Month in Review: December 2023

Literature

I’ve already been reviewing my entire year’s reading this week (see fiction; nonfiction, but here’s what I read in December, 2023. I ended the year with quite a lot of good reading — aided by being on vacation for the last 10 days.

A dramatic shot of the Faroes — when not raining it must be spectacular.

Along with joining in some challenges and events and I did a bit of searching in the library catalog to come up with something quite random. This resulted in my reading Far Afield, by Susanna Kaysen — better known as the author of Girl, Interrupted and Cambridge. Here she was departing from autobiography to portray a young male anthropology student who spends a year in the Faroe Islands. The protagonist was emotionally clueless, but his growth through encounter with the remote Faroes and its people was fascinating.

My attempt to find something completely different also resulted in reading How To Catch a Mole, which ended up being one of my favorite books of the year. With a unique combination of nature writing, memoir, and poetry, I learned a great deal about two strange creatures, moles and human beings.

What did you discover in December?

Books read in December:

Healing Your Family History by Rebecca Linder Hintze Discernment by Rose Mary Doughterty Life After Life by Raymond Moody Inheritance by Dani Shapiro – Reread The Fair Miss Fortune by D.E. Stevenson – Dean Street December Five Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin – LoveHain Far Afield by Susanna Kaysen Heart: A History by Sandeep JauharThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum – Ozathon Miss Mole by E.H. Young – Dean Street December Sacred Conversation by Marsha Crockett How to Catch a Mole by Mark Hamer Everything Is Fine by Vince Granata The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank BaumLanguage

During my winter vacation, I decided to try to find some more students on italki. Among others, I connected with a student who wants to read classic literature, which is great! We’ll start with some stories by Edgar Allan Poe, and I’m looking forward to that.

In my own language learning, I continue to slowly read Die Wand (The Wall), but I’m not that motivated because it’s a rather depressing story. I’ve gotten about a quarter of the way through, and I should have made good headway while I had time off, but instead I defaulted to reading in English.

Should I keep on with a book I don’t fully enjoy? Or set it aside and try something else?

Hitting a wall in my German reading…
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.comLife

I had a number of writing-related posts in December:

My book: When Fragments Make a Whole Two poems: Announcement and Labyrinth An article at Authors Publish: Is an unpublishable book worth writing?

December felt very busy and hectic as Christmas approached. I didn’t feel ready for the holiday at all — my husband received two balls of wool from me, with which I’ve promised to knit him a present. Hopefully before next Christmas. But I’ve since started to feel more relaxed, and it was nice to spend some time settling into our apartment. We decided to move our bed into a different room, which entailed a good deal rearranging but I think is an improvement.

I hope the end of your year brought you peace and hope as well.

Linked at The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer, the Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction