So 2020 is over. 2021 heralds perhaps much of the same, though this time we are at least forewarned as to what to expect in the coming weeks and months. We can only hope that each day becomes a little easier and do the best we can to see ourselves through the current lockdown.

December saw festivities, muted for many and it also saw my birthday, always a quiet day given the time of year it falls on. The month ran away with me in a whirl of present buying, present wrapping, birthdays, work and play.

So here’s what arrived in the final month of the year.

1. The Smallest Man by Frances Quinn, sent for review by Simon and Schuster.
2. The Favour by Laura Vaughan, sent for review by Corvus.
3. Good Riddance by Elinor Lipman, a purchase direct from the publisher Eye and Lightening.
4. Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner, sent for review by Bloomsbury.
5. The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold, sent for review by Orbit.
6. This Nowhere Place by Natasha Bell, sent for review by Michael Joseph.
7. Lie Beside Me by Gytha Lodge, sent for review by Michael Jospeh.
8. The Long, Long Weekend by Inga Vespa, sent for review by Bonnier Zaffre.
9. Last One at the Party by Bethany Clift, sent for review by Hodder and Stoughton.
10. Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton, sent for review by Fitzcarraldo Editions.
11. The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr, sent for review by Riverrun.
12. The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder by Victoria Dowd, a prize sent by the author.
13. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, a Christmas present.
14. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, a birthday present.

I managed to read only a few, as most of my time was spent grabbling with the sellotape and drowning in a sea of (recyclable) wrapping paper.

1. The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay.
2. Another Little Christmas Murder by Lorna Nicholl Morgan.
3. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.
4. Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey.

I also gave away one book to a friend. So that was 14 books in and 5 out, nowhere near close enough to balance but a quieter month on both sides of the scales. As we go into January, and another lockdown, I hope you have a safe, quiet and book filled month. See you on the other side.