Series: What I read in December

Book Club

Jan 2

December! What a month. We traveled to India for a wedding at the beginning of the month and I honestly thought with the flights and vacation time over the holidays I would have read much more than I did. Anywho… I’m starting to make a list for books to read in 2023. What are you excited to read this next year?

Check out what I read below. ** Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org where your purchases support local bookstores. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase on any of the links below. **

Circe by Madeline Miller

This book was on my list for quite some time. I had read Song of Achilles years ago, but somehow forgot to come back to this one. I enjoy Greek mythology and loved this take on Circe, the Greek goddess of sorcery best known for turning men into pigs in the Odyssey. But there is so much more to Circe. Told from Circe’s point of view, we look past the curtain and learn who she really was. A feminist, a mother, a sister, a fighter, and ultimately someone who overcomes her own tragedies to make a life for herself. It’s a wonderful read.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

I barely finished this before the new year! While I enjoyed the writing in this book, it didn’t WOW me like all the previous ones I’ve read this year. The book is about the marriage between Lotto and Mathilde. The fates being the 24 years of their marriage, and the furies being the unraveling of it. I don’t know if it’s the way it’s laid out - a lot of bouncing around in time with the first two thirds mostly about Lotto and the last third about Mathilde, or the fact that so much detail is given about “Lotto’s story” and Mathilde seems like an after thought. I would have liked to have gotten to see a bit more into her life, who she really was, why she did what she did. The descriptive writing pulls you in and keeps you entertained, but I finished wanting more, and not because it ended, but because it wasn’t told.