The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: December Book Ideas and Link-Up for Reviews

I can't believe this is the last monthly post I'll do for the 2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge. Crazy! I hope you've had fun with this laidback challenge and will join with me to do it again in 2026. I'll make a sign-up post for that soon. 

November was a good month for me and bookish books. I read these four:

Everyone in This Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson (available March 17, 2026)—This is the fourth book in the highly entertaining Ernest Cunningham mystery series. In this outing, our hero is in a privately-owned bank to beg for a loan for the private detective agency he wants to start. Much to his astonishment, he finds himself in the middle of a robbery with a bank full of thieves. As the tension builds, someone is murdered, and time is running out for all of the hostages. It's up to Ernest to figure out what in the world is going on.

While the novel isn't overtly bookish, Ernest is a lover of classic mysteries as well as an author who writes about the crimes he solves. All the books in this series are clever, funny, and twisty. I love them all!

The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose—In this third volume of Prose's popular mystery series starring Molly the Maid, an Antiques Roadshow-type program is taping an episode at the Regency Grand Hotel. Molly brings some of her Gran's garage sale treasures for evaluation, never expecting that one of them will be almost priceless in value. Before she knows it, the item has been stolen. The event prompts Molly to learn more about her Gran's mysterious past, which reveals new information about both Molly and her beloved grandmother. 

This installment is more about Gran than it is about Molly (one of the reasons I didn't like it as much as the previous books). We learn about her from diary entries. Since the diary is a book and both Gran and Molly love to read, I think this one counts as bookish, don't you?

The Forgotten Magic of Zoey Turner by Erin Stewart—This middle-grade novel is about a girl who's grieving the recent loss of her adored father, who knew how to make even the most mundane moments magical. In spite of the crippling anxiety that has kept her mostly at home since his death, she ventures out to an author signing for her very favorite book series. When Zoey receives a special pencil from her favorite writer, she's inspired to write her own stories, which magically start coming to life. With this tool, she can return her life to normal. Or can she?

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand—A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite all-time books, so I was excited to read this YA novel that's a spin-off of the classic story. Holly, a deceased teen, is a failed Scrooge who has been assigned to work for Project Scrooge as the Ghost of Christmas Past. She's burned out with the job when a hot new Scrooge candidate perks her interest way up. Before she knows it, she's falling in love with the young man she's supposed to be saving. Not only could she lose her job, but she may also lose the chance to move on in her afterlife. What's a ghost to do?

I wanted this book to be more like the original novel instead of just a teenage love story, so I was a little disappointed by it. It was just an average read for me.

How about you? What bookish books did you read in November?

I've already read one bookish book in December and am reading this middle-grade novel based on Grimm's fairy tales right now:

Grimmworld: The Big Bad Wolf by Michaelbrent Collings—Willow and Jake Grimm, descendants of the famous Grimm brothers, are Grimmwalkers, who are able to walk between the real world and the Grimmworld (where there are no happy endings). On the hunt for their missing father, they will encounter all sorts of fantastical creatures and challenges.

How about you? What bookish books do you plan to read before the end of the year?

If you are participating in the 2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge, please use the widget below to link-up your December reviews. If you're not signed up for the challenge yet, what are you waiting for? Click here to join the party.