Christmas Reads 2018

This winter break I read several Christmas themed books. The plan for next year is to start earlier.

This was my first Christmas read. It's a middle grade read and I absolutely loved it! The kids each has a strong personality and despite my fear of mixing them up, no such thing happened. The family is one where you wish you lived for a while and spent Christmas with. It's a cozy vibe and it's a darling of a book. 

Come warmer weather, I plan to read the second book in the series which is set in summer.

I learned about this book from Madeleine on Instagram.

5*

Well, if there is one book everyone on Instagram talked about this winter it's this one. It was fine, but I don't understand why we have to praise books that promote divorce and lying and deception just to show that two people "are meant for each other". Please. If those two would have been honest with themselves and with the people involved no one would have suffered *and* they would probably have ended up together much earlier. They behaved unwisely and I was not impressed. Of course I kept on reading, but I judged them all along. I was not swept into the drama and romantic aspect of it. The more I think about it, the more worked up I get. It's a bummer that this is the book that defines romance and Christmas feels, and this in Romania and US, too. Poor choice.

I'll give it its credit: it was funny and mostly realistic, and I liked the spanning over almost a decade aspect.

3*

A student of mine lent me this one (it was a Saint Nick present and she had no problem letting me be the first to read it. #notareader) It's a middle grade novel, the first in a series and I plan to read the next two books as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see there were some quite deep parts of the novel, despite the novel posing as a children's book. The author has a nice way with words. 

Although over the years I read a few Christmas themed books and several which claimed the true origin of Santa Claus, I choose this one as the best. 

4*

Insert books with characters who are typically young adult novel-esque and have unusual names. Dash is full of himself, Lily is a darling, and apparently they can't live one without the other. Given the fact that they claim to be governed by love for each other and yet revolving their love flaming around Christmas time, well, I simply don't see a long lasting relationship. I know, I seem quite judgmental for a YA novel, although it's not like anyone made me read them. It's the thing that you can't stop reading, you know? And once I read the first one, I didn't want to leave the sequel unread. Not to mention it was the necessary mindless read at Christmas time.

I didn't like Lily in the second book, she was unnecessarily dramatic as teenagers and young adults tend to be, especially in novels. She and Dash seemed to have reversed roles in the sequel.

Not much praise for these two, except give kuddos to those surprisingly creative teenagers who seem to know what love is and how to surprise their lover in a romantic and unexpected way, making adults feel like slobs in the romance department. Keep it up, young 'uns!

3*

I had higher expectations from this novel. There were a few instances where I considered abandoning it, but for the few outright funny moments towards the end it was worth not dropping it. I think I didn't enjoy the novel so much because "the matriarch" annoyed me so.so.so.very. much! She reminded me of Emily in Gilmore Girls. Come to think of it, none of the characters made me like them that much.
The author is funny, but I wish this had been more visible in the exchange between the characters.
Mostly I kept reading the novel because I didn't want to leave an unfinished book.

2* 

Not every story was to my liking. Some confirmed my disinterest in si-fi and other-worldly stories. I like those set in reality, contemporary or not, but with a fixed point in history.
Favourites: Midnights; The Lady and the Fox; Angels in the Snow; It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown; What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth?; Welcome to Christmas, CA; Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus; Star of Bethlehem.
The trend of unusual names for some teenagers, a depth beyond their years, and a lot of love for their partner continues in this YA collection.
It made me want to read more from several authors, namely those whose story I mentioned above.
4*