Loving the Language of Literacy: December 2014 Wrap-Up

December was SUCH a month and probably the best one of this entire year, and I am now here to wrap it up for you, which I haven't done since I honestly don't know when. This was such a great month in terms of BookTubing AND Blogging in terms of quality, quantity, and the pride I had in the content I produced this month, plus I haven't posted/uploaded this much, or had as good of a feeling about my blog/YouTube channel since JULY (and I didn't even have my BookTube channel then). I published 15 posts, read 14 books, uploaded 13 videos and a heck of a lot things happened.... which I shall proceed to tell you about. Disclaimer: The structure of this wrap-up is based off of Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner's Monthly Rewinds.

Books Read In December:

I read 14 books this month, and I go over each and every one in my latest video, so creatively named "December 2014 Reading Wrap-UP"

5 Things That Happened This Month:

1. Started a new school | I've mentioned this a lot in past blog posts/videos, but I moved to Upstate New York in November, and the very first day of school was December 1st. I haven't made many friends yet (credited to being too introvertial), but everything about my school is wonderful. I'm taking French, suffering through an official gym class, navigating the treacherous waters of the cafeteria, singing (horribly) in chorus, and creating beautiful art (check out the first post in a new bog series - Frames of Existence). There is SOOO much less homework, I have a lot of spectacular teachers (the BEST English teacher of all time), and have only been late to class a few times (there is NOT enough time in between periods).

2. Saw the Imitation Game | This was such a good movie.... it's number two on my list. This was two hours of absolutely ASTONISHING story. It follows Alan Turing (mathematical genius, homosexual, and father of one of the earliest computers) and his team who are trying to solve Enigma, the code machine the Germans are using. This was incredibly impactful and the character development was superb. Benedict Cumberbatch was the BEST Alan Turing there COULD have been. He embodied the character so well, and his body language was on point.

3. Went to New York City Over Christmas | I mentioned countless times that I was in New York City on Twitter over Christmas because (as mentioned in a video) my family celebrated Chanukah. We went down to NYC for four days and had an absolute blast. We saw Into the Woods on the opening day, took a walking tour of the Lower West Side, had lunch with friends in Brooklyn, and, of course, the crowning jewel was visiting Strand Books. (I have a whole haul/vlog going up on my BookTube Channel soon)

4. Celebrated ALL of the holidays | Besides my One Year Blogoversary, I celebrated my birthday, Chanukah, and Christmas. This was my first time celebrating Chanukah and it was so much fun on all 8 of the nights to unwrap presents and I have officially concluded that the gift-giving method is a lot better than Christmas' because it teaches you patience. My birthday was awesome, we went out to eat at the Cheesecake factory, saw Exodus: Gods and Kings (aka one of the longest movies EVER), and I got my Macbook Air which I'm composing this blog post on.

5. Nashville Mid-Season Finale | If you've been here a while, you *might* know that Nashville is my favorite TV show of all time and this finale was EXPLOSIVE. So much went down in a span of 45 minutes and I literally have the return (February 4) marked down on my calendar. The music is just as enjoyable as ever this season and I can't wait for some of the show exclusive songs to be released as singles (Red Flag, Most Beautiful Girl in the World, Avery/Sadie Duet).

Favorite Song of the Month

Hands Down! Little Toy Guns by Carrie Underwood was my most-played song of December. I own every album Carrie has ever put out, so I just purchased her two new singles - Something in the Water and Little Toy Guns. There's some IT-factor that let's you listen to a song for hours on repeat and Little Toy Guns has it. I love the lyrics, the melody, the story behind it, and it ALMOST makes up for the fact that I didn't get a new Carrie Underwood album this year. ALMOST.

Favorite Books of December:

This was such a hard decision to make because I read FIVE 5-Star books (some months I have none) and each one was deserving of the "favorite" of the month because each was so different. One is a neo-classic I was forced to read for school, another is a high fantasy thriller, the other part of a Middle Grade series, another is a hilarious memoir, and the crowning pinnacle was a trilogy finale.