December Reading Wrap Up
The last couple months of 2025 flew by! December was swept away by the holidays and end-of-year projects at work. I am currently on a four day road trip to start 2026, so this wrap up was a little delayed but let’s go ahead and get into it!
My December Hopefuls
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My December Hopefuls *
My hopefuls this month were a mixture of books from my original ‘Ten Before the End’ from my tiktok (as in ten books I wanted to read before the end of 2025) and books to complete my year of knight books—I added in a couple holiday books to attempt to get into the holiday season. Spoiler alert - I didn’t get to all the ‘Ten Before the End’ books that I wanted to. I am, however, proud to say I only DNF’d two books, and didn’t get to one. That’s pretty good for me all things considered from the last couple months.
I didn’t get to We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson in December unfortunately but I will be moving it to January so I’m excited to start it in 2026. I’m hoping it sets a good reading tone for the year since I have heard so many good things about this book!
As for my DNFs, I am sad to report I stopped reading Katabasis by R. F. Kuang at 40 pages in (gasp) — I know, I know, it feels a little scandalous to admit but alas one of the most popular books of 2025 just wasn’t for me. I personally just found it a little too dry to get into. And the other DNF? Good Spirits by B. K. Borison. I loved First Timer Caller by B. K. Borison, and I was very excited to read a holiday paranormal romance, but the male main character just wasn’t for me I am sad to report.
But don’t worry! I didn’t let these DNFs get me down! Let’s get into the good stuff!
Drum Roll Please
Drum Roll Please
My December Reads
I read a total of eight books this month, which feels pretty great considering that I really thought I wasn’t going to get to that many even though I had a full hopefuls list. I knew the month would most likely get away from me.
To kick off the month, and to get into the holiday spirit, I read The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch, and oh boy, it was the perfect way to the start the month. I honestly couldn’t put it down. The Prince of Christmas as a life-altering drunken kiss with a stranger, and then years later finds out that stranger is the Prince of Halloween, who is now his “competition” to win over the Princess of Easter—except they’re not actually interested in winning over the Princess of Easter, but are forced to due to their families and the political gains of their holidays, Christmas, Easter, and Halloween. It was cute, fun, and heartwarming.
Immediately, and unintentionally, moving into the opposite direction, I jumped into the monthly buddy read with my mom which was a thriller called A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham. A woman with a dark past tries starting a new life, but things are never that easy, especially when the past comes back to haunt her, thrusting her back into the deep dark past of her family. This was a thriller that delivered exactly what it promised, and if you’re looking for a chilling audiobook, I would definitely recommend listening to it.
From there, I dipped my toe back into dark romance with Your Blade, My Back by K. M. Moronova, which is the sequel to Your Knife, My Heart. I loved the Your Knife, My Heart, so I was excited to read the sequel, and while it was still good, it fell short of the first book. Following Cam and Emery after their tumultuous relationship in the Under Trials, Cam and Emery are officially partners, only problem is? Emery doesn’t remember anything, and Cam has to struggle to keep his distance from the only person he cares about. I loved these characters so I still very much enjoyed Your Blade, My Back.
Keeping on the brand, I moved onto Spread Me by Sarah Gailey which is an erotic body horror book and let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart. Have you ever wanted to have carnal relations with a virus? Yeah, me neither. But Kinsey does, and despite her desperate needs, she must find a way to survive an unknown virus that taken over her desert lab that has no contact with the outside world. It is gory, erotic, uncomfortable, and incredibly unique. It was written so so well but beware.
Then, I shifted back into my Knight Era where I was setting out to read that last three Lady Knight books of 2025 on my list, The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri, The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs, and The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow. While I loved how lyrical the writing was in The Isle in the Silver Sea, the sapphic romance and scene setting fell a little short from me, leaving me slightly disappointed. I will have a full review written and posted soon. In contrast, the scene setting in The Princess Knight was done so well that I felt full immersed. I also absolutely adored that it was a Legally Blonde retelling set in an Irish Folklore backdrop. While I enjoyed The Princess Knight more in terms of setting and yearning romance, I do still recommend The Isle in the Silver Sea because of the beautiful writing by Tasha Suri.
As for The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow, this was a sort of birth of The Everlasting. It is a 30 page short story that carries just as much romance and hurt as it’s newly novel form. I don’t know how Alix E. Harrow does it, but this 30 page story was just as much of a masterpiece as the 350 page novel. If you have Kindle Unlimited, I highly recommend checking it out!
Last but not least, my mom, my bestie, and I all listened to Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood on the first day of our 20 hour road trip. First, let me say, the narrator did an amazing job with the audiobook — I highly recommend it. Second, there is a reason Ali Hazelwood is one of the queens of romantic comedies. This was so fun. An enemies to lovers trope between a NASA engineer and an NIH Neuroscientist forced to co-lead a government project with a hateful grad school history, seven years later, what could possibly go wrong? or go right?
December got away from me in terms of writing reviews, but I will be collecting my thoughts and adding a few reviews soon!
A January Sneak Peek
A January Sneak Peek
Here is a little sneak peek into a few books I’m hoping to get into in January. I don’t necessarily want to create a hopefuls list for every month in 2026 but these are books I will be prioritizing between fable book clubs and buddy reads. A little ambitious as always, but as always with a new year, I’m feeling reinvigorated, and we shall see where January takes us (me).
Thank you so much for being here, and Happy 2026 friends <3
Until next time.
xx