December Books 2023
December Books 2023: 6 Books I Read this Month
By: Brittany Shields
I only managed six books this month with all the holiday festivities and end-of-the-year projects!
I had to crack down to make more progress on my Shelf Reflection’s 2023 Reading Challenge so this month I completed five prompts!
My favorite read of the month was Held.
As we are ending this year and heading into the next year there are a lot of things to check out:
Most Anticipated Books of 2024 (coming soon!)
My 2023 Year in Review (coming soon!)
Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge
Shelf Reflection’s Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge
If you don’t already, make sure you follow my Facebook page to stay up-to-date with all my latest reads, reviews, recommendations, and any giveaways I do in 2024!
You can also find me on Storygraph, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
I hope your year had some good memories to carry you into 2024 and I look forward to sharing more books with you in the months to come!
1. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
Genre: Historical Fiction
[Fulfilled ‘Book with ‘lost’ in the title’ for Shelf Reflection’s 2023 Reading Challenge]
“Some words are more important than others. But it took me a long time to understand why.”
This book chronicles (in historical fiction fashion) how the first Oxford English Dictionary came to be. To liven the story up and explore the role, or lack of thereof, of women in this process, the dictionary’s story is wrapped around our main character— Esme— whose father is part of the decades long process.
Williams incorporates the threads of both women’s suffrage (throughout) and WWI (just the last bit of the book) which historically were happening at the same time as the dictionary project.
I’m disappointed I didn’t love this one. The cover made it look whimsical and I’ve always loved words.
This book has a more serious tone than I was expecting and some of the writing style was frustrating when it came to understanding our main character.
For more of my thoughts on the story, the character of Esme, the power of words, and the ‘why’ behind the book, check out my full review!
2. The September Society (Charles Lenox #2) by Charles Finch
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
[Fulfilled ‘A book that takes place in a place you’ve been’ for Shelf Reflection’s 2023 Reading Challenge]
“‘There’s a dead cat in my son’s room at college… that’s the root of all the problems.’”
Unplanned but fortuitous, this book finds us back in the Oxford setting during the 1800s just like The Dictionary of Lost Words.
Detective Charles Lenox is on a missing persons turned murder case on the Oxford College grounds. Clues keep turning up pointing to a mysterious ‘September Society’ and Lenox has to connect the dots before it’s too late.
I have read the first book in this series, A Beautiful Blue Death, and the 11th- An Extravagant Death. While I’m not sure if I liked this book better than either of those, it was still a decent read.
Read my full review to see some things I learned and for my ultimate recommendation.
3. Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger
Genre: Suspense/Thriller/Novella
[Fulfilled ‘A Christmas book’ for Shelf Reflection’s 2023 Reading Challenge]
“Everybody knows everything about you in this stupid town. And they know nothing.”
I didn’t realize this was a novella when I first started this book. I don’t usually have much luck with novellas because there never seems to be enough space to do what the author needs to do.
I didn’t feel like that with this book.
The whole ‘thrills and chills’ thing worked pretty well! There was enough mystery and suspense to the plot that kept you reading and the setting gave it the Christmas vibes that made it a great, short read around the holidays.
It’s the story of a podcaster looking into a murder among friends from years ago. The killer was sent to prison, but now there is suspicions that he didn’t work alone.
Read my full review to see the thing that bothered me, the thing I thought was funny, and what my ultimate recommendation is.
4. Held: 31 Biblical Reflections on God’s Comfort and Care in the Sorrow of Miscarriage by Abbey Wedgeworth
Genre: Non-Fiction, Christian Living
[Fulfilled ‘A nonfiction book about grief’ for Shelf Reflection’s 2023 Reading Challenge]
“Suffering tempts us to believe that God is absent, cruel, manipulative, or unconcerned, but the Bible offers us the truth.”
I very much wish I had had this book when I experienced my miscarriage. This will be my top book recommendation for anyone grieving miscarriage or infant loss.
Structured around the verses of Psalm 139, Abbey talks about every struggle I remember wrestling with— the complex and conflicting thoughts about myself and God. It is written with such validation and compassion and gently helps us see God for who he is.
I know most women going through miscarriage or infant loss probably aren’t looking for a book to read. It may feel too daunting. But this book is meant to be read just a couple pages at a time. It’s very manageable, comforting, and will speak to the very grief we struggle with.
Every chapter was a balm. Even for me, being almost a decade past my miscarriage, it was still healing to read this, to reflect on how I felt years ago and see where I am at now. To see God’s faithfulness. And to heal some parts that I didn’t know still needed healing.
I can’t recommend this book enough. To read more insights and quotes from the book and see a list of other relevant reading, check out my full review!
5. Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1) by Louise Penny
Genre: Mystery
[Fulfilled ‘The first book in a series you’ve never read’ for Shelf Reflection’s 2023 Reading Challenge]
“Life is change. If you aren’t growing and evolving you’re standing still, and the rest of the world is surging ahead. Most of these people are very immature. They lead ‘still’ lives, waiting… for what?… waiting for someone to save them.”
This has been on my to-read list for a long time. And then it got made into a TV series so I knew I needed to push this up on the list!
I’ve heard many people recommend this series and I’m not sure my first impression lived up to the hype. But after reading some other reviews it appears a lot of people recommend skipping the first few books in the series. So I’m going to stick with it and give it another try.
Still Life is the mystery of an older artist found shot by an arrow in the woods. In a small town (Canada) where everyone knows everyone, someone is lying. Inspector Gamache is called in to investigate.
Check out my full review to see the parts I liked and what I struggled with!
6. Gifts of Grace: 25 Advent Devotions by Jared C. Wilson
Genre: Theology/Christian Living
“Christmas is not about warm fuzzies; it is about the one who finally delivers on the promise of everything we acknowledge as good and true.”
Jared Wilson is one of the most encouraging authors. He is honest and transparent in his struggles yet always points us back to the gospel message that God is great in our weakness and our dependence and need for him is what qualifies us to come.
As you can see from the cover, each of this book’s 25 reflections is an opening of a gift just like an advent calendar.
“Every day, we will open up a little door to rediscover one of the myriad gifts Christians receive through the coming of Christ and belief in his gospel… one amazing grace after another.”
These gifts range from faith, love, and hope to justification, expiation, sanctification, vindication, and more. I thought this was a really great and effective way to structure his book. It kept every day easy to understand but also deep in theology.
I also loved that each reflection was titled with a line from a Christmas carol.
This book is not just for Christmas but would be a great read at any time in the year because we are yet awaiting the (second) coming of Christ.
Check out my full review for some quotes from the book!
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