December is one of my favorite months of the year. It’s busy and chaotic, but I just love the holidays. I get to spend quality time with family, eat lots of delicious food, and I love the lights, atmosphere, and candles.
This year, it wasn’t the best month though. My mental health spiraled down and I was more exhausted than I’d been in a while, and that made me doubt everything. I wanted to give up on work, therapies, social time… With some help from friends and family, I was able to prioritize activities (therapies before a weekend away).
We did have our first snow mid-December, which gave my mood a much-needed boost for a day or two!
Due to my health issues, I didn’t get to read much during the month though. I know reading reduces stress, but when my head is like that, I just can’t focus on books. Too short of an attention span, I guess…
It’s a good thing I took some time off around the holidays (two whole much-needed weeks!), which gave me some time to catch up on reading!
Books Read
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Not on Fire, but Burning by Greg Hrbek
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Reviews posted
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Other bookish posts
Is Reading Too Much a Bad Thing?
Haul
I did buy some books as Christmas presents (for other people), but none for myself, so I won’t be writing a book haul this month.
But luckily my family knows how much I love books (and pajamas) because I got a pajama set, a house-poncho (Harry Potter themed!), and some books. I made it easy on myself and my family, I just sent them my Goodreads to read-list 🙂
I didn’t even remember I had it on my list, and I haven’t read his 2017 thriller (which is on my e-reader), but my dad and stepmom gave me Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris AND the illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling and Jim Kay (I already have the first one).
My stepsister got New Erotica for Feminists by Caitlin Kunkel, Brooke Preston, Fiona Taylor, and Carrie Wittmer for me, another book that was on my wishlist.
And since I was so in love with the limited edition 20th anniversary Dutch book set of Harry Potter, my mom got me a few of the books for Christmas and well… I guess I did end up buying a couple books for myself—the rest of the series. So I’m the proud owner of this edition as well!
From other people
This Is How Big Data Can Predict The Next Best-Seller – I work as a social media manager for a data science company, and this is one of the articles I shared on their social media. Pretty cool, no?
Book Clubs Are Thriving in the Internet Era – I mean, we bookbloggers and bookstagrammers already knew this, of course, but it’s still an interesting read!
Personal highlights
- I got to go back to Budapest! It wasn’t the best idea health-wise, but I absolutely loved seeing my friends again, wandering the streets (from my friend’s house to the coffee shop for work, that is), and enjoying the Christmas market.
- I already mentioned it above, but we had our first (and only) snow of the year! When I was little, my mom used to wake me up in the middle of the night after the first snowfall, to go for a walk in the fresh snow. This year, I did it to her. We got up at 4.30am for a 40-minute walk in our neighborhood and it was so nice!
- And the rest of the month may not have been too good, but my time off of work was so good! I spend a lot of time with books, but also with family and some friends. Just taking everything slow and mostly relaxing, because that’s all anybody really needs nowadays anyway (especially after Christmas).
- I had my first appointment with a therapist. It was just an intake, but we’ll be working on improving my mental health. I’m scared, but also very excited and hopeful to get better. I just need to remember it may take longer than I hope.
How was your month?
Petra