December Wrap-Up and January Goals

 

December Reads

December Wrap-Up

• Finished: 8
• Total pages read: 2,287
• Average rating: 4.06

A solid end to the year! I finished eight books in December: three fiction books and five non-fiction books. One of the fiction books was the final book of Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising (3/5 stars). I have to say that the final book was a huge disappointment after what had been a promising start. Click the link to read a longer review.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The second novel I read in December was a book from my mother’s bookshelf, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Actually, I had recommended this book to her after I had seen it on Bookstagram without knowing anything about it. But my mother loved the book, so I was eager to read it myself, and I loved it.

The Nightingale is a historical fiction novel set in France during the Second World War. Vianne Mauriac only wants to survive and protect her daughter, even if that means becoming friends with the enemy. Her headstrong little sister Isabelle Rossignol, on the other hand, joins the Resistance and becomes The Nightingale, rescuing Allied soldiers and helping them out from the occupied France.

This was a moving and at times harrowing story of the lives of women in Nazi-occupied France during WWII. I loved both main characters and understood why they both acted the way they did. This book made me think about how I would react in the situation they were in. There were a few minor plot holes (such as what happened to the Jewish family they rescued in Paris?), but all in all, this was a great read. Solid five stars, and it made my top three reads of 2024!  If you’re looking for a great historical fiction, I highly recommend this book.

 

The Tales of Ensign Stål by Johan Ludvig Runeberg

The third fiction book was Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat (translated into English as The Tales of Ensign Stål) by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the national poet of Finland. This is an epic poem published originally in Swedish in 1848 and 1860. The poems narrate the events of the war between Sweden and Russia in 1808–1809. It’s an important part of Finnish literary history and includes among other poems the lyrics to the Finnish national hymn. That was pretty much the only reason I wanted to read this book. The poems are full of patriotic war propaganda, and I got tired of it (and the old-fashioned style of the Finnish translation) soon. Not necessarily a pleasurable read, but I’m glad I’ve read it now.

 

Non-Fiction Reads

Two of my December non-fiction reads were writing guides, specifically guides that should help me with the line edits of Project Prehistory. June Casagrande’s It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences was a great and funny guide to English grammar. The book addresses grammatical issues such as subordination, sentence length, adverbs and participles, relative clauses and prepositional phrases, and passive voice in a clear and understandable way. This is a must-have guide for every writer! Even if you don’t like grammar, I highly recommend this book. I learned a lot from it, and the writing style made it an enjoyable read.

The second writing guide was Editing Fiction at Sentence Level: A Guide for Beginner and Developing Writers by Louise Harnby. It wasn’t as enjoyable reading experience as Casagrande’s book, but it was nevertheless full of useful information for writers preparing to self-edit their texts. The book addresses a large array of issues ranging from point-of-view, head-hopping, filter words, action beats, and adverbs to dialogue and punctuation. My one minor issue with this book was that majority of the examples came from crime novels. Since that’s not my preferred genre, I would have liked to see examples from other genres as well.

The other three non-fiction books were in Finnish. I finished my high school Finnish handbook Äidinkieli ja kirjallisuus, a book about birds in Finland and Europe (Suomen ja Euroopan linnut), and National Geographic’s city guide to Paris (originally in English, Walking Paris). That was a random bunch of books that put a little dent in my non-fiction TBR pile.

 

January Hopefuls

January Hopefuls

I’m starting the year with a low and manageable goal: I want to finish two books and start two that I’ll finish in February. The most important reason for this decision is that I want to put more time into Project Prehistory. Before I start editing and revising the fifth draft, I want to read the fourth draft three times, and that means reading fewer books for pleasure.

I want to read Naomi Alderman’s The Power. I’m hoping that since it’s about a world where women hold the power, it might work as a comp title for Project Prehistory. The second book I want to finish is Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, Part I. I’ll start Part II in February. I’ve read an abridged Finnish translation of the book, but now I want to read the newer unabridged translation.

The two books I’m starting but not finishing are novels. I’m reading Hajusteentekijän tytär by Kaisa Åkerman. It’s a historical fiction set in ancient Assyria and tells a story of the daughter of a woman who makes perfumes and ointments. The second book is Stephanie Garber’s Caraval, the first book of her Caraval trilogy.

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If you want to see more about the books I’ve read, check out my reading wrap-up video below: