December is always a busy month and this year was no exception. Although we keep our festive celebrations family oriented and fairly low key, there are still decorations to put in place, presents to purchase and food to arrange. While not hugely stressful, there are still expectations to be met and I struggle somewhat with bearing responsibility for making the season a success.
For those of you who follow such things, husband eventually managed to decorate daughter’s old bedroom sufficiently that she could sleep in it for the few days she stayed with us to join in with the festivities. Elder son also stayed, utilising our newly cleared and tidied guest bedroom. Thus we were all together here, which was lovely. Younger son has moved into elder son’s old bedroom to enable his own to be painted. We shall see how long that takes.
The month started with a trip away. Husband found a good offer for an overnight stay in a budget hotel near the coast that would enable us to run the Marine Parade parkrun and get back to the accommodation in time for breakfast. Sadly, a storm blew in that resulted in a high number of parkruns throughout the UK being cancelled, including Marine Parade, and we ended up abandoning plans and driving home as our local parkrun was still going ahead. I wrote about this adventure through the lens of my teddy bear, Edward, in his explore of Weston-super-Mare.
Unlike many, then, we managed to take part in a parkrun every Saturday throughout the year, 54 in total. These included a bonus event this month, for which I wrote a report: Quakers Walk on Christmas Day. I also took part in two additional running events, posting a report for the first of these, the Calne Santa Scamper. My thoughts on the second, a 10 mile race run with my two elder children, will be posted in early January.
With the year end approaching both Robyn and I looked back on our reading years. Robyn posted about her Reads of 2024 and I shared my Books of 2024 alongside a short roundup for the year. Robyn has now moved onto a new work rotation that will offer extra responsibility so cannot commit to writing book reviews regularly (she barely has time to read). I am happy to accept anything she can manage on an ad hoc basis but with no expectations.
We each posted reviews for 3 books in December. These did not include any standout reads.
As is customary in my monthly roundups, click on the title below to read the review and on the cover to learn more about the book. This latter feature is not always available thanks to changes at WordPress for which I have yet to find a workaround.
Fiction
The University of Bliss by Julian Stannard, published by Sagging Meniscus
Unbound by Christopher Osborn, published by Arcadia
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, published by Penguin
Robyn Reviews
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake, published by Tor UK
The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. Maclean, published by Gollancz
Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood, published by Sphere
Sourcing the books
I received just the two books in December. Remarkably, they both have the same title.
As ever I wish to thank all who send me their books to review – the arrival of book post remains a cheering event in my day.
My thanks also to those who share my words across their social media platforms – whichever ones you are now using – your support is always appreciated. I am no longer on Twitter but you may find me on Instagram and Threads.
As I say often, and to everyone reading this, I wish you and yours good health and fine days. May the new year be kind to you, and may you find many good books to read.
