December 2020 Reading Log

Wow, another year is over! Here’s all the books I read in December. All of them were fiction and most were read when we were away for about a week before Christmas.

2020 was the 4th year that I kept a reading log. I didn’t keep a running tally each month but couldn’t help tallying up when I wrote my post about reflecting on 2020. I was very surprised to see that I’d read 71 books! A broken toe, lock down and starting a morning routine that involves reading of non-fiction has contributed to that total.

Here’s the Books I Finished in December:

The Botanist’s Daughter by Kayte Nunn

In the present day Anna, a landscape gardener, is renovating her house in Sydney that has been left to her by her grandmother. She discovers a box hidden in a wall cavity containing water colours of exotic plants, an old diary and some seeds. How they came to be there sets Anna on a journey across the globe to England.

In 1886 Elizabeth, in England, is determined to continue her father’s life work as a botanist. She goes to Chile in search of a rare and deadly plant. Are the 2 woman connected and if so how did the paintings, diary and seeds end up in Sydney?

These story was very well written and the story unfolds from the perspective of both characters. By what Anna discovers about the past and as we hear more of Elizabeth’s story.

Home for the Summer by Holly Chamberlin

Frieda and Bella lost their husband/father and daughter/sister in a tragic car crash. Now Frieda feels she’s losing her 17 year old daughter as well. Frieda’s mother urges them to spend the summer at her home in Yorktide. They renew old friendships and make new connections as they try to find healing amid the bittersweet memories.

Lonely Girl by Josephine Cox

Rosie is a teenager living on the family farm with her loving father and cruel mother. In one tragic moment Rosie’s world is shattered. Rosie must uncover the shocking truth behind her mother’s cruelty before she can hope for love and happiness. This was a fairly quick read and the story happened quite quickly. I didn’t enjoy this book as much as some of the others.

The Bermondsey Bookshop by Mary Gibson

In the 1920s, Kate lives in a freezing cold garret and is bullied by her aunt and cousins. She dreams of being rescued by her handsome father. When Kate is thrown out by her aunt at seventeen she finds a job as a cleaner in the Bermondsey Bookshop to supplement her income as a tinsmith. Here she discovers a different world but trouble is never far away. Long-held secrets are about to come into the open. Will she be able to escape the lies and violence? This was a great read with a few unexpected twists and turns.

The Bermondsey Bookshop was a real bookshop set up to bring every class together so that even the poorest could read books and buy books by paying a little towards them each week.

The Brookland Girls by Margaret Dickinson

When I borrowed this I didn’t realise it was the sequel to The Poppy Girls but it was also a story in its own right. And of course now I want to read the next one in the series – The Spitfire Sisters

In the early 1920’s the Maitland family is still coming to terms with the aftermath of the Great War. After working as an ambulance driver and nurse close to the front, Pips is restless and seeking adventure. She joins a friend she made on the front in London and enjoys the parties and balls of the Roaring Twenties. Meanwhile, her brother Robert is suffering his own demons as he returned injured from helping on the front as a doctor and believes his career is a doctor is now over. Robert’s daughter and Pip’s young niece, Daisy, bring them joy and hope for the future. However, when faces from the past reappear, Pips wonders if she can trust a man’s promises and allow herself to love again.

The Nightingale Girls by Donna Douglas

Three very different girls sign up as student nurses in 1936. Dora, a tough East Ender, has long dreamed of becoming a nurse and is desperate to escape her abusive stepfather and squalid home. Helen, lives in the shadow of her overbearing mother. Can a nursing career free her? Millie is on the run from her unconventional upper class life and is doomed to clash over and over again with the terrifying Sister. As we follow the lives of these three student nurses we get a look at a London pre-war hospital.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Nine perfect strangers, each hiding an imperfect life. These strangers come together at a health retreat that promises to change your life. All is not as it seems! As you read you learn more about the backgrounds of each of the characters lives and what’s lead them to this place. There a few twists along the way.

Arcadia by Di Morrissey

In the 1930’s, Stella, marries an older man who is a doctor and lives on his secluded property, Arcadia, in a beautiful corner of Tasmania. Stella is an artist and enjoys Arcadia’s wild, ancient forest. She is saved by an unusual protector when an unusual predator strikes.

Two generations later, Stella’s granddaughter, Sally, and her childhood friend, Jessicas stumble over some secrets about Stella’s life in the forest. Then the property is also threatened. They embark on a girls’ road trip to unravel the story of the past and to save the future.

A great read from Di Morrissey.

You may note that they’re all fiction books. I was reading one non-fiction book which I haven’t quite finished yet.

What have you been reading lately?

I’m still deciding whether I’ll keep doing these posts monthly or do other posts that are more about feeding the family in mind? I may just track my reading in GoodReads.

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