After hearing about a bookish advent calendar earlier on in the year, I thought to myself that I would have to check it out when December comes. I placed my order in October and I went for the 25 day calendar and the multiple genres option. Because I went with the multiple genres option I had to put down what genres I would want the books to be about, in the end I decided to go with YA, fantasy and Sci-Fi. Then a week before December the books arrived all lovingly wrapped in different gift wrap and I couldn’t wait to start unwrapping them in December.
This month, every Sunday I am going to do a Advent Wrap Up to show you what I got and my thoughts on the books, and whether I am going to read them or donate them to someone else. This week I have 10 books to talk about, but normally it will be just seven.
Day One- Life At The Shallow End by Helen Bailey
If I am honest because I was so excited to start unwrapping this, I was a little disappointed when I saw the book. I gave the description a quick read and it didn’t really jump out at me as something I would read, so I then looked on Amazon to read some reviews and most said it was for ages of 13-15 year olds. I know this is probably part of the YA genre but I don’t think I will be reading this, but I am sure I can find someone to gift it too, or donate to charity.
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Day Two- The Personal Shopper by Carmen Reid
Again this was another book that when I unwrapped I was a little underwhelmed with. Perhaps I should of been a little more precise when choosing my genres because I don’t think I am going to read this book, just because its not something I would normally enjoy reading.
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Day Three- Battlefield Commission by Curt Munson
Now this book was completely different to the first two books and after giving the description a read and looking at some reviews, it might be something I would try to read. Normally I wouldn’t read these sorts of books but it does sound a little interesting and it is a pretty chunky book.
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Day Four- The Bound by Michelle Connor
Even before looking at the description for this book I thought it might be something I would enjoy reading just because of the front cover, it looks very intriguing. When I checked out some reviews I think this is something that I would normally read and I will like. Also the book is pretty thin so shouldn’t take too long to read.
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Day Five- Sunrises and other stories by Paul Marriner
At first I thought this was going to be a book that I wouldn’t like, but after reading some reviews it does sound interesting and different. All the stories are connected with each other and have the same characters, so I might give this one a go. Also the reviews were really positive, so there must be something good about this book.
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Day Six- High Rising by Angela Thirkell
Judging a book by its cover, I really don’t think I will enjoy this book. For one its a classic, and even though I have never read a classic before I still don’t think I will like this one. But the reviews for this are really positive and have a lot a praise for it, so I have put it in my ‘maybe’ pile, just so I would consider it before deciding to give it away.
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Day Seven- The Mask of Command by Ian Ross
The cover for this I really like and I thought it would be something that I would give a try reading, but then I found out it was the fourth book in a series. Now I don’t know if I have the other three books in the series, but if I haven’t then I don’t think it was a good idea to put in a book that is part of a series in something like this.
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Day Eight- The Thousand Faces of Night by Jack Higgins
I know Jack Higgins has loads and loads of books out but I have never read any of them because I didn’t think I would like them. But reading the description for this book it has peaked my interest and its only a short book anyway so even if I don’t like it, it won’t take me long to read through it all.
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Day Nine- Nothing But Trouble by Matt Cain
This is another book that I am going to give away because even reading some reviews and the description it didn’t grab me and its not something I would normally read. It does have some positive reviews but with it being a chunky book I would rather spend my time reading a book I wanted to read.
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Day Ten- Murder on Sea by Julie Wassmer
This is another book that is part of a series, but because its more murder mystery I think I could get away with reading this one without reading the others in the series. I do like a good mystery book on a cold night and judging by the reviews this one is really good, so I will have to try it out.
Thats all for this week, for me it was a mixed bag of books with some books that I would definitely try and read, while some I don’t think are my taste. But I will still carry on unwrapping one a day and make my final decision on whether I would do something like this again next year.
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Have you taken part in a bookish advent calendar before?
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Mike Reads 
Never taken part of one for 2 reasons.
1, like you I feel most would end up being given away. and 2, I own so many books I’d likely get duplicates
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Really interested to read your posts on the Book Advent Calendar – I ordered the exact same mix as you (Fantasy, Sci fi and YA) but instead received a mixture of crime and romance…
I did e-mail the company to gently ask if I had been sent the wrong parcel but did not receive a reply.
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It’s sad to hear other people have had the same problem. I have also emailed the company but still waiting for a reply.
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