December Reading Goals

Getting back into reading has been one of the best things I've done this year. The love of books never really left my life but I haven't quite devoured them as I used to when I was younger.  It's been really lovely, feeling as though I'm completely absorbed in a story again and it's made me look into other books I'd like to read. I was hoping to challenge myself to two books a week this month but with Christmas coming up, that could be a little difficult. Instead I'm going to try for six. Six that have been on my "To-Read" list for an embarrassingly long amount of time.

THE GOLDFINCH // DONNA TARTT

"Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother and a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone and rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, and down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms of the rich and dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love - and his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. 

The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters and thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph - a sweeping story of loss and obsession, of survival and self-invention, of the the deepest mysteries of live, identity and fate."

INSURGENT // VERONICA ROTH

"Fighting for survival in a shattered world... the truth is her only hope.

The thrillingly dark sequel to No. 1 New York Times bestseller, Divergent.

I have done bad thing. I can't take them back, and they are a part of who I am. 

Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. But she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future. Yet if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever... because more shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead"

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS // JOHN BOYNE 

"The story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about. 

If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. 

We hope you never have to cross such a fence."

EAT, PRAY, LOVE // ELIZABETH GILBERT

"It's 3am and Elizabeth Gilbert is sobbing on the bathroom floor. She's in her thirties, she has a husband, a house, they're trying for a baby - and she doesn't want any of it. A bitter divorce and a turbulent love affair later, she emerges battered and bewildered and realises it is time to pursue her own journey in search of three things she has been missing: pleasure, devotion and balance. So she travels to Rome, where she learns Italian from handsome, brown-eyed identical twins and gains twenty-five pounds, an ashram in India, where she finds that enlightenment entails getting up in the middle of the night to scrub the temple floor, and Bali where a toothless medicine man of indeterminate age offers her a new path to peace: simply sit still and smile. And slowly happiness begins to creep up on her."

THE KITE RUNNER // KHALED HOSSEINI

"Afghanistan, 1975: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption."

LIFE OF PI // YANN MARTEL

"One boy, one boat, one tiger... After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan - and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and best-loved works of fiction in recent years."

You can keep an eye on my progress via Goodreads and if I will be sharing reviews once I've finished them!

Can you recommend anything for me to add to next months list?