book wall

What I read in December

book wall

I am always consuming books, whether they’re physical, digital or audio. Every month, I like to share a breakdown of everything I read, including the books I abandoned. I do this because it gives me an opportunity to introduce you to books you might not have had an opportunity to read while practicing the art of writing concise book reviews.

In December, I read 12 unique titles to completion, read one of those twice, and started several others that I have yet to complete. Here’s what I read:

  1. Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva
  2. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  3. Superman Vol. 4: Black Dawn by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
  4. Leading Change by John P. Kotter (twice)
  5. Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ by Russ Ramsey
  6. Green Lanterns, Volume 1: Rage Planet by Sam Humphries
  7. Green Lanterns, Volume 2: The Phantom Lantern by Sam Humphries
  8. Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, Volume 2: Source Code by Julie and Shawna Benson
  9. Batman Vol. 4: The War of Jokes and Riddles by Tom King
  10. A Die Hard Christmas: The Illustrated Holiday Classic by Doogie Horner
  11. The Expected One: Anticipating All of Jesus in the Advent by Scott James
  12. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Leadership and Pop Memoirs

Leading Change is probably one of the most helpful business books I’ve read in the last year. So much so that I read it twice in one month. The framework Kotter offers is on-point, and one I’ve seen actually being used to great effectiveness.

The Princess Diarist reminded me why Carrie Fisher became so well known as a Script Doctor in Hollywood post-Star Wars. She was a brilliant writer and extremely witty. But this book isn’t quite what you’d expect. It’s less a memoir of making Star Wars, and more a reflection on Fisher’s insecurities as a young woman making a low-budget sci-fi film in 1976, especially in relation to her relationship with co-star Harrison Ford. I wouldn’t say that I recommend this book, but it was fascinating.

Holiday reading

Five books on the list all had some connection to Christmas, which I found kind of funny. Mr. Dickens and His Carol a neat idea that more or less worked in its execution: to tell the tale of Dickens writing A Christmas Carol by paralleling A Christmas Carol. It was a neat idea, and was executed fairly well. I don’t know that I would read it again, but it was an entertaining book. A Christmas Carol, naturally is its superior in every way, but that’s to be expected, because, well… Behold the Lamb of God and The Expected One have become favorites of mine and my family after the second go-around with each book. I’m already looking forward to reading both of these again next year. A Die Hard Christmas is another one of those “I don’t necessarily recommend it for everyone” books, but it was a lot of fun to read the story of one of Emily’s and my favorite movies (and one less violent than Home Alone). Definitely not for kids, and definitely not for everyone. But if you are a fan of the movie, you’ll probably enjoy this a lot.

Reading on my holidays

Finally, because I took some time off during the holidays, I read a lot comic books because I can. Sam Humphries has done a great job on Green Lanterns, establishing the new Earth-based Lanterns. Volume one was a bit by-the-numbers, but volume two was terrific. Batgirl and the Birds of Prey vol 2 is a really enjoyable team-up book and one I was glad to share with my eldest child (nothing super-sketchy, lovely art, and a good story). Superman Vol. 4 and Batman Vol. 4 are two solid entries in two of the best series to come out of the Rebirth initiative at DC. Tomasi and Gleason’s take on Superman really is the best the character’s been treated in well over a decade. King’s Batman is the most human he’s been in ages as well. Well worth reading if you’re a Batman fan.


That’s it for this month’s round-up. Do you find these posts helpful? Do you have a suggestion for a book for me or someone else to read or want to share what you’ve read? Connect with me on Twitter or Facebook and let me know!

Here’s a look at what I read in:

2 thoughts on “What I read in December”

  1. Pingback: What I read in January

  2. Pingback: Lipsy next day delivery

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top

Discover more from Aaron Armstrong

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading