For the last time this year…

A selection of quotes and pictures to represent December’s reading:

commonplace book
noun
a book into which notable extracts from other works are copied for personal use.

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“A pity she was so fond of snooping. ‘Knowledge is power,’ she used to say, and I used to tell her ‘If you want to be liked, miss, don’t you be a Poll Pry,’ but she only laughed at me.”

The Art School Murders by Moray Dalton (1943)

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She would curl up in a secluded corner and read story after story, while her father worked nearby in companionable silence. For Evie – like her father – old stories and legends meant escape into another world, one of boundless possibilities and far horizons.

Circle of Shadows by Marisa Linton (2025)

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“Art’s important at a time like this. It gives human life its value. It’s what we’re fighting for.”

Appointment in Paris by Jane Thynne (2025)

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There was something in the Bible about casting out fear. If you could cast out fear, everything would be all right. But you couldn’t do it. Too many people were frightened of too many things.

Alice by Elizabeth Eliot (1949)

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“The most difficult thing in this world,” he said, “is to know where one’s duty lies, for duty is a mechanism of the mind, and the heart is forever stepping in and playing havoc with one’s resolutions.”

The Bishop Murder Case by S.S. Van Dine (1929)

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“Always, everywhere, the Wolves gather on the frontiers, waiting. It needs only that a man should lower his eye for a moment, and they will be in to strip the bones. Rome is failing, my children.”

The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff (1957)

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“You think you are brave, because you do not cry to others to help you, but no one,” and here her voice broke down to a whisper, “no one can withstand cruelty on their own. It is vain to think you can do so. There are times when it is a kind and courageous act to cry out, to tell the world what is happening, to warn other victims…”

The Book of Human Skin by Michelle Lovric (2010)

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We use the same word, ‘story’, to describe a verifiable matter of fact, a self-proclaimed work of the imagination, and the brazen lie. Did we never foresee a problem?

The Tower by Thea Lenarduzzi (2025)

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“That’s…very noble of you.”

He shrugs. “Maybe. Because if I’ve learned one thing from history, it’s that there’s no point holding on to something when it wants to be free.”

The Inn at Penglas Cove by Lauren Westwood (2026)

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Grief is complicated. Doesn’t matter whether you think you have a right to feel it. Doesn’t matter how long you’ve carried it. Grief burrows away inside you and sometimes it helps to talk.

The Shapeshifter’s Daughter by Sally Magnusson (2025)

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He wondered how much kinder all humanity would be if any day the rich and powerful might find themselves the lowest of the low, and those they used to trample suddenly in charge.

The Hill in the Dark Grove by Liam Higginson (2026)

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Favourite books read in December:

Circle of Shadows and The Inn at Penglas Cove

Authors read for the first time in December:

Moray Dalton, Marisa Linton, Elizabeth Eliot, S.S. Van Dine, Liam Higginson, Thea Lenarduzzi, Lauren Westwood

Places visited in my December reading:

England, France, Italy, Peru, US, Scotland, Wales

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Reading notes: December was a good month of reading for me. I’m pleased that I managed to read two books for Dean Street December (Alice and The Art School Murders) and one for Doorstoppers in December (The Book of Human Skin as well as making a start on my January NetGalley books. I haven’t had time to review everything I read this month, but I do at least have most of the reviews written and scheduled. I’m looking forward to starting a fresh new year of reading tomorrow!

What did you read in December? Do you have any plans for January?

Happy New Year!