December was a great reading month for me. Honestly, I was kind of worried because there was so much going on within the month, I didn't think I'd get a ton of time to read and relax, but it was my  most productive reading month all year long. Make sure to check back in on Monday for my 2018 reading recap, including challenge overviews (I completed both my Popsugar and Goodreads challenges this year!) and my favorite books of the year.





How to Be Safe* by Tom McAllister ★★☆☆☆
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: A book about a problem facing society today
Brief synopsis: Anna Crawford, a high school English teacher, was recently suspended for an outburst in her classroom. So when a school shooter terrorizes the school, killing and wounding several students and teachers, Anna was the first to take blame because she had motive. Her live falls to shreds and the sun falls from the sky. This novel accounts for the year following the shooting and Anna's month-to-month life.
See full review here.




The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin ★★★☆☆ 
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
Brief synopsis: There are four Gold children - Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon. As children, they visit a fortune teller who privately tells each of them the date of their deaths. The novel hence follows the four siblings in chapters of their lives, and how each of them lived in various ways because of the fortune they were given. It's a story of family, but ultimately it's about the things we wish to believe and how they impact our futures.
See full review here.




A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs ★★★★☆
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: A book with an animal in the title
Brief synopsis: In this memoir from Augusten Burroughs, he recounts his childhood of fear living among a sociopathic father, a mentally ill mother, and a brother who's described as being "not quite right." This book is described as a prequel memoir to Burroughs' previous novel, Running with Scissors.
See full review here.




Jaws by Peter Benchley ★★★★☆
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: A book set at sea
Brief synopsis: When a shark begins attacking people in a small sea-side summer town, the police chief has to make decisions between what's right and what will keep his town afloat.
See full review here.




The Martian by Andy Weir ★★★★☆
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: A book set on a different planet
Brief synopsis: When a mission to Mars goes wrong, Mark Watney's entire crew believes him dead and leaves him on the planet entirely alone. Injured and alone on a planet with only enough items meant for a month's stay, Watney must fight for his life on a merciless planet while NASA attempts to bring him home safely.
See full review here.




Feminists Don't Wear Pink (And Other Lies) by Scarlett Curtis ★★★★☆
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: A book with your favorite color in the title
Brief synopsis: A collection of essays, poems, and snippets about what it means to be a feminist, including further reading and a brief history of the movement.
See full review here.




No Exit by Taylor Adams ★★★★☆
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: N/A
Brief synopsis:When Darby gets stranded at a remote rest area in Colorado during a terrible snowstorm, she discovers one of the others stranded with her is actually a psychopathic. The bigger problems - she doesn't know who it is, who to trust, or how to escape.
See full review here.




Dumplin' by Julie Murphy ★★★★★
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: N/A
Brief synopsis: Teenage Willowdean is fat and she's not looking to change for anybody. She exudes confidence, but when private school Bo - the cutie she works with at the burger joint - starts giving her some extra attention, it makes her question a lot about herself and societal perceptions. So, to rediscover who she is, she enters the BFD beauty pageant that her mother won years ago, and inspires so many others around her to do the same.
See full review here.




Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens ★★★★★
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place
Brief synopsis: When Kya is six years old, her mother leaves, followed shortly by her siblings, and eventually her father. With no one to take care of her, she must trek miles to be able to buy one of the only foods she can cook - grits. She begins selling mussels and smoked fish to make ends meet. She's isolated and becomes known as the Marsh Girl to the locals, who want much of nothing to do with her. Intertwined throughout the novel exists a murder-mystery taking place almost two decades later.
See full review here.




Peekers by Kealan Patrick Burke ★★★★☆
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: N/A
Brief synopsis: In this 14-page short story, a man goes next door to help his neighbor with an odd request, only to discover something sinister lurking.
Quick review: This story was creepy as hell, and I was honestly terrified the entire time I was reading it (even though it was like a 15 minute read). It's on Kindle Unlimited, and definitely worth the quick read.





Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar★★★★★
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Prompt: N/A
Brief synopsis: One morning during her daily jog, 12 year old Gwendy (a mix of Gwendolyn and Wendy) meets a mysterious stranger in the park. Though she knows not to talk to strangers, her curiosity wins and he gifts her with a special box filled with buttons. He warns her of the responsibility and power that lay within the button box, and Gwendy takes it with her as her own.
See full review here.