December Reads

December has been a nice, cozy time for curling up with good books. I've enjoyed a lot of really really great books which is an awesome way to end the year.

The Family Under the Bridge (Natalie Savage Carlson)- This delightful Parisian tale follows hobo Armand as he finds, befriends and becomes 'grandfather' to a little family of 4 (and their 'dog that should be white') that he finds camped under his bridge one winter. This was one of our family books this month and it was a lovely, sweet little book to curl up to. It has illustrations for the younger crowd that still needs/wants pictures in their books and short enough chapters that you can read just a bit at a time. The french words were fun to pronounce and we got a giggle out of that.

When Santa Fell to Earth (Cornelia Funke)- When Nikolas Goodfellow's unreliable reindeer Twinklestar bolts and leaves him stranded in a small town, he must repair his caravan and hit the road before the big bad Goblynch and his Council of Yuleland finds him.Cornelia Funke penned a charming, curious new take on the tradition of Christmas and Santa. I enjoyed this so much. It's great for early readers and kids that still love picture books because it has illustrations throughout. The story is sweet and a perfect little Christmas/Winter family read.

Emma and the Blue Genie (Cornelia Funke)- Another by Ms Funke, this one follows Emma on a magical adventure as she finds and frees a blue genie and sets off with him and her noodle tailed dog to Karim the Genie's homeland to save his magic. Alice and I read this one and it's a GREAT choice for kids that are just starting out with chapter books. We actually listened to the audio book and followed along with the actual book because it has lovely full color illustrations on nearly every page and it was really engaging and fun. I liked hearing Funke read it herself. She has a very pleasing voice and accent.

The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)- With no notice the circus appears. Its doors only open from nightfall to dawn. Within the black and white adornments, 2 ancient illusionists have pitted their best students against each other. I feel like opinions with this book have been very divided. You love it or you hate it. I loved it. It is a slow burn kind of read. I started this about 2 months ago and it took me this long to finish it, mostly because I had a lot on my plate but also because it does start off rather slowly. But, it was enchanting to me. I was enthralled and by the middle of the book I had a hard time putting it down. The action winds down about 30ish pages from the end, though, and it got a little slow and boring for me after that. Overall very enjoyable though. I was excited that this was a NaNoWriMo book. That is really fascinating to me.

The Girl with All the Gifts (M.R. Carey)- I don't feel like I can properly give this book any sort of intro or description. I can't remember how I found this book, but I'm so glad I did. One of my favorite reads of the year. It was beautifully written, poignant, fast paced, heart wrenching and left me with an aching in my chest. I mean, Joss Whedon loved it so what would I expect other than awesomeness.

And that's it for 2015! I've loved this year for reading. I've discovered a lot about what I like and what I'm most interested in, which is mostly children's lit, and this year my kids and I have started reading chapter books together which has honestly been a dream come true. I'm excited for the next year of reading!