General Books / Monthly Wrap-Up

December 2020 Monthly Wrap Up!

Dini @ dinipandareads19 Comments

We’ve now started the first full week of January and I was debating whether to even make a December monthly wrap-up post because I’m lazy but I already did the End of Year Survey: Parts I, II & III, but I thought let’s just get it done with so… Here we are 🤪

December was both so slow and too fast and it was honestly a bit of a “surreal” month. I found myself struggling even more to stay motivated at work especially since everyone was going off on holidays and I was one of the few that stayed on until the very last day of the year. I did have a lot of wrapping up to do as I was also ending my full-time work contract and with no one around to really hand things off to, it was a bit more hectic than anticipated.

For the most part, I played a lot of Animal Crossing, read a few books and generally tried to not give in to my desire to retreat into ultimate cave-reading mode too often (especially since I still had work to do)! LOL 😂 I did get my Owlcrate mid-December and the merch and book were gorgeous–I absolutely loved it! My favourite items are the planner+stickers, the monthly pin and of course, the book itself!

In December, I read 18 books! They were a pretty good mix of fantasy and romance, although I did manage to sneak in a non-fiction and some literary/contemporary fiction as well. Despite being excited to read more holiday romances, I only ended up reading two, but I might read one or two more in January but that’s also a big might. As you’ll see in my wrap up although I’ve been reading, what I haven’t been doing is writing reviews immediately. I’m so behind and really need to catch up 😂

I loved many of my December reads and despite a few exceptions, most of them were 4-5 stars, so I would defo say it was a successful month for reading! I had two five star reads in December and they were (obviously) my faves: Bad Blood and Amari and the Night Brothers. They’re two very different books but both are equally amazing and I would highly recommend them!

Book covers are linked to Goodreads and the text is linked to my reviews, if available!

5 panda stars


Amari and the Night Brothers (Supernatural Investigations #1)
Bad Blood

4.5 panda stars


That Swoony Feeling (Getting Lucky #4)
Cemetery Boys
Keeper of the Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities #1)

4 panda stars



Love Thy Neighbor (Roommate Romps #2)
The Bitterwine Oath
Big Girl, Small Town
Spellbreaker (Spellbreaker Duology #1)
Spellmaker (Spellbreaker Duology #2)
Subversive (Clandestine Magic #1)
The Existence of Amy

3.5 panda stars


In Pursuit of Happiness
Jingle Wars
The Little Swiss Ski Chalet

3 panda stars


Steel & Stone (The War of the North Saga #1)
Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked #1)

2 panda stars


Special Delivery

I really sucked with keeping track and keeping up with a lot of posts in December because of work and the sheer exhaustion I felt at the end of every day. I’m sorry, I know it’s a shite excuse. I really hope that with starting part-time work in 2021 I’ll be able to have a lot more time to sit down and read more posts because all of you are brilliant!

  • Jawahir The Bookworm wrote a really fun post pairing books with tea!
  • Lorraine @ Geeky Galaxy did a fun Spotify Wrapped Book Tag!
  • Abby @ Beyond the Read shares her most anticipated 2021 releases and my TBR grew a lot 😂
  • A Rambling Reviewer shared a relatable post about not meeting your resolutions — and why it doesn’t matter.
  • Lisa @ Way Too Fantasy talks about why she’s giving up reading challenges in 2021 and if that ain’t a mood after 2020 I don’t know what is 🤣
  • LaRonda @ Flying Paperbacks shared a list of black romances that got her through quarantine– a great list if you’re looking to diversify your romances!
  • Jessica @ Odd and Bookish shared a guest post with author Belinda Lei on the importance of having a diverse bookshelf 😍
  • Malka @ Paper Procrastinators shared a thought-provoking discussion post on what defines a favourite.
  • Holly @ Nut Free Nerd wrote a beautiful review for Northanger Abbey. Holly formats her reviews as letters to the books and they’re so fantastic, you should check them out!
  • Kristin @ Kristin Craves Books shared a list of her most anticipated adult romances of 2021 and if you’re a romance lover like me, prepare for your TBR to grow a lot! 😂

So that’s a wrap on the last month of 2020! What a year it has been and I’m glad that I at least ended it on a higher note in terms of reading! Although it wasn’t the ‘best’ month in terms of #s, it was definitely the best in terms of ratings!

19 thoughts on “December 2020 Monthly Wrap Up!”

  4. I hate seeing that you only gave Kingdom of the Wicked 3 stars. I’ve seen so many fab reviews for it, and I’ll be picking it up soon – it’s sitting beside my bed waiting on me. Bummer!! I’ll definitely be adding your 5 star reads to my TBR, though! I hope your January is full of 5 stars!!

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    • Waah, trust me, it was so painful for me to give it only three stars but I really think it’s more of a me thing than a book thing because so many others loved it! I think Maniscalco and I just aren’t meant to be? 😢 And it makes me A SUPER SAD PANDA! I really hope you enjoy it though, Ali! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts when you read it 😊

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    • It’s a really fun series and I’m enjoying it so much. I’m anxiously anticipating the arrival of the third and fourth books and I’m already kicking myself for not immediately ordering all of the books at the same time cos they’re binge-worthy 🤣 I hope you enjoy them and have a great January, too! Happy reading 😊

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  10. I’m so glad that you ended 2020 on a high note in terms of reading, but I’m sorry that work was so stressful and busy! Here’s to a more relaxed 2021 with an even better reading year!

    I’m so happy to see that you gave Cemetery Boys 4.5 stars! I’ve seen fantastic reviews for that book, and I can’t wait to read it! My library hold should arrive in the next few days!

    Thank you so much for mentioning my post in your list! It really means a lot! And I’m actually quite impressed with the list of posts that you gathered, even if the quantity might not be as much as usual! School drained the life out of me during finals to the point that I’m only now recovering enough energy to blog and blog hop at all!

    I hope you’re having a great January!

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