I’m linking up with Leigh Kramer for my final What I’m Into post of 2015! I thought I’d do a traditional monthly round-up for December and maybe do a highs & lows year-in-review type post sometime next week.

What I’m Reading:

Since today is the last day of 2015 I can officially say that my final count for the year was 66 books. Not too shabby. This month I read:

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling). Loved this third mystery in the Cormoran Strike series in which Strike’s assistant Robin receives the severed leg of a murdered woman in the mail and the pair must figure out both who the victim and who the murderer are. I thought it was entertaining and engaging and kept my guessing til the end. Be warned though, this one’s a bit grisly with some graphic descriptions of violence towards women so it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Accidental Saints. I love Nadia Bolz-Weber and am often inspired by her straightforward, candid take on matters of faith. Having said that, this book did feel a little less substantial than her previous book, Pastrix. I loved her take on how God uses all kinds of people, even those who are furthest from him. The book is more or less a series of anecdotes that illustrate this premise.

Shopaholic to the Stars by Sophie Kinsella. I have a soft spot for Kinsella’s Shopaholic books as far as fluff fiction goes, but this one was a disappointment, even for what it was. Maybe I’m just outgrowing Becky and find her airheaded-ness more annoying than funny, but I didn’t finish this book with the typical feel-good feeling of her other books.

For the Love by Jen Hatmaker. This was a fun, funny read that left almost no lasting impression on me. My main beef with this book is that, while Hatmaker is a funny writer, each individual chapter seemed to have nothing to do with any other chapter, and while the subtitle was “Fighting for grace in a world of impossible standards” I found the book barely touched on this theme. To be frank, while this book was fun to read, it felt self-indulgent and it would be difficult for me to tell you what the point was.

Killing Monica by Candace Bushnell. I listened to this as an audiobook because I wanted something light and easy to listen to. I didn’t have high expectations, but this book was still a waste of time. It was going along well enough – nothing memorable, but mildly entertaining – until the ending which was so stupid it sort of ruined the whole thing. Don’t recommend.

After You by JoJo Moyes. This book was a sequel to Moyes’ famous Me Before You, picking up a year after the end of the previous book. It was satisfying in a way to see where Louisa ends up and it’s not a bad book (though I found myself a bit disappointed in Louisa’s life choices) but it’s nowhere near as impactful as Me Before You.

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close. I’m not sure how to describe this book. In some ways it’s a coming-of-age type story about a group of friends moving into adulthood. While the writing was technically sound, I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters. This book is described in reviews as “wickedly funny,” but I mostly thought it was sad and painted a rather bleak depiction of adulthood, marriage, and family life. Having said that, it was a quick read and I flew right through it.

Paul Among the People: The Apostle Paul Reinterpreted and Reimagined in his Own Time by Sarah Ruden. Jonathan got this book for Christmas and we read it together on the drive back from Louisiana. I thought this book was incredibly interesting, especially since I am one of those blasphemous Christians who tends to think of Paul as an arrogant jerk. Ruden, a Harvard-educated classics expert, examines the writings of Paul against contemporary Greek and Roman writings, using these to build a cultural context and audience for Paul’s letters. Ruden’s careful research reveals a different Paul than the one we think we know – especially when it comes to his teachings on women, marriage, slavery, and homosexuality.

Currently reading: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars #1) by Rob Thomas, A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, Delicious! By Ruth Reichl, and Washing the Dead by Michelle Brafman. For an up-to-date list of what I’m reading and what I think of it, follow me on Goodreads.

What I’m Watching:

On TV I’m nearly current with How to Get Away with Murder, Fresh Off the Boat, The Mindy Project, and Brooklyn Nine Nine. On Netflix I picked up Revenge again, a show I started a long time ago and took a long break from for unknown reasons.

In theaters this month we and everyone else  went to see the new Star Wars movie (I have no strong opinions on this since I didn’t really grow up watching Star Wars. I enjoy Star Wars now, but I don’t have the kind of childhood nostalgia that makes people feel super opinionated about it). We also saw Joy the day after Christmas which I enjoyed a lot, though it could have stood to have some more Bradley Cooper in it. (But you could say that about everything).

What I’m Listening To:

The new season of Serial has started up. I’m not quite caught up on the episodes that have come out since I listened to the first one while driving back from a friend’s house late at night and was dozing off for most of it. (Jonathan was driving, not me!) I’m not as immediately captivated as I was by the previous season, but I’m willing to give it a shot!

What I’m Writing:

 

Yesterday I put up the final post for my 52 Weeks of Adventure. I can’t believe I made it through the whole year without missing any posts. It’s been a fun way to mark my days and to keep challenging myself to see life as a grand adventure, even though I no longer live abroad and my day-to-day life feels so much more ordinary. I wrote my adventures for weeks 48, 49, 50, 51, and 52.

I wrote a heartfelt post about things I’m appreciating about being Anglican(ish). I wrote a piece about Mary and women and the incarnation for Christians for Biblical Equality that was picked up by Scot McKnight(!) and republished on his Jesus Creed blog. I hit 10,000 subscribers and did a big giveaway (which is closed now, sorry). I gave out some superlatives on all those books I read in 2016. And I reflected on my year of wholeheartedness and shared my new(est) ink.

Apart from blogging I was keeping busy doing some freelance web content for a marketing company, but they’ve now hired a full-time copywriter so that well seems to have dried up. One of the downsides to freelancing is that there’s very little job security, so I’ll be back to looking for new freelance opportunities over the next few weeks.

I’m planning a guest post for my friend Kelsey’s blog this month and maybe, possibly, potentially an exciting piece for an international magazine, but I don’t want to say too much cause it’s not set in stone.

What I’ve Been Up To:

December is always jam-packed for the holidays, but also because my birthday falls at the beginning of December, it really feels like non-stop celebration from Thanksgiving onward. I celebrated my 28th birthday with a visit from my best friend and her husband who live in Raleigh a few hours away.

We visited friends in Charlotte for a Christmas feast and cookie decorating party. I had work doing tutoring, writing, and proctoring exams (though not full-time) right up until December 23rd during which Jonathan’s family came to town to visit and we ate too much yummy food and took family pictures together. Right after his family left, we drove down to Louisiana to spend a week with my family and we’ve only just gotten back from that trip. Its been full, but it’s been beautiful.

I hope you all have a lovely New Year’s Eve. Stay tuned for tomorrow when I reveal my One Word for 2016!