Kiwiria's December reads

[kiwiria]

A Stash of One's Own - Various, edited by Clara Parkes, 4/5, 192 pages
A charming collection on essays about living with yarn in all its permutations. As always with anthologies, there were some essays I connected with more closely than others (and even some - like the one by Rachael Herron - which made me ugly-cry), but as a knitter (and stasher!) myself, I could relate to all of them in one way or another, and it was interesting to see how differently people stash! I'm definitely more like Stephanie Pearl-McPhee than Amy Herzog. There were a few I skimmed, and some I probably won't reread on subsequent read-throughs, but all in all it was definitely a comfort read and an anthology I would recommend to other knitters.


First Frost - Sarah Addison Allen, 4/5, 305 pages
The sequel to "Garden Spells" and almost as good! I really enjoyed that Bay got to play a bigger part in this one, and that Clare and Sydney were finally learning how to be sisters. It's a nice comfort read, where the characters are a lot more important than the plot, as I enjoyed spending time with all the Waverleys (both real and adopted) again.


The Confectioner's Guild - Claire Luana, 4/5, 327 pages
This took me far longer to read than it had any right to. And for no reason at all! It was a delightful book, full of suspense, magic and romance. So though the first third took me almost 3 months to read, I finished the last two thirds in just a few hours one morning!

At the end of the day, I just loved it! The plot was fun, the characters well developed and (mostly) three dimensional, and it had some twists and turns I hadn't seen coming. I wish we'd gotten to see more of what was actually going on at the Confectioner's Guild when the place isn't buzzing with a murder investigation, as I think that would make for a fascinating and charming read, but it made sense that Claire Luana couldn't include too much of that in this first installment of the series, so I shall just have to hope there'll be room for it in the sequel.


Unf*ck Your Habitat - Rachel Hoffman, 2.5/5, 222 pages
Yet another book on decluttering/cleaning much like "Sink Reflections" and "The Magic Art of Tidying Up"... however, if you've read those two (or others of their ilk) it really didn't bring anything new to the table. I feel kinda bad rating this so low, because it is NOT a bad book! It just didn't teach me anything new, and I ended up skimming large parts of it, as I already knew those things. But if you're approaching this line of books for the first time, it might be a lot easier to stomach than those two, as it doesn't make any assumptions about where you are in your life, your living situation, your finances or anything like that. So with that in mind I'd recommend "Unf*ck Your Habitat" over the others any day, as it's likely to be a lot less eyeroll-inducing than the other two.


Tempus Investigations: Season Two - Claus Holm, 3.5/5, 271 pages
I loved the first season of Tempus Investigations, and finished it very quickly. So why did it take me more than a month to finish this one? Honestly, I don't know.

I think part of it was that the scene was set. I absolutely love world-building when it's done right (ask me why I love Mira Grant's "Feed" so much, when I hate zombies!), and that was part of what I loved about the first season, yet it (for obvious reasons) was almost completely non-existent in the second one.

Secondly, one of my biggest pet peeves with series is when they suddenly decide to add a long-running arc to a season. Double episodes are fine, but anything longer-running than that is hard to pull off without it bugging me, meaning that the entire Anderson arc didn't really work for me - mind you, this is a personal hang-up and has nothing at all to do with the quality of the book! :-P

But apart from that I did enjoy being back with Tempus Investigations. I grew a lot fonder of Mercedes and absolutely adored Huyana, so the episode about her was definitely my favourite, closely followed by the one with the shape-shifting shop-lifter! I was also glad to see Jim a lot more grounded than in the first season.


Snowflakes and Cinnamon Swirls at the Winter Wonderland - Heidi Swain, 4/5, 400 pages
Honestly? I bought this because I couldn't resist the title :-D

A really sweet Christmas story. At times it was perhaps just a tad too twee, but for Christmas stories, that's allowed (even if I might roll my eyes at it at other times of the year). I liked that the story was all Christmas instead of just having a few chapters focus on it, and would have loved to visit the Winter Wonderland they set up.

I did feel like hitting Anna and Molly from time to time... for best friends, they were awfully pushy! I probably would have responded much like Hayley did, but still - as an outside reader, it bugged me. On the other hand, I'm really glad Hayley didn't allow Gabe's assumptions to fester. That could have been REALLY frustrating, but was nipped in the bud, which I appreciated.

All in all, a charming read, and I'll definitely check out more of Heidi Swain's books.... especially as many of them seem to revolve around the same characters :-D


Dragon Kin: The Final Two - Audrey Faye & Shae Geary, 4.5/5, 180 pages
I've been looking eagerly forward to this last book in the Dragon Kin series, and it was every bit as good as I had expected it to be. As always, with book involving time travel, there was the odd plothole here and there, but while I noticed them, I didn't mind, because the book itself was so delightful.

I was thrilled to finally see Kellan get to shine, and while I missed the every day life of the village, I loved seeing how the chosen 7 befriended and charmed the dragons of old.

Lovely completion to the series, and I finished it in just two sittings.


The Book of Life - Deborah Harkness*, 5/5, Audiobook ~23hours
Every bit as good as the first two books in the series, "The Book of Life" tied up all loose ends very nicely and served as a very satisfying ending to the trilogy. I'm actually kind of sad we won't get to hear more about Matthew and Diana, and feel positively book-hungover right now.

This trilogy is the kind of epic storytelling I love the most. It's "Outlander" with witches and vampires; just as rich in details and with just as large a supporting cast ;) It's difficult to say much about the plot without giving away spoilers for the two first books, but I think what I enjoyed the most was seeing Matthew and Diana's relationship with their families (both of blood and of loyalty) and watch Diana grow in powers and confidence as a witch. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when Diana and Janet sat to talk magic after the end of the book ;)


The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis*, 4/5, 215 pages
I loved the book as much as always. There's a lot more frustration and regrets in this one than any of the others, but I absolutely adore Puddleglum :) And the bit on Aslan's mountain at the end it just beautiful.

What struck me as... if not odd, then at least interesting, is that TLTWTW is the only Narnia book where the kids get to stay for any length of time. In all the others, they're sent back to our world almost immediately after having completed their task. It seems a bit too quest like. I could imagine especially the Pensieves would have liked to be back "home" for longer periods of time... even if 1000 years had gone by between the first two times.

...but perhaps that's just my adult sentiments talking.


The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis*, 4/5, 188 pages
I love this book for the fact that it makes me feel so homesick for Heaven. The last two chapters moves me every time I read them - especially Aslan's final words to Lucy: "The term is over, the holidays have begun. The dream is ended. This is the morning." It gives me chills just to write them.

The plot is nothing special - probably the weakest of the 7 actually - and it always takes me awhile to get into it, as I don't consider the story as having "started properly" until the kids arrive in Narnia. I'm glad this book shows the return of the Pevensies (Lucy has always been my favourite character), but am always deeply troubled by "The Problem of Susan" - it is beyond me how she who was THERE at the stone table, could deny Narnia like that. It is a comfort to know that it was only Narnia that ended - not our world, and that she may still have another chance.


Pollyanna - Eleanore H. Porter*, 4.5/5, 207 pages
This book never fails to put me in a good mood. I know that Pollyanna is somewhat over the top and definitely unrealistic, but so what? She's absolutely adorable and utterly charming which makes for wonderful reading and the perfect comfort book :)

This time around I was slightly perturbed to discover that I'm now almost as old as Aunt Polly!!! :-O


Grace Notes - Philip Yancey, 4/5, 433 pages
Philip Yancey is a bit hit-or-miss for me, but I loved this collection of essays taken from several of his books, and turned into 365 daily devotionals. I found a huge percentage of them very relatable, and highlighted passages all over the place :)


All Seated on the Ground - Connie Willis, 128 pages
Fun Christmassy, sci-fi, rom-com novella :-D

If that sounds like an impossible mash-up, you've obviously never met Connie Willis!


Peace on Earth (Isn't What We're Good At) - Audrey Faye*, 4/5, 282 pages
Previously published as 4 separate "Lesbian Assassins" novellas (vol 1, 2 and 4 + one short Christmas story), but it really makes more sense as one longer novel. I really enjoyed revisiting Carly and Jane and getting to know Lelo and Rosie all over again. It's ridiculously readable and I loved how the rewrite turned it into a Christmas story.


The Tragic Life of Lady Tina DeSilva - T.J. Klune, 3/5, 43 pages
The events of Verania seen from Lady Tina's POV. A quick and fun read.

Book of the Month: Dragon Kin: The Final Two
Biggest disappointment: None!