What I Read Over Christmas and New Year (Reading Update)

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, I took an unplanned break from blogging but I don’t think I could’ve fit in the time if I tried. It has been a big month for me, full of good and bad. I was able to visit family for a pre-Christmas celebration, I had a lovely quiet Christmas with my partner and a great NYE celebration with a couple friends. In the middle of all that, our house got burgled and things have been a mixture of a Massive Struggle and A Lot Of Fun and seemingly nothing inbetween. Luckily, my laptop looks super broken and was in another room than the one where most of our things were stolen from, so blogging can recommence now life is settling down a little bit.

I was planning to do a weekly-ish reading update but it has been exactly a month since I’ve posted one, so I’m really emphasising the ish in that title these days. As I mentioned, things have been super busy and I’ve been leading towards longer books so I have only managed 5 books in the past month. Its not terrible, but my reading has definitely slowed down a lot and I’m hoping its something I pick up more now that the end of the year madness is over.

The Diviners by Libba Bray
As you will see from the other books in this update, December was the month where I was Obsessed with this series. I know this is a super popular series, but for those of you who may not know The Diviners is a paranormal series set in 1920’s New York, and it is truly a dream. This series has some of my all time favourite characters in, and it starts off so well. We are introduced to the setting by Evie O’Neill, who is moving to New York from her small town to live with her uncle after a strange power of hers gets her into trouble. From there we encounter a ghostly serial killer, and see the perspectives of more people with strange powers. The Diviners is full of excitement, tension and a whole host of characters to root for. I think after all the nice and fluffy Christmas books I read in November I needed something a lot more dark and spooky, and this was the perfect book to pick up.

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
So other than a couple books this is basically just me reviewing The Diviners series, and I hope you’re okay with that. I really enjoyed Lair of Dreams, but for me it wasn’t quite as strong as the first book. The characters are still great, and I adored that we got to know more about Henry and Ling was introduced, both of whom are perfect additions to The Diviners crew. However, I found the overall threat in this one to be a step down from ‘Naughty John’ in The Diviners. Whereas John was purely terrifying, and a super fleshed-out character in and of himself, it felt like the Big Bad of Lair of Dreams had the potential but it just didn’t feel as scary, or as detailed. Still though, it is becoming one of my favourite series and this is still a solid 4 star book.

Giant Days #54 by John Allison
Giant Days is a comic series about three friends as they go through university together, sometimes its hyper-realistic, sometimes its super surreal. I’m actually getting sad about having to write this, because it feels like accepting this series is over and I DON’T WANT TO. This final comic has cemented Giant Days as my favourite comic series of all time (I THINK). It is so wholesome, and I love these girls’ friendship sosososo much. In this final instalment we see Esther and Daisy graduate and look to move out of the student house they’ve been living in with Susan, who is still finishing medical school. If you’re looking for something funny and endearing with a brilliant heart, this is the series for you. Also it is a SUPER accurate depiction of life at a British university, in case anyone was wondering about that.

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray
It was never going to be too long until I got round to the next book in The Diviners series, unfortunately after finishing the first three so quickly I now have to wait until February for the next book (which in the general scheme of things isn’t too far away, but feels like a lifetime right now). After what felt like a tiny dip in Lair of Dreams, Before The Devil Breaks You brought it waaaay back up again. What I love most about this series is how we are slowly introduced to different issues that were dominant in the time period, and for this book a lot was focusing on treatment of patients with mental illnesses. I can’t get over the amount of research that went into creating this series, and I think Before The Devil Breaks You is where this 1920s New York becomes so much more fully-formed and such a visceral atmosphere. There is definitely an increase in spookiness, which is what I hoped for, and the over-arcing plot throughout the series comes much more to the forefront. Basically, I need the next instalment immediately.

Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times on Television by Louis Theroux
Last, but most definitely not least in this reading update is the first Christmas present I’ve read. This book follows a significant portion of Louis Theroux’s life, including his time at Westminster boarding school. My ultimate fun fact of this book is that he has been friends with Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish since this time. What I really appreciated about this book was how it did not shy away from the hard things, of course I should have expected that of Louis Theroux, but there was a real deep dive into his ‘friendship’ with Jimmy Savile, when I was expecting there to be just a brief discussion. His meeting of Savile, their following strange relationship and the investigation into Savile are at the core of this book towards its second half. Anyone who enjoys Louis Theroux’s documentaries would adore this book, it covers the majority of his most famous programs as well as the start of his career and I’d definitely recommend it.

So this was a very successful reading month in terms of quality, if not quantity. Hopefully the year will continue with this trend of reading excellent books, and I hope your last month of reading was also full of five star reads!