Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby.  I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book.  Here are my reads for December, 2013…

Excellent Women, by Barbara Pym – Mildred Lathbury is one of the “excellent women” of her parish.  A clergyman’s daughter in her early 30s, Mildred is unmarried but not idle.  She finds plenty to do, whether its meddling in the marriage of her new neighbors, Rocky and Helena Napier, or chatting about the minister’s new love interest with the other excellent women of the church.  This book was a relaxing, enjoyable read for this Anglophile.  I read Excellent Women as part of the Classics Challenge, and my full review can be found here.

Naughty in Nice (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries #5), by Rhys Bowen – This was my favorite of Lady Georgie’s adventures so far!  Binky and Fig have decided to leave England to winter on the French Riviera.  Georgie would love to get out of the soupy fog too, but Fig cries poverty.  A timely appeal to the Queen sees Georgie sent to Nice on assignment: to retrieve a snuffbox which the queen suspects a self-made baronet of stealing from her, and to spy on Wallis Simpson again.  Georgie traipses off to the South of France and soon finds herself modeling for Chanel, with disastrous results (of course).  And when the thieving baronet is found murdered in his own backyard, Georgie is the prime suspect.  She might have gotten out of the soupy fog, but she’s landed directly in the soup!  I had SO much fun following Georgie through this adventure… and darned if a nice armchair holiday in Nice wasn’t exactly what I needed to get me through some chilly, snowy days.

Village Christmas, by Miss Read – I wanted to revisit Fairacre this holiday season, because there’s really no place better to get some holiday spirit.  Village Christmas is a slim little book (just over 50 pages) but it’s packed with Christmas spirit.  The book focuses on the elderly Waters sisters, their new neighbors, the Emery family, and a new baby who teaches Fairacre to love their neighbors – just like another baby did 1,950 years earlier.  I love this novella – it’s one of my favorite holiday reads.  I read it last year, and I’m sure I will be reading it year after year.

The Twelve Clues of Christmas (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries #6), by Rhys Bowen – I just had to read this one before Christmas, and it was SO much fun.  Georgie escapes a dreary Christmas with Fig and Family up at Castle Rannoch by finding herself a job as hostess of a house party down in Devon.  But no sooner has Georgie arrived on the scene than a local mischief-maker is found dead, apparently accidentally, in a tree.  As the days roll by, the death toll mounts and only Georgie seems to think there is something suspicious about the parade of supposed accidents.  This was my favorite Georgie escapade so far.

Giada’s Feel Good Food: My Healthy Recipes and Secrets, by Giada de Laurentiis –  I usually don’t include cookbooks on these roundups, but this one deserves to be on the list because I actually sat down and read it cover to cover.  Giada is my favorite Food Network personality and I own all of her books.  This most recent was under the tree for me on Christmas morning and I want to make just about everything in it – especially the orange-scented almond muffins, which I can’t stop dreaming about.  Giada also shares her secrets for living a healthy, balanced life.  I’m trying not to acquire too many cookbooks while we’re living in our little rental, but I’m so glad I have this one in my collection now.

Middlemarch, by George Eliot – Loved.  Loved loved loved loved loved.  I could go on and on about how fabulous Middlemarch was, but I’ll just link you to my #Middlemarch13 posts instead: Vol. I and II; Vol. III and IV; Vol. V and VI; and Vol. VII and VIII and Finale.  Read it as soon as possible.

Heirs and Graces (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries #7), by Rhys Bowen – And with that, I’m all caught up on Georgie’s adventures.  Having absolutely nowhere to go, Georgie appeals to the Queen and gets herself an assignment: train up the recently discovered heir to the Duke of Eynsford, who has been found on the Australian outback, on the rules of high society.  It seems like an easy job until the current Duke is found dead with the heir’s hunting knife in his back.  What’s the thirty-fifth in line to the throne to do with this crowd?  Cute and fun, as usual.

No Holly for Miss Quinn, by Miss Read – Another one that I read for the first time last Christmas and had to pick up again this year.  I love the story of introverted Miss Quinn’s rediscovery of the joys of family and mess and noise at the holidays.

Well, December for me can be summed up in one word: Middlemarch.  Okay, it looks like I did read other things – including three mysteries featuring Lady Georgiana, who I have come to love.  I had plenty of fun reading this month, and I am looking forward to January, which I’ve decided to dedicate to comfort reading.  Stay tuned!