Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season if you celebrate! Things were good around here, and my kiddo was very into the magic of Christmas this year (more about that tomorrow).

I had a very dark reading year this year! Not all of my favorites are on the spookier, scarier side, but..it appears many are. I also had a really rough reading year. I had so many books I didn’t finish, times I just couldn’t get into reading, it was very weird for me. I was just a little off my reading game. However, there are some books that I just loved.

Fire Keeper’s Daughter was my absolute favorite read this year. I learned from it, was entertained by it, and completely devoured it. I also love that it was written by a Michigan author!

Hmmmm…maybe I spoke too soon. Maybe World of Wonders is my favorite book this year. Ok. This is my favorite nonfiction read of the year. I ran around telling everyone to read it. I loved the connection to nature, the throwbacks to her childhood, which while on some level were relatable to me, also were very far from my own experience.

Small Favors – just so good. I never quite knew where this story would go and I had a few surprises. I read this obsessively and I love everything Erin A. Craig writes so far. Also, another Michigan author!

The Final Girl Support Group and Bunny – both such good books, such crazy. Bunny was a trip and a half. And The Final Girl Support Group spoke to the part of me that grew up watching horror movies, Freddy and Jason and Michael Myers.

The Family Plot – Another dark, crazy read. But I completely loved it and my mom and I could not stop talking about it. I mean, a book that involves true crime? I am there.

The Box in the Woods is another one that I really enjoyed. I really love the Truly Devious series and I thought it was a bit cheeky of Johnson to have a murder mystery set at a summer camp. Perfect, right?

And finally, A Solitude of Wolverines. A mystery about a wildlife biologist who gets mixed up in a bit of a situation, one that could prove to be deadly. I have been waiting so long to read the next book in this series – next month! I decided January would be a good month to read a book about polar bears…

I wonder what roads my reading will take me down next year? I can’t wait to find out!