December Bookish Wrap Up
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Hello friends and Happy 2022!
It’s time to wrap up the final books I read in 2021. December was the month in which I continued a couple of series, finished the last book in a series and read an entire series. So without further ado lets get into the books…
Cytonic by Brandon Sandersons {Skyward Series #3}
This latest book in Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward Series starts off where the second book, Starlight, ends. As it’s the third book in the series I won’t go into detail because I don’t want to spoil anything.
I will just say that this series just seems to get better with each book published. It’s action pretty much from start to finish and Spensa just handles it’s in only a way Spensa can. She’s such a great main character and the side characters introduced in Cytonic are all interesting and wonderful in their own way.
If you’re wanting to get into Sci-Fi or want to read your first Brandon Sanderson, then I’d highly recommend this series as it’s an easy read, full of action and includes a mushroom obsessed AI ~ need I say more?
Aurora’s End by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman {The Aurora Cycle #3}
This is the final book in the Aurora Cycle series and again I won’t go into detail about the plot because it would spoil the series.
As with the previous books, it was a fun and quick read, with plenty of action and a number of twist and turns. I didn’t find the dialogue as cringy as in the first two books which was nice ~ this series definitely falls into the younger end of YA. While I have enjoyed the characters of this series, I felt I was more invested and interested in the plot but I have to be honest, there were times when this book broke me! I didn’t realise how attached I had become to this group and I just wanted everything to work out for them in the end.
I got to a point in this book where I felt I knew how it would have to end but true to Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman’s writing style, they threw in a few twists and made the ending even better than I thought it would be. Overall, I’m really pleased I decided to continue with this series as I wasn’t sure I would after the first one.
The Final Empire / The Well of Ascension / The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson {Mistborn Series}
Since I’ve been enjoying Skyward so much, I thought I’d give another of Brandon Sanderson’s series a try. I will preface this by saying I rarely read fantasy as I’m quite picky when it comes to the content of it but after reading the synopsis of the first book, The Final Empire, I thought I’d give it a go. So I used one of my Audible credits {the books aren’t available on my library app} and about 10 chapters in, I’d purchased the trilogy and the extra novels. Yep I loved this story that much!
Although I will be writing a full review on this series, let me give you the synopsis from the back of the first book and some general thoughts in the mean time.
“The Mists rule the night…
The Lord Ruler owns the world.
For a though sand years the ash fell. for a thousand years, the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years, the Lord Rule reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Every attempted revolt has failed miserably.
Yet somehow hope survives. A new kind of uprising is being planned, one that depends on the cunning of a brilliant criminal mastermind and the courage of a unlikely heroine, a Skaa street urchin, who must learn to master Allomancy, the power of a mistborn.
What if the prophesied hero had failed to defeat the Dark Lord? The answer will be found in the Mistborn trilogy, a saga of surprise that begins here.”
If that doesn’t have you wanting to pick up this series, I’m not sure what will? I found that so intriguing and the more I listened to the audiobook and read along, the more I fell into this world! I just found the world, the characters and the Allomancy all so fascinating; I can really understand why people love the Fantasy genre so much. Honestly, as much as I love his Skyward series, I feel this series truly shows what an incredible writer Brandon Sanderson is, though I’m sure in time, I’ll say that about any other of his books I read!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Deserted Island Diary Vol 1 by Kokonasu Rumba
This little manga is based on the video game, Animal Crossing New Horizons. It follows four characters who head off on a adventure to an island, only to find out that it is deserted and they have the task to make it habitable!
As a daily player of the game, I found this manga so much fun and it only took about an hour to read. It’s full of all the things you’d find in the game, from fishing to crafting. There’s many of the game’s familiar NPC’s featured, along with a nice cast of Villager animals ~ fans of Raymond will not be disappointed!
What was nice is that some parts of the manga felt almost like a guide of sorts for the game, as Tom Nook and others were instructing the characters on how to survive on the island. So if you love playing the video game, then I’d highly recommend picking this manga up. The second volume is being published in the UK in April and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the characters get up to next.
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers {Wayfarers #3}
This is the third book in the Wayfarers Series, which I’ve slowly been making my way through this past year. A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet being the first book and was actually one of my favourite reads of 2021.
While set in the same universe and starting at the time of the events that take place during the end of the first book, this one doesn’t follow any of the characters from book one or two. The only connection is that some of the characters are related to a character from book one and he does get mentioned a little bit, which I liked as he was one of my favourites. So I enjoyed getting to know his family and seeing where he came from.
The setting for this story is on board of the fleet of ships that first left Earth centuries ago, known as the Exodus Fleet. The ships are all now stationery, orbiting a sun and the character focused story follows a number of perspectives as they live their lives in the Fleet. Each person is in a different time of their life and we follow them as they go about their daily lives, some trying to figure out their next move, others trying to guide and help them on their way.
It’s very easy to forget that this story is set in space at times because it’s such a quiet, human centred sci-fi. Becky Chambers’ writing style is just wonderful and captures each character so well and they feel so real, including the many side characters that fill out the Fleet. I really enjoyed this one, even more than the second book and I’m looking forward to picking up the novella soon along with the fourth book when it’s published in paperback.
If you’re looking for a starting point into the sci-fi genre and enjoy more character based stories, then I’d recommend picking up this series.
So there we have it, all the books I manage to read during December last year. I feel like I ended the year reading some absolutely wonderful books and I only hope the books I read during 2022 will be just as amazing!
If you’d like to see what I’m already planning to pick up throughout this year, then you can find my TBR list here.
What book are you most looking forward to picking up this year? I’d love to know.
Stay Safe. Read a Book.
L x
