Book Review-November, December, & My FAVORITES

Happy, Happy Monday, Friends!

Hope you had a GREAT weekend! We were BUSY this weekend…Tab was out of town on Friday for an NFL meeting, Friday evening I set up for a big cheer competition at Ebby Lee’s high school, Saturday morning I was at the gym by 6:00 a.m. to work the cheer competition, Tab got back mid-morning, Ebby Lee competed, I was getting Britt ready and back at the house by 12:15ish to then head to the most EPIC of work Christmas parties at Tab’s work Saturday afternoon. By the time we got back to our house on Saturday evening I was wiped OUT! Our church service on Sunday was incredible and we’re officially ALL IN on the Christmas cheer. {A bit tired but all in. ha!}

I’m either a ALL IN on reading or I don’t pick up a book for weeks. There’s no in between for me. This past month I read a few books I wanted to share with you and then highlight my FAVORITES from the year….

The River is Waiting-Oh My Goodness!! This book HAD me in the first chapter. It begins with a dad who’s been let go from his job and is now staying home with his twins while his wife works. He’s slowly started drinking a bit throughout the day and medicating. An accident occurs {trust me you’ll be HOOKED} and well, I couldn’t put the book down! I understood immediately why Oprah chose it as a book club pick!

I would say this read isn’t a feel good read/Hallmark type book. This man made some life choices that led to some really hard days for him but like I said, I couldn’t put it down.

Twice-Do you guys remember Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven? In Twice, Alfie Logan learns at a young age that he has the ability to go back and re-live moments in his life TWICE. Throughout this book we experience moments with Alfie and then he often goes back to re-do those moments. It’s a book that has great lessons. I enjoyed this one so much!

I Just Wish I Had a Bigger Kitchen-I saw this book pop up all over my Instagram. Each chapter is about one lie we often tell ourselves that would make our life better….I just wish I had a bigger kitchen, I just wish I had more time, I just wish I had more money, etc. Each chapter tackles a new topic and ALL the reasons why that won’t make use happy. Learning to shift our mindset is what it’s all about. I read one chapter a day each morning and it was a quick read.

Wreck-I read Catherine’s, Sandwich, earlier this year and thought it was an “okay” read. I’d describe it as a really moody read with not a big plot but the cutest book cover. ha! That’s exactly how I’d describe this one as well! In Wreck, we follow the same family we read about in Sandwich but we’re following them more through the fall/winter months. Again, the cover drew me in! It was just “okay”. But if you liked Sandwich, I’d definitely recommend this one.

Skipping Christmas-Last year my grandpa recommended this book and I couldn’t wait to read during the season. It’s VERY similar to the movie, Christmas with the Kranks, which I love. So, it was a great little festive book to read this season.

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If you guys remember last year I read enough books every month to make this cute graphic of my top books of the year…

You can read that post to get more info on my FAVORITE books of the year.

That was my plan for this year as well BUT I didn’t read enough books each month to even do that, so I’m pivoting. 😉

My BOOK Awards for the 2025:

THE BOOK I was MOST IMPRESSED BY 2025:

The France Dance-My friend in real life, Lauren Palmer, BLEW me away when she wrote this novel!! It’d be the perfect gift for any book-lovers out there!

TOP THRILLER of 2025: