December Wrap Up!

All the books I read in December! I read a total of 14 books.

I hope your reading month was great, too!

As usual, links to full reviews will be available if applicable.

1. The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This is about Max, a rich boy who's family wanted him to grow up with the best life possible, so his parents sign a contract to send him to a whatnot school. Those are schools where all the children are actually very humanoid robots who are all nice and well-behaved. Max becomes friends with a whatnot named Josie. But Josie has her own secret: she's actually human. Max then gets a strange note from Josie one day telling him "No matter what anyone tells you--I'm real". Max doesn't understand what it means at first, but eventually he, Josie, and some new friends find out about the truth about the whatnots and their shady corporation. Very cool book! Gave it 4 stars. 

2. Magical Boy 1 by The Kao. This is about Max, a trans boy who is descended from a long line of magical warriors descended from the goddess Aurora. Max gets into conflicts mostly with his mother (the previous magical warrior) over his magical abilities, as he does his magical duties in his own way and not the traditional way. He also has to deal with people not being used to the fact that he is trans. Luckily his group of friends and his father are very supportive of his transitioning. His friends even help him with his magical warrior duties! I gave the book 4.5 stars. This is the first of a duology. 

3. Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. The sequel to Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow. Gave it 4.5 stars.

4. One Piece 13, 14, and 15 by Eichiro Oda. All 5 stars!

5. Akane-Banashi Volume 1 by Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue. This manga is about Akane, who grew up watching her father practice and perform rakugo. Unfortunately, her father never got be a rakugoka full-time, and he instead gets a job in construction. Akane decides to prove to the public that rakugo can be a full time job and starts secretly taking lessons from her father's former teacher. She starts to meet other students like her, and they all get to expand their social network on rakugo performers and the best places to hold shows. Cool manga! I gave it 5 stars. 

6. Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee. This book is about Dylan, who lives and works with his aunt Jade in her small Singaporean Chinese takeout shop in New York City. One day after accidentally getting a customer's order wrong, Dylan meets and forms a friendship with a really rich guy named Theo. Theo then invites Dylan to his cousin Nora's wedding, and they decide to go as a fake couple. Dylan learns the hard way that the rich lifestyle of Theo's family isn't all what it is cracked up to be. Dylan also worries about his aunt Jade's shop, as it has fallen on hard times recently. They decide to enter a mooncake baking contest, as the host is celebrity chef Lawrence Lim, and the winner will have their restaurant broadcasted on his cooking show, which might mean more customers. It's a very sweet and cute romance book! Gave it 5 stars. 

7. She Gets the Girl by Alyson Derrick and Rachael Lippincott. This is a sapphic YA book about two young women in their first year of college, Alex and Molly. Alex did not have the best family life at home, and she just broke up with her girlfriend, a musician named Natalie. Molly is super shy, didn't have any friends in high school, and she is trying to change all of that in college. The two girls meet at a party, and Alex finds out Molly has a crush on another girl named Cora. Molly already knew Cora because they went to the same high school, but she was always too shy to talk to her. Alex decides to help Molly talk to and date Cora, and Alex also makes a deal with her ex Natalie showing her she can have good relationships. However, along the way, Alex and Molly start to fall for each other. Great book! Gave it 4 stars. 

8. Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier (full review coming later!). A woman named Dona St. Columb has grown disenchanted with high society life in London, and decides to take a vacation to one of her estates in the country without her husband Harry. While there, she runs into a group of French pirates and falls in love with the captain, and she decides to go on a pirate adventure with him. Little did she know her escapade with the pirates would almost get her in trouble with her community back home. This was a fascinating book, too! Gave it 4 stars. 

9. Avatar the Last Airbender: The Search Volumes 1, 2, and 3. All 5 stars.

10. Magical Boy 2 by The Kao. The sequel to Magical Boy. I gave this one 5 stars!