December Book List

December was dominated by some stellar fiction.  I drank tons of coffee, inhaled sugar, and sat around enjoying the following:


Fiction

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Gyasi takes on a daunting task and succeeds, writing one of the best books I read all year.  "Homegoing" chronicles two girls from Ghana, starting during the slave trade and going all the way up to modern times.  She tells the stories of their descendants, the ones who stayed in Ghana and the ones who came to the states during the years of slavery.

I can't gush about this book enough, and neither can critics who have put it on all the best-of-everything lists all year.  I recommend reading this one slowly if you can because the emotional impact is strong.  I often had to read about a generation and then put it away for the night, and I am still thinking about this one a month later.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

This story is going to mess with your brain in the best possible way.  After Jason is knocked out, he wakes up in a world he doesn't know.  Who took him there, and where is he? 

Crouch did an excellent job of writing a sci-fi book without letting the science overwhelm the human element.  This is my favorite kind of sci-fi because the story is relatable for anyone.  Readers will feel like the breath has been knocked out of them over and over as the story unfolds and Jason tries to make his way back to his wife and son.

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

This wasn't a great choice for me, and I should have known that early on.  A man collects lost items he finds after his fiancé dies. He has an entire room of junk that serves no purpose.  My minimalist alarm went off immediately, but I decided to keep reading despite the twitching.

I never felt fully invested in Laura's story.  I just didn't feel like I knew her, no matter what Hogan did to try to help me.  Bomber and Eunice are the reason I stuck around, and as wonderful as their story was, I'm not sure it was enough for me to recommend the book.  Other people find this to be a cute read, but the dogs, the ghosts, and the clutter did not do it for me, and I like dogs.

The Nix by Nathan Hill

Sometimes you pick up a book that makes you decide you never want to write another word because you will never produce anything as good as what the author you're reading did.  Writers beware: this is one of those.  I read "The Nix" excited for the story and full of self-loathing for any attempt I've ever made at fiction.  I devoured the first 400 pages in a day, so the self-loathing didn't slow me down.

Hill tells the story of Samuel, a professor/wanna-be author who is now in his 30s and still dealing with being abandoned by his mother.  When she is suddenly all over the news for attacking a right- wing politician, he has the chance to try to piece together her story.

This book explores so many themes, but the fact that we don't truly know anyone's story fully, especially those of our parents, is a big one.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

I was late grabbing this one since it's been popular forever, but I picked it up in time to finish it Christmas Eve night. I started the Christmas season sitting in a recliner crying so hard I couldn't breathe.  My timing was a bit off.

This story of two sisters living in German-occupied France during World War II is beautiful, heartbreaking, and impossible to put down.  Vianne and Isabelle are siblings with a difficult past, and they approach life in completely different ways.  When the war comes, Isabelle's fierce personality draws her into the Resistance. Vianne tries to keep her child alive while her husband is away at war.

Hannah's writing is beautiful, the story is heart-wrenching, and "The Nightingale" also explores the theme of trying to piece together our parents' stories.