DECEMBER 2017 | Wrap-Up

~ Holly

December is… done?! Where did this month (and YEAR) go?!?! Decembers always tend to be whirlwinds of celebrations, seeing friends and family, and frantically trying to wrap everything up before the new year comes around once again. In case you’re curious, here’s what I was up to in December:

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In December I read a total of 17 books (HOW?! I honestly have no idea):

  1. The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
  2. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
  3. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
  4. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
  5. The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
  6. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
  7. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
  8. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
  9. The Hamlet by William Faulkner
  10. Woman and Labor by Olive Schreiner
  11. Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros
  12. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
  13. Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison
  14. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
  15. Memorial by Alice Oswald
  16. Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card
  17. Ann Veronica by H.G. Wells

I read a lot of fantastic books in December, which makes choosing a favorite quite difficult (as per usual). However, the book I’ve been thinking the most about this past month is definitely Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (which you can read my review of here). This novel exceeded all of my expectations and proved that not everything falls prey to the hype monster one hundred percent of the time!

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For some reason it simultaneously feels like so much and nothing at all happened in December. In actuality, I guess a lot did occur: I flew back home from Oxford, transitioned back to living in the States, visited Wheaton, spent time with my family and friends, saw Watsky (!!!), celebrated Christmas, and read, read, read. It’s been strange being back home after living in Oxford for a few months, but I’ve really enjoyed simply spending time at home. I have plenty of prep reading to get through before term starts again, but I’ve also made sure to carve out some time to read for fun. I missed reading for pleasure so much!!

This month I also finished the third season of Fargo (SO ANGRY) and watched the new Star Wars movie, which I really enjoyed. (PORGS, people!)

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Here are some notable posts from my blog this past month:

Here are some posts that I loved reading this month (there are so many!!):

How was your month of December? What was the best book you read? Did you do anything really fun or exciting? Let me know in the comments section below!

Yours,

HOLLY

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34 thoughts on “DECEMBER 2017 | Wrap-Up”

  3. That’s such a great amount and list that you read in December! I’ve just started Turtles All The Way Down late last night and am already enjoying it! How was Watsky!? I had the opportunity to see him quite a few years back but unfortunately never went. In December, I say my favourite band for the second time LANY, I read six books which around this busy period was a miracle and I spent lots of time with my family! Happy New Year! ☺️

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  5. Wow December sounds like a busy month for you holly! Is this your first time reading The Series of Unfortunate Events? Ahh Turtles All The Way Down! I haven’t read anything by Green before but I quite enjoyed this and rated it 4/5. Hope you have a wonderful 2018!

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    1. Yes, for some reason I never read A Series of Unfortunate Events when I was younger, but I’m really enjoying it now. The audio books are especially great 🙂 Happy New Year!

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    1. woo hoo!! *high fives back*

      And YES. It was so weird coming back! I’m already not looking forward to coming back in June once my study abroad year is over… it’s going to be such a rough transition!

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  8. You read so much – wow! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed Turtles All the Way down. I bought it for my dad this Christmas; as soon as he’s done reading it, I’m going to start it!

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    1. Thanks! I’m already not looking forward to coming back from Oxford in June when my entire study abroad year is up… six months away makes for a lot of reverse culture shock!

      Happy New Year 🙂

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  11. I had a busy but good December. I went to Kuala Lumpur and dyed my hair blue both of which were quite exciting. I think the best book I read was probably Hit Makers or Into The Woods. If you’ve read Frankenstein and A Vindication in the rights of Women, you might like Romantic Outlaws, a really clever, wonderful dual biography of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley

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    1. OMG dyeing your hair blue sounds like so much fun!! I’ve always wanted to do something fun like that with my hair but I’m too afraid that it’ll turn out looking really weird. Maybe someday!

      Also, that dual biography sounds FANTASTIC. I’m definitely going to add that to my TBR. Thanks for the recommendation! 🙂

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  12. Welcome back to the states! And congrats on getting so much reading done in December!
    We did plenty of celebrating with family, which was great, but kind of hampered my reading, writing, and blogging. Still, I’m not complaining! Time with family is a premium, so it’s worth it.
    Hope your January is just as good!

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  13. Happy New Year! Mvoing countries can be hard (I know because I’ve done it lots of times, most recently in December, haha) but also worthwhile! I’m amazed you managed to read so much on top of coursework, plus travelling and everything else. I was so busy hanging out with my extended family that I didn’t read that much, but I had a really great month nevertheless.

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