Books I Read in December | monthly wrap-up

Happy new year, friends! I hope the first couple days of 2022 have treated you well. I’ve been doing lots of reading and relaxing and it has been GREAT.

Surprisingly, I managed to read enough in December to finish the year with 51 books 🎉 🎉🎉 If you all remember a certain post, I was stressing about not being able to do that but thankfully everything worked out and I did some hardcore reading to reach my goal.

Anyways, my only goal for 2021 was to read more than I did in 2020, which I accomplished by just a smidge! Shoutout to Libby – the app – for making that possible. I didn’t really read any of the books I mentioned in the earlier post I had made LOL, but nonetheless, it happened.

Surprisingly, I didn’t read any fantasy and have been in mostly a contemporary/romance/literary fiction mood. I hope this is a phase of my mood reading that will pass soon, because a lot of my 2022 reading goals rely on some heavy, hard-core fantasy!

AMERICAN BETIYA by ANURADHA D. RAJURKAR
3.5/5 stars
When I tell you I have never hated a character more than Oliver 🔪🔪🔪 And yes, that is the point of his character, but he was just so incredibly unbearable it made me want to scream or cry or both.

Anyways, I loved the overall theme and discussions this book had about teenage relationships that can be toxic, especially when different cultures and traditions come into play. We follow main character, Rani, who is a first gen Indian-American dating someone whom her family would not approve of and without telling them. I was worried their relationship would be romanticized, but I think the author did a great job of making their flaws obvious. Overall, while it did have important themes, I thought it could’ve been better at discussing the nuances of these relationships and more of the aftermath. Still good, though!

THE COUSINS by KAREN M. MCMANUS
3.5/5 stars


Honestly, I don’t much to say about this. It was a fun time, not an amazing book or anything, but great to read if you’re looking for a low-key YA mystery.

BLACK ENOUGH: STORIES OF BEING YOUNG & BLACK IN AMERICA by IBI ZOBOI
3/5 stars
As always with anthology’s, I found some stories to be amazing, 5-star worthy, and others to be,,,not that. So with my final rating I decided to just go with a straight 3 stars, right in the middle.

I really appreciated the diversity of stories within this collection, as there really was something for everyone! I checked this out from the library and don’t remember the titles of the works that really stood out for me, but Oreo by Brandy Colbert was probably my favorite if I had to choose.

Overall, a great collection of short stories, and I would recommend at least checking it out and skimming through some of the stories to see which ones interest you.

ZARA HOSSAIN IS HERE by SABINA KHAN
3/5 stars
To start off with the positives, I really enjoyed reading about Zara as a character. Her interactions with her friends, girlfriend, and parents all seemed really authentic and wholesome because of how many supportive people she had in her life.

That being said, I felt like the story itself fell kind of flat for me and could have been a lot better if it was longer. That is typically my only critique when I enjoy a book but felt there could have been more discussion, more character development, more growth.

All in all, though, if you’re looking for a quick read with a badass main character, you can’t go wrong with Zara Hossain Is Here!

FURIA by YAMILE SAIED MÉNDEZ
5/5 stars
A NEW FAVORITE BOOK??? yup.

Furia is a hopeful, important book about a girl following her dreams to play soccer (fútbol) professionally, despite it not being deemed acceptable by her family and society.

First of all, the world building was MAGIC. I literally felt like I was right there with Camila, experiencing her games, etc etc. It was a very atmospheric and the author did a great job of not neglecting the setting for the characters.

The character dynamics and overall story were definitely the highlights for me, though, and I really loved how the book progressed and the outcomes at the end. I can’t recommend this one enough!

I had a pretty solid reading month in December, and I was lucky enough to enjoy all my reads! It was a great way to end the year 😊

What did you read in December? What was your favorite?