December tends to be busy, and I spent a good chunk of it grading essays and doing end-of-semester testing, so my reading tends to taper off some, especially for new reads. I usually find myself in need of a reset, and rereading a favorite book or series does that for me.
My original plan had been to do a winter reading roundup that encompassed several months, but the more I thought about it the less keen I was on the idea of combining my final 2025 reads with my first 2026 reads. I wanted a clear line of demarcation as it were. So here we are with the shortest reading roundup post I've done in years.
My original plan had been to do a winter reading roundup that encompassed several months, but the more I thought about it the less keen I was on the idea of combining my final 2025 reads with my first 2026 reads. I wanted a clear line of demarcation as it were. So here we are with the shortest reading roundup post I've done in years.
Ironically, all three of these titles have already been mentioned on the blog before, though only one has actually been reviewed. Though this review post is small, it is mighty. I would recommend all three of these books without hesitation.
Author: Sharon Lynn Fisher
This was what I chose for my December First Read, and I have to admit it's the only one I've ever chosen that I immediately read...and devoured! This book was so good, y'all, and it definitely found its place near the top of my list for best books of 2025. There are a ton of allusions to Dracula, but it's not a retelling or even a traditional vampire story really (outside of the blood-drinking). On her way home from work at the village tea shop, Mina discovers a man dead on the heath. The man is the solicitor for Harker, the mysterious and never-seen lord of the manor on Roche Rock. The local sheriff believes the man was killed in an animal attack, but Harker knows the truth: it was a vampire. He himself is also a vampire, though he has managed to create a substitute for human blood through alchemy. Harker didn't know that other creatures like him existed, and when it becomes apparent that this other vampire is targeting Mina, who he has unexpressed feelings for, Harker is determined to find and put the creature down.
Author: Suzy Krause
This was my book club pick for December, and it was a wild ride. It is essentially about three different women who all move into an apartment building that has ghosts in the attic (the ghosts are important, I promise). When a badly-damaged letter shows up wanting to meet at a local coffee shop, all three women can think of someone who might have sent it. So each day, the three of them go to the coffee shop and wait for someone they know to show up. Meanwhile, they're getting to know each other and sharing very vulnerable truths. These trips to the coffee shop are not only bringing the three women together but also giving them the opportunity to find closure and move forward in their very different lives. Read my full review here.
Author: Leslie Gray Streeter
I enjoyed this one. Y'all know I can't resist a book about a journalist. Dawn is a successful entertainment journalist in Los Angeles. Her archnemesis, Joe, is a famous national news anchor. They weren't always enemies, though. Joe was once Dawn's mentor; it all started when she interned for the Baltimore newspaper where Joe was working as a reporter and continued into Dawn's first reporting job in a nearby town. It all fell apart when Joe stole Dawn's story about corruption in Baltimore City Hall. Young and feeling foolish, Dawn fled with her soon-to-be husband across the country and never looked back. Until he died, and she had to take his ashes back home to his family. As if that's not awful enough, Joe is back in town, too, to film a movie about the story he stole from her...and he's cast her and her late husband as the villain. Now, Dawn is on a mission to reclaim what was rightfully hers.
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