The Book Bit: December 2019 Ed.

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season. I, for one, am glad it's over. Christmas is not exactly my favorite holiday, but I always make it special for my kiddos regardless. They seemed to have a good time, though I am eager for school to start back up! In between cookie baking, tree trimming, and visits to our favorite holiday light displays, I managed to read four books this month. Did anyone else manage to make the most of the holiday time off?

"Winter Street" by Elin Hilderbrand

I couldn't resist. I had to read a Christmas themed book for December. And I happen to love Hilderbrand's writing. If you haven't managed to read one of her books, you really are missing out. Though this book was a bit busy at times, I loved it.

Kelley Quinn owns the Winter Street Inn on Nantucket. He bought it for his second wife and has loved the life of an innkeeper which allowed him to raise his four children. Patrick, eldest, is a successful hedge fund manager. Kevin, while unlucky in love in the past, has finally found someone special to share his life with. Ava, a schoolteacher, has finally found the perfect guy. And Bart, the baby, finally found a way to make up for all the mischief of his youth.

But this Christmas is very different from the rest. When Kelley walks in on his wife, Mitzi, kissing another man, he knows the holiday is doomed. With the Inn empty he looks forward to seeing his children and pushing through the holiday. But with Patrick MIA, Kevin dopey in love, Ava realizing her relationship is at a standstill, and Bart shipped off to Germany, the holiday is anything but perfect. Follow this dysfunctional little family as they muscle through the holiday. Fair warning, this is the first in a series and the ending is quite abrupt, but it will just make you want to read the next one that much quicker.


"Read Bottom Up" by Neel Shah and Skye Chatham

This is not your classic "boy meets girl" story and I think that's why I love it so much. A tale on modern dating, if you will. Comprised completely of emails and text messages exchanged between said boy and girl, Elliot and Madeline, and their two closest friends. Because who doesn't rely on their bestie to help decipher the crypticness of text messages? Is the message meant to be sarcastic? Serious? Is there another message imbedded?

This takes modern dating, i.e. the twenty-first century, and puts it under the microscope. In a world of social media and online dating, can "the old-fashioned way" still work? Follow Elliot and Madeline as they traverse their relationship. An easy read that can be enjoyed by anyone.


"Behind Closed Doors" by B.A. Paris

There's always that couple that make it all look so easy. So perfect. They seem so in love and compliment each other to be envied by others. Pieces of a jigsaw puzzle come to mind. But is it real? Or is it the perfect lie?

Grace has finally found her perfect man. Jack's gorgeous, adores her, and loves her special needs sister. When they decide to marry quickly, she's all in. She can't believe how her luck has finally turned. But has it?

With their wedding day off to rough a start, it's only downhill from there. Jack quickly educates Grace on her place in his life and what he will do if she does not fall in line. What was once a dream relationship turns into a nightmare. What will Grace do? Can she get away? Written in a past/present format, you'll be strung along until the bitter end. And the end. Wow.


"Living Dead in Dallas" by Charlaine Harris

This is book two in the Sookie Stackhouse series. To see the review for book one, "Dead Until Dark", you can find that here. As if Sookie didn't get in enough trouble in the first book, she's well on her way in this one. We get introductions to new supernatural creatures (which I love!) to spice up what could potentially be a bland vampire novel. It's becoming hard for me to like these. While a lot of detail goes into the day to day happenings of Sookie (and her wardrobe), other (and in my opinion, more important parts) of the novel feel quite naked. And we go from absolutely nothing happening to everything happening at once.

I'm intrigued enough to give one more novel a read, but it has to be a game changer in order for me to continue with this series.


A nice full month of reading! It was such a treat to take more time for reading when this seems to be the busiest month of the year. I hope you all had a lovely holiday and received loads of books as presents. I'll see you all in 2020!