Can you tell I was way behind on my Goodreads goal and was determined to meet it? This month I read 11 full-length books and 6 novellas. I picked a wide variety of genres and plots, so I would call December a success!

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkemann – Nope! Mr. Burkemann was not my type to be honest with you. This book was advertised as a productivity booster but it was more so the author quoting other people’s work or telling you that focusing on time is a waste. I did appreciate his sentiment that focusing on efficiency often takes away from other life experiences, but it was just not what was advertised. Just felt like a long research paper…

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand – Spoiler… I did not read all of my 25 in 2025 TBR. This was one of them however that I squeezed in last minute. The first half of this book was honestly kind of torture it was so boring. However, the second half really picked up and made it pretty interesting. I would recommend the audiobook on this one because I just kept getting bored reading the physical version. This was actually my first Elin Hilderbrand book and here we follow Hollis, a recently widowed mother and blogger who decides to host a Five-Star Weekend at her Nantucket House, inviting four women, each from a decade of her life. Of course there’s drama and secrets and not a whole lot of beach rotting. I thought this was interesting but won’t be running to pick up another by Hilderbrand.

The Primal of Blood and Bone by Jennifer L. Armentrout – This took me almost two months to read as it was over 1,200 pages (and kinda boring lol). TPOBAB is Armentrout’s newest installment in the Blood and Ash series and was actually supposed to be the last. She changed her mind this year and actually shortened this book to make another if you can believe it! This was my 11th JLA book this year so I am obviously invested in this world. I was so happy to be back and to see what our characters did next, but this book just kinda dragged. There was so much disagreement among characters as well as randomly placed and unnecessary smut scenes. I just think the book needed another round of editing and then it would have flowed better.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – Wow this was a crazy story! I listened to the audiobook (which I would definitely recommend) and I found myself hoping the drive home would last longer so I could finish the story. The book is set in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1990s following a wealthy white family and the newest tenant of their rental property. Mia and Pearl have long been on their own, with Mia dragging her daughter wherever the inspiration may strike for her art. Elena Richardson has it all together, except she cannot mind her own business to save her life and seems to be everywhere but where her kids need her. There was so much drama and I never knew what secret was going to implode next. I cannot wait to watch this show (on Hulu)!

Jade City by Fonda Lee – Another 25 in 2025 pick except I really enjoyed this one! Jade City is a fantasy based in a fictional Asian country with two main gangs controlling everything from religion to exports to general safety. The sign of power in this world is jade, the rare mineral that only trained warriors can handle, making them stronger, faster, telekinetic, etc.. This felt like an urban version of the Godfather and was one of the best developed book worlds I have read about in a while. We follow the family of the No Peak gang and all the drama, secrets, and violence that comes along with the power. This is a trilogy, so I can’t wait for the next one!

Game Changer by Rachel Reid – I fell down a crazy rabbit hole here… In my defense, this was all over my TikTok and the first three books were on sale on Kindle. In Game Changer, we follow NHL player Scott Hunter and local art history grad turned smoothie maker Kip Grady. Scott is one of the best players in the league except he is having the worst season ever right now. He meets Kip randomly at the smoothie shop and then starts playing better, leading his superstitious self to get smoothies non-stop. This was such a wonderful romance and story, and I really loved how the struggle of being different in pro-sports was talked about. It was also just so fun to meet all kinds of characters in a book so different than the typical romance I read.

Oh. What. Fun. by Chandler Baker – This was a fun-ish Christmas novella I read because my mom wanted to watch the movie (on Prime). We follow empty nesters who suddenly have all three of their grown children home for the holidays. The mom has run herself ragged trying to make Christmas perfect and has a mental breakdown when they forget her at home for the family Disney on Ice outing. This book was under 50 pages and I would say 30 of them involved the grown children being horrible to their mother. This was a fun concept but honestly it just bothered me how these adults acted.

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid – I honestly don’t even know what to say about this that you won’t have already heard. I loved it! If you’ve been living under a rock, this book follows Shane and Ilya, two rival hockey players who can’t seem to stay away from each other. This was the blueprint for enemies to lovers in contemporary romance and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey – Absolutely not and I am very much not alone in this thought. This was crazy that someone wrote down some of these sentences and then published them. This is a Christmas novella in Amazon’s “Under the Mistletoe” collection. We follow a single mom who has just moved to a small town and is working at the consignment store as well as making clothes on the side. There is this giant of a man who comes into the store all the time to try on pants (spoiler: they never fit and he rips several). He ends up buying her a bike so she can get to his house better to hand make him pants and they’re together after like ten pages.

All by My Elf by Olivia Dade – This was also weird. These two coworkers drive around the hot dog car and both have secret crushes on each other. The van gets stuck in the snow and then…

Tough Guy by Rachel Reid – Now we get to the third book in the Game Changers series! This was probably my least favorite (but still a solid three stars if that tells you anything) in the series. We follow Ryan Price, an enforcer in the NHL who has been traded every single year, and Fabian Salah, an up and coming musician. For those of us who don’t watch hockey, an enforcer’s only job is to beat the other team up. Well, Ryan is the biggest softie and literally hates his job. He is so tired of moving around and meets Fabian, who shows him all the best parts of his new city. I really did think they were cute together but I felt like we didn’t really get to know Fabian. Like every time he is described, we really focus on what he’s wearing rather than him as a person. Still recommend but loved the others in the series more!

Common Goal by Rachel Reid – This was probably five out of six in this series for me. It was one of those books where we can’t seem to get past the age gap. We follow Eric, who is a goaltender for New York about to retire, and Kyle, Kip’s friend from book one. Eric has found himself with no real plan after hockey. He decides he’s ready to start dating again after his divorce and strikes up a friends with benefits situation with Kyle. This book was definitely fun and I sped through it, but I just felt like they were creating obstacles for themselves for no reason.

Rode Model by Rachel Reid – This is definitely my favorite couple after Shane and Ilya. Here we follow Troy, a recent transfer to Ottawa, and Harris, the Ottawa social media manager. Troy is known for being best friends with the worst guy in hockey. However, he just got traded because he finally stood up to him by screaming at him on live video. Troy is struggling to start over, and for some reason, can’t seem to stay away from Harris. Harris is your classic country boy moved to the big city. His family owns an apple orchard and he is home for Sunday dinner every weekend. These two were just so cute together and I felt like their story just made sense.

The Long Game by Rachel Reid – If you watch @emmyrosam on YouTube, she understands my pain here. This is one of my favorite books ever and I am struggling to find things to compete. This book follow Shane and Ilya after the cottage. Ilya now plays for Ottawa and Shane still plays for Montreal. They seem to spend more time in the car driving to each other than actually with each other, and both are struggling with keeping their relationship a secret. I absolutely loved this book and this story. Counting down the days until Unrivaled, the third book out in September!

3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Year by John Scalzi – This was the densest 35 page book I have ever read. I will say the ending was crazy though. This novella is from Amazon’s collection called “The Time Traveler’s Passport” and follows a time travel technician that operates the machine. There was a lot of explanation of time travel as a concept and then the ethics and morals of it, so at times it felt like I was reading a textbook. However, I really liked the main character’s delivery and I honestly would have enjoyed the concept as a movie.

Making Space by R.F. Kuang – Kuang is one of the most talented writers of our generation. With that being said, I don’t always love her stories, but I cannot deny they are well created. The short story follows a couple struggling with infertility when they find a young boy lost in the woods. Our FMC is determined to protect and love this child, while her husband is a bit unnerved by him. The story was an action packed 32 pages and I would definitely recommend.

For a Limited Time Only by Peng Shepherd – This short story shows us what time travel would look like as an industry. Russ keeps getting passed up for a promotion, and he feels doomed to travel the same 10 years over and over again. The reason for his stagnant career is one he doesn’t even know, but definitely tugs at the heartstrings when we find out. Again 39 pages and really drew me in quickly – three stars.

What a month! So glad you made it to the end – stay tuned for more TBRs, recommendations, and wrap ups. See you soon!