It’s time for the bright lights, cheerful spirits, and wonderful books of the holiday season! Choose one of these books to enjoy reading and since books are the best gifts, make space on your holiday shopping list! Reading is the gift that keeps on giving, and here is a great list of books to read in December.
May your holidays sparkle with moments of love, laughter, and goodwill! Happy Holidays to you!
The Power of Women confronts sexual violence used as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The book illuminates the enduring strength of women in the face of violence and trauma, giving hope for the potential to make the world a safer place for women.
These Precious Days is a personal collection of essays that reflect on the unexpected turns in life that we do not see coming. The title essay is on a surprising and unexpected friendship that explores finding someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.
The Chancellor details the remarkable rise and political brilliance of Angela Merkel, the most powerful and elusive woman in the world. Merkel was a complete outsider, a research chemist and pastor’s daughter raised in East Germany, who became the unofficial leader of the West.
The Christmas Pig is a holiday fantasy about a boy who loses his beloved stuffed pig the day before Christmas and goes to “The Land of the Lost” to get it back. Through his adventures, the boy learns that loss is part of life and what was lost can always live on in our hearts.
Never is the story of how World War III could happen with Africa, France, America, Korea, and China all playing out what they “believe” to be true. The book is full of heroines and villains, false prophets and elite warriors, jaded politicians, and opportunistic revolutionaries. In the United States, the first woman President does everything she can to avoid war.
Going There is a candid biography of Katie Couric’s humble beginnings to the historic anchor chair at the CBS Evening News. In a world rife with sexism and misogyny, Couric reveals what was going on behind the scenes of her sometimes tumultuous personal and professional life.
The Judge’s List builds on characters introduced in Grisham’s 2016 novel, The Whistler. A sitting judge is suspected of being a serial killer, and he has a list with the names of his victims and targets, all unsuspecting people unlucky enough to have crossed his path and wronged him.
In Case You Missed It: Here’s Sandy’s list from last December!
From Queen Elizabeth’s 23 healthy lifestyle choices, historical fiction about Agatha Christie, a memoir by Jacqueline Winspear, a legal thriller by Michael Connelly, new short fiction by Nicole Kraus, and the humor of David Sedaris in “The Best of Me,” there is something for every reading taste.
Long Live the Queen takes a fresh and fascinating look at how Queen Elizabeth II has stayed healthy and vital over her nearly 70 years on the throne. The author identifies 23 lifestyle choices that contribute to her longevity, and each chapter digs into why the “rules” work.
This book will be embraced by her majesty’s admirers, as well as by readers hoping to pick up some tips for living a long and rewarding life.
Mrs. Agatha Christie was in the midst of a divorce when she disappeared for 11 days in 1926 and no one knows what really happened. The premise in The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is that she deliberately vanishes to ensnare her husband in a trap as payback for his infidelities. Agatha forces the husband to follow her instructions to the letter in order to escape prosecution.
This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing is the story of a childhood in the English countryside, of a working-class family with family secrets, artistic inspirations, and the price of memory. Winspear has written 16 mysteries, and for the first time, this book reveals the hardships and joys of her family history. The memoir captures her ties to the land and her dream of being a writer. The writing is lovely and elegant, rich in character, detail, and history.
The Law of Innocence is a twisty legal thriller with an attorney who must defend himself against murder charges. Somebody framed him, plotting to destroy his life. He must figure out who really committed the murder and why to be completely exonerated. Then he has to go before a judge and jury and prove his innocence. This author has the remarkable ability to write courtroom scenes, looking at the personal motives driving all the players (including the judge), making him a master storyteller.
The stories in To Be A Man feature male characters as fathers, lovers, friends, children, seducers, and husbands. This is a collection of ten globetrotting stories, each one a powerful dissection of the thorny connections between men and women. Each story struggles to understand what it is to be a man, what it is to be a woman, and the arising tensions that have existed from the beginning of time. Every story is carefully crafted and deeply contemplative, leaving the reader with questions that linger long after the final pages.
The Best of Me by David Sedaris | NYT Bestseller | Humor
The Best Of Me offers a chance to view the development of David Sedaris into one of the great American humorists. It is a retrospective over the last 25 years, of 46 previously published essays in the New Yorker, beginning in 1995, and stories from nine earlier books. Several stories highlight how much his family means to him. Sedaris also expresses surprise and gratitude for his good fortune and his extraordinary accomplishments in his more serious moments.
