December 2022 Reads

Closing out the year with 70 books read. My goal was 80, but I came up short and tied my high score of 70 books, which is also my total from 2021.

If I hadn't spent the last half of the year traveling all over I would have met the goal, but I'll always value experiences over everything else, so I'm OK with that!

New Year's Resolution - work through the books I own!!

Whoa, this book. Jenette McCurdy was a child actress in recent times (iCarly, Sam & Cat), pushed into the business by her mother...her abusive mother. This book recalls her childhood through adulthood, the pivotal moment being the death of her long suffering (cancer) mother. This is such an important book. It's raw, honest, and funny. Highly recommend.

Actor/writer Rob Delaney's poignant story about the short life of his third child (brain tumor) is a touching and brave memoir about this time. Yes, it's sad but it's so much more than that. Love pours from this book. Read it.

I had no desire to read this book, but upon rave reviews from a friend (thanks, Hemdal), I picked up the audio version. It's a great listen. First off, I don't know how Matthew Perry is even still ALIVE. He's basically the Keith Richards of sitcoms. Matty is so honest in this book, from his disease to his relationships. All of the damage he did to his body is apparent in his voice. If you listen to this, speed it up to 1.25x and he'll sound 'normal'.

In Love is Amy Bloom's account of the decline and death of her husband. Brian was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and decided that when the time came, when he was declining, he would travel to Switzerland and with the help of the organization Dignitas would take his own life. Yes, this book is sad, but it's so beautiful and honest. As I am writing this, I realize I read a lot of 'sad' books in December...

OK, this one was NOT SAD!! This is actually a really cute book. A writer takes a hard left from the normal movies she writes for a Hallmark Channel audience and writes about the end of her marriage. Part of the movie is shot at her little slice of perfection at her home, and of course there is a good looking but infuriating leading man...

DNF'd. I so wanted to read this book, I've had it forever. I got about 60% through and just could not any longer. The tropes in the book coupled by the ridiculous over adjectiizing everything put me over the edge.

xoxo

iamfunchris