. 

Our New Year's celebrations have generally been low-key for years now and it was no different this year. We had our traditional hot fudge sundaes and banged our pots and pans at the strike of midnight. We moved some of the furniture around for good measure.  

It is back to school (virtually) for Mouse this next week and work for my husband and me. 

Me: Seriously?! I'm trying to work here, Gracie. You can't just sit on my keyboard.

Gracie: It's nice and warm though. Let me just rest a minute longer.

Gracie: You owe me.

Me: Thank you for at least letting me close the computer.

Here is what I finished reading in December:

• Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life (Dork Diaries #1) by Rachel Renée Russell
• Together, Apart by Erin Craig, et al
• How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse (The Thorne Chronicles #1) by K. Eason
• Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl (Dork Diaries #2) by Rachel Renée Russell
• Royal Holiday (Wedding Date #4) by Jasmine Guillory
• Wonder (#1) by R.J. Palacio
• The Broken Spine (A Beloved Bookroom Mystery #1) by Dorothy St. James
• Tales from a Not-So-Talented Popstar (Dork Diaries #3) by Rachel Renée Russell
• The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner
• Nightlights (#1) by Lorena Alvarez
• Book Love by Debbie Tung

December was a month for finishing up some of the books I had started the month before (and one I had been reading since September). My daughter and I enjoyed reading the first three books in the Dork Diaries series--there were quite a few laugh out loud moments. I adored The Okay Witch, a middle grade fantasy graphic novel. I will be sharing my thoughts on it and Nightlights later in the month.

There really was not anything I did not enjoy reading in December. How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse was a fun read as was The Broken Spine. I had not intended to read Book Love as my last book of the year, but I had pulled it off my shelf for a closer look and the next thing I knew, I was turning the last page. 

I have been enjoying reading your favorites' lists and wrap up posts. In a few days I will be posting mine for the year. I hope you will visit when I do. 

This Past December In Reading Mews:

• Waiting to Read Wednesday: Fairy Godmothers, Inc. & Bellman & Black
• Weekly Mewsings: Wrapping Up November, Lockdown News, and My December TBR List Poll (Please Vote!)
• Weekly Mewsings: Wrapping Up November, Lockdown News, and My December TBR List Poll (Please Vote!)
• Waiting to Read Wednesday: The Wife Upstairs / A Glimmer of Death / Language Arts
• Where Is Your Bookmark? (More Dork Diaries & Five Fun Holiday Reads)
• Weekly Mews: An Uneventful Week in December & My December TBR List Poll Winner
• Waiting to Read Wednesday: The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry / The Broken Spine / Unwept
• Where Is Your Bookmark? (Goodbye Dreadful Week, A Peek Into A Royal Holiday & My Winter TBR List)
• Season's Greetings!
• Bookish Mini Mewsings: How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse / Together, Apart / Anya's Ghost
• Bookish Mini Mewsings: Royal Holiday / Wonder
• 2021 Reading Challenges
• First Sentences of Book Read 2020
• Books Read in 2020

Tell me what you have been up to! What are you reading, listening to and watching? How was your December? Do you have anything planned for this month?

Thank you for helping me decide what book from my TBR collection I should read next:

My TBR List is a meme hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and take a poll as to which you think I should read. I will read the winner that month, and my review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

January's TBR selections are completely random with no particular theme, but when I was looking for options for the poll, these three in particular jumped out at me. Do any of these sound good to you? Which do you think I should read this month? 

Fairy Godmothers, Inc. (#1) by Saranna DeWylde

Armed with her trademark mix of quirky charm, witty comedy, and sexy paranormal romance, Saranna DeWylde takes readers on a rollicking ride through twisted fairy tales and towards the ultimate Happily Ever After in her first Fairy Godmothers, Inc. Series installment. Ever After is a town that runs on magic, and that magic is fueled by love. So when the three fairy godmothers in charge of Ever After's magic supply realize the town's power has started to wane, they conspire to transform Ever After into a premiere wedding destination in hopes of attracting a major infusion of love to the town... 

If love is the source of all the magic in the universe, and the town of Ever After, Missouri, is the epicenter of enchantment, then the locals are in dire need of a reboot. At least according to resident fairy godmothers Petunia, Jonquil, and Bluebonnet. Their solution? Blow a bit of fairy dust in the direction of those in need of romance...what could possibly go wrong? 

SOME KIND OF AWFUL... Lucky Fujiki's first name is a cosmic joke. Her luck is so bad, even the number seven steers clear of her. But when her adorable godmothers ask for a favor, Lucky can't say no--even if she can already feel the bad juju waiting to strike. And her mission is even worse than she imagined: to promote Ever After as a wedding destination by faking a marriage to her first love and long-time ex, Ransom Payne--he of the Embarrassing Incident that neither of them will ever live down... 

OR ALL KINDS OF WONDERFUL? Ransom Payne has spent years building an impressive new reputation for himself, and now his godmothers want him to pretend to wed the one girl he'd like most to forget? Sure, weddings in Ever After could be a huge boon for his chocolate business, but risking more up-close-and-personal time with Lucky? Considering the stakes, it's a curse he'll have to bear, at the risk of being humiliated--or perhaps, bewitched...[Goodreads Summary]

Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg

The letter was short. A name, a time, a place. Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder plunges readers into the heart of London, to the secret tunnels that exist far beneath the city streets. There, a mysterious group of detectives recruited for Miss Brickett’s Investigations & Inquiries use their cunning and gadgets to solve crimes that have stumped Scotland Yard.  

Late one night in April 1958, a filing assistant for Miss Brickett’s named Michelle White receives a letter warning her that a heinous act is about to occur. She goes to investigate but finds the room empty. At the stroke of midnight, she is murdered by a killer she can’t see—her death the only sign she wasn’t alone. It becomes chillingly clear that the person responsible must also work for Miss Brickett’s, making everyone a suspect. 

Almost unwillingly, Marion Lane, a first-year Inquirer-in-training, finds herself being drawn ever deeper into the investigation. When her friend and mentor is framed for the crime, to clear his name she must sort through the hidden alliances at Miss Brickett’s and secrets dating back to WWII. Masterful, clever and deliciously suspenseful, Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder is a fresh take on the Agatha Christie—style locked-room mystery with an exciting new heroine detective at the helm. [Goodreads Summary]

Lana's War by Anita Abriel 

Paris 1943: Lana Antanova is on her way to see her husband with the thrilling news that she is pregnant. But when she arrives at the convent where he teaches music, she’s horrified to see Gestapo officers execute him for hiding a Jewish girl in the piano.

A few months later, grieving both her husband and her lost pregnancy, Lana is shocked when she’s approached to join the resistance on the French Riviera. As the daughter of a Russian countess, Lana has the perfect background to infiltrate the émigré community of Russian aristocrats who socialize with German officers, including the man who killed her husband.
 ewish girl or wonder about the secrets held by the man whose house she shares. And as the Nazis’ deadly efforts intensify, her intention to protect those around her may put them all at risk instead.

With Anita Abriel’s “heartfelt and memorable” (Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author) storytelling, Lana’s War is a sweeping and suspenseful tale of survival and second chances during some of the darkest days of history.

Thank you for voting! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Wishing you all a peaceful and healthy New Year!  Happy Reading!

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