Dec 2025 TBR
It is time to decide what I'm going to read for the last month of the year. No pressure. I need to finish 10 more books to meet my goal to read 80 books. I feel like that's doable. I would need to read 13 more books from my shelves to meet my goal to read 40 books off those shelves. I don't think that will happen. There aren't enough short books there to make that happen, not to mention the fact that I have other things I need to read. I only have one book left from my 10 oldest books list. Also doable. Let's see what we get, shall we?
Kind of Kin by Rilla Askew - This is the book club book for December and it will be a reread for me. It's about a small town in Oklahoma whose citizens are surprised by the effect a crackdown on illegal immigration has on them.
The 33 by Hector Tobar - The original title of this book is Deep Down Dark. It was changed when they made it into a movie. It is about the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped for 69 days when a mine caved in. Spoiler alert: they all lived.
The Dangerous Love of a Rogue by Jane Lark - This will be my next audiobook. I am going to continue in the Regency romance era I am currently in. More audiobooks come out tomorrow, so hopefully there will be one there I can listen to after this.
I have finished the task of reading from a different set of shelves every month, but I didn't finish any books from the historical fiction shelf. I started two and put them both down with no intention of finishing them. I would like to find something from that shelf so I can at least write something down for that shelf. Here are a few options.
Amy Snow by Tracy Rees - So the tag line says Unlock the secret this Christmas, but the summary doesn't say anything about Christmas. It might be a good book to read during December and it is the oldest book on my historical fiction shelf. It's a good contender.
The Women In the Castle by Jessica Shattuck - I've bee avoiding this one because it is WWII-adjacent. It is set after the war in a Bavarian castle. I think I will like it when I eventually buckle down and read it.
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory - I do not hold high hopes of liking this book. I was not impressed with The Other Boleyn Girl, and I imagine her writing didn't really change much. The only reason I would pick this up is to give it a fair shake and then remove it from my shelves. This is not a good choice for trying to read 10 books because I am not counting the books I don't finish. Maybe not this one.
A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler - This book has a lot going for it. Firstly, it's about the Vanderbilt's and I have a thing for Gilded Age New York society stories. Secondly, I really liked Z by this author, which was about Zelda Fitzgerald. Oh wait. I haven't read that one. I read a different one. Welp, it still has that first thing. Plus it has a good cover.
The Girls In the Picture by Melanie Benjamin - I love Melanie Benjamin. This is about Frances Marion and Mary Pickford. It might just be time to jump back into Melanie Benjamin's writing.
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali - This starts out in 1953 Tehran. A young couple find love in a stationery shop, but are torn apart when violence erupts in town and they have to flee. One thing this has in its favor is that it only has 312 pages.
As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner - Pros: It is about the 1918 flu epidemic, which is one of my many morbid fascinations. Cons: I'm not sure Susan Meissner is going to be a writer for me. I hope it's not too dramatic and over-the-top. That's what I dislike about Philippa Gregory. She's just writing for gasps.
The Paris Hours by Alex George - I have questions. Like, is Alex George related to Nina George? They both have a penchant for novels set in France. This has a gorgeous cover. It is set in Paris (obvi) over the course of one day in 1927. The main characters are regular folk, but famous people are on the periphery. It has promise.
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton - This is one of those books that is told in two timelines. 1958, when Elisa, a Havana socialite, gets involved with a revolutionary; and 2017 when her grand-daughter goes to Havana to scatter Elisa's ashes.
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes - This is about the Kentucky horseback librarians 0f the 1930s, but it is also by Jojo Moyes. I read Me Before You and it was a little much. Perhaps she improved between the two. Also, Moyes is British. I have reservations about her writing about this, which I realize is prejudiced and ridiculous.
I don't appear to have any library books coming in in December, so this will have to do. Honestly, I only need to read one historical fiction book to write something down on the list. After that I can read whatever I want! What freedom! I may faint dead away.