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, 2018…

Alif the Unseen, by G. Willow Wilson – I love Wilson’s work on Ms. Marvel, but hadn’t picked up Alif the Unseen because I didn’t think I could adore any of her characters as much as I adore Kamala Khan.  But this story – of a young hacker in a fictional Middle Eastern city, his pious next door neighbor, and their encounters with thugs and djinn, was so much fun.  I was completely entranced by the world, laughed with and cried for the characters, and was thoroughly delighted with every page and sad to see it end.

The Lost City of Z, by David Grann – This nonfiction story of exploration and obsession in the Amazon has been on my to-read list since I first heard Liberty pitch it on the All the Books! podcast, so I was delighted when my book club chose it for the December read (pushed to January, since no one could make the December meeting, and we’ll finally get to talk about it TONIGHT!).  The author skillfully interweaves the histories of the Amazon and of the intrepid British explorers who mapped the world with his own quest to find out what happened to the most daring of them all, and whether there was any truth to the rumors of a vast civilization hidden deep in the Amazonian jungle.  It was a fascinating book – I’d have liked a bit more discussion on colonialism and its effects, but all in all, a great read.

The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende – Another one off the deep TBR, and my first Allende.  Magical realism is not my genre (to paraphrase my friend Susan, it doesn’t follow the rules, everything seems normal except that someone lives to be 500 years old for no reason) but I’ve wanted to read some Allende, and I thought I’d begin with her best-known classic.  I did enjoy the book, although it took me awhile to get into it and then it took me awhile to get through it.  As I told a couple of friends, it was what I’d have liked One Hundred Years of Solitude to be.

Maus I: My Father Bleeds History, by Art Spiegelman – Ever since I started reading comics and graphic novels a few years ago, I’ve heard about Maus – how powerful and wrenching it is, and how it’s a classic of the form.  I finally decided that December was the time to read the first volume (of two) and picked it up from the library.  I can definitely see why it’s a classic.  It was an incredibly compelling – and very upsetting – book.  I think I’m going to need a long break before I can pick up the second volume, but it’s a classic for very good reason.

Becoming, by Michelle Obama – After Maus, I needed something powerfully uplifting and joyful, and clearly that meant I needed Michelle.  I preordered Becoming months ago, knowing that the wait for a library hold would be painfully long and that it was going to be something I’d want on my permanent shelf anyway.  And WOW, was it incredible.  Michelle’s voice is so fresh and real, and I was immediately swept up in her life.  I read the scene in which she and Barack got ice cream, early in their dating life, on a cold night’s commute on the DC metro – and I remember looking up from the book and being surprised to find myself (1) at my metro stop, and (2) in suburban DC, in the dark, on a cold night in December.  I really thought I was in Chicago, walking down the sidewalk on a sweltering summer’s day with Miche and Barack, trying not to let my ice cream drip on the pavement.

In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women, by Alice Walker – A quick, but powerful and beautifully written, collection of short stories about the experience of being a black woman in twentieth century America.  I haven’t read any other Alice Walker books, although I’ve been meaning to.  Her stories were so evocative and compelling – I can’t wait to seek out more.

Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power!, by Mariko Tamaki – I needed something light and fun to get me through the last busy days before going out of town for Christmas, and the first Lumberjanes novel – which I had sitting on my shelf – fit the bill perfectly.  I knew the characters already, from reading the comic, and so it was easy to plunge right back into their magical summer camp adventures.  In this first novel installment, April discovers a mountain that is sometimes there and sometimes not, and she convinces Jo, Mal, Molly and Ripley to climb it with her in pursuit of their Extraordinary Explorer pins.  Of course, when they get to the summit, things aren’t quite as they seemed.  Also, there are unicorns!

Amelia Elkins Elkins, by A.M. Blair – Full disclosure: the author is a cherished friend of mine, and I’m already disposed to like anything she writes.  But Amelia Elkins Elkins would be a delight even if I didn’t know and like her creator.  This is a retelling of Persuasion from a modern vantage point, centered around a wrongful death lawsuit after the main character’s mother takes her own life following a medical implant gone wrong.  Blair’s take on Anne Elliot feels very true to life, and her twist on the familiar story is fascinating.  Highly recommended.

Christmas Pudding, by Nancy Mitford – I’d been saving Christmas Pudding for holiday reading, and it was exactly what I was looking for.  Christmas in the true Mitford style is witty, a little dramatic, with lots of Merrie England-ing and a good deal of booze.  And it was GREAT.  I don’t think anyone would argue that Christmas Pudding is up to the standard of Nancy’s classic The Pursuit of Love, but it was a rollicking good read.  The Christmas Day chapter was one of my favorite reads of 2018, and I laughed at it until I cried.

Christmas Poems, ed. John Hollander – I just love everything about the Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets collection – the size, the design, the curation, everything – and Christmas Poems was a delight to dip in and out of all season long.  I particularly loved the poems on Advent and the Nativity – Dorothy Parker’s take on a maidservant at the Inn where Mary and Joseph were turned away was especially poignant – and the carols, of course.

A Country Doctor’s Commonplace Book, by Philip Rhys Evans – As I mentioned in my Christmas book haul post, this was one of the books I found under the tree.  It’s a slim little book and I read it in a day, but I LOVED EVERY SECOND.  Steve could tell, too, because I kept interrupting whatever he was doing to read snippets of it to him, and we were both howling at some of the selections.  (The parish newsletter notices – oh. my. goodness.)  This is going to become a favorite, and I know I’ll be going back to it whenever I need a little lift after a long, tough day.

And so ends another year of reading!  2018 was a good one, and December was a particularly good month.  There was holiday hilarity, thanks to Nancy Mitford and Philip Rhys Evans, there was excellent fantasy in Alif the Unseen, and the Lumberjanes book was a joy.  I finally made time to read my dear friend A.M.B.’s book and it was just as wonderful as I knew it would be, and I was riveted by Becoming.  There wasn’t a single dud this month, and I just had a lovely, joyful end to the reading year.  And now – on to 2019!