With just three days to go until the new year, I figured I won't be finishing any more books so here is my monthly wrap up. According to Good Reads, I read 179 books this year (19 over my goal of 150). Reviews can be found on my blog: http://teareainbook.blogspot.co.uk/.

1. Lights Out: A Cyber Attack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath by Ted Koppel - 4 stars

2. Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis - 4 stars

3. Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling Our Modern Plagues by Martin J. Blaser, MD - 3.5 stars

4. Flashpoints: The Emerging Crisis in Europe by George Friedman - 3.5 stars

5. Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben - 3.5 stars

6. Voices from Chernobyl: An Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich/ translated by Keith Gessen - 1.5 stars

Currently reading Dark Money by Jane Mayer.

This book is designed for the reader with no real working background knowledge of Europe. The introduction is a long, drawn out story of how the author's parents and sibling left Europe after World War II and came to America. A good story (heartbreaking at times), but nothing remotely interconnected with the rest of the book. A good editor would have scrapped this chapter to be used later in his memoirs, not for a book about the current and future affairs of Europe.

The book is then divided into three parts: short history of the Enlightenment; a short history of the thirty-one years (beginning of World War I through the end of World War II); and the premise for the book, the different potential hot spots ("flash points") within Europe where conflict (political, social, economic, and military) will rise. The first two parts, along with the introduction, make up 50% of the book. To be quite honest, the Enlightenment section needed to be cut as well as the introduction - nothing from that time period really plays into/ influences the third part of the book. The book should have had a section on the thirty-one years and a section on the Cold War  to make a stronger third act.

If the reader makes it far enough in the book to hit the third part, hurray! The third section starts at the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and moves through to about early 2010, including the consequences of the 2008 global recession. Now the reader is taken on a journey through the different regions of Europe, with each section it's own chapter - I really liked the set up, for it made for easier reading comprehension and easier to stop reading/pick up reading. There was a lot of food for thought in this section; however, I don't really agree with his overall assessment of Britain (that it would remain a quiet frontier), but then again this was published pre-Brexit vote result.

Although Muslims play an important factor in the chapter devoted to the Mediterranean region and the Balkans, this was not a bash all Muslims type of argument. Christians, Jews, and Orthodox people are also talked about in terms of how their religions play into the possible coming conflicts. Again, there isn't any bashing of religions; but there is an argument made for making public culture lean to secular and leaving religion to the private lives of citizens. Ethnic ties and national pride plays a big factor in all these areas. EU and NATO are given a realistic treatment, but it is not a pretty image and possibly one that certain political elites would disagree with.

I would recommend reading this book as a primer to the current events going on in Europe, but with caveats - you should have other books from other authors to read to give a more complete picture of Europe and skip the introduction and first section of the book. The author is an American and therefore his view of current Europe is through the lens of an American. He sometimes interprets what the Europeans think and feel in ways that may or may not be projection on his part. 3.5 stars.

This month's reading list:

1. Flash Points by George Friedman - I have about eighty pages left and so far, so good. (Hint: it's not the Muslims, it is the Russians).

2. Deep Economy by Bill McKibben - will probably be more relevant to me now then when it was published (2007).

3. Dark Money by Jane Mayer - one of GR's nominees for non-fiction book of the year.

4. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling - last book in my reading celebrity memoirs for the year.

5. Boomerang by Michael Lewis - this book came after The Big Short, but deals with the same topic of finance and debt, this time with an international scope.

6. Missing Microbes by Martin J. Blaser, MD- oh, the books you find when you look at the bottom shelf of your local library's non-fiction section. Don't know how I haven't come across this one sooner.

7. Give Us the Ballot by Ari Berman

8. Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich (translated by Keith Gessen) - a nice, fluffy pick-me-up to enjoy as the winter holidays draw near.

9. Lights Out by Ted Koppel - a non-fiction look at the before, during, and after a potential cyber attack  on the US.

10. Hidden Star (Stars of Mithra #1) by Nora Roberts - need to finish this one and get it off the TBR and currently reading pile. I don't have much interest in fiction right now, but eh.

Can't wait to see the 2016 in my rear view mirror.

1. Lady Catherine's Scandalous Christmas by Maggi Andersen .5 star

2. Home for the Howlidays (Montana Wolves Holiday Novella) by Chloe Cole 2.5 stars

3. Surfer, Sailor, Lover, Spy - Maui (Agent Ex Short Story) by Gina Robinson 0 stars

4. Devoted in Death (...In Death #41) by J.D. Robb 3 stars

5. A Christmas Kiss by Jess Michaels 1 star

6. Dragon Romance: Rising Inferno by Lucile Wild 2 stars

7. Candle's Christmas Chair by Jude Knight 3.5 stars

8. A MacKinnon Christmas (Cauley MacKinnon Series Novella) by Kit Frazier 5 stars

9. Alone: The Triumph and Tragedy of John Curry by Bill Jones 4 stars

10. Plenty of Time When We Get Home (Love and Recovery in the Aftermath of War) by Kayla Williams 5 stars

11. Capital Bride (Matchmaker & Co. Series #1) by Cynthia Woolf 1.5 stars

12. Gentleman of Her Dreams (Ladies of Distinction Novella) by Jen Turano 2 stars

13. The Bride's Prize (Allan's Miscellany 1839 Book #1) by Sandra Schwab 4 stars

14. The Tenth Life of Victoria Torres (Court of Annwyn Short Story/#3.5) by Shona Husk 4 stars

15. Killer Christmas (Emma Wild Mystery #1) by Harper Lin 1.5 stars

Less than average historical romance. There was insta-love between the couple that met via mail order business. I hate it when MCs (in this book it was the hero) who were widows or widowers come to the conclusion that they really didn't love their previous spouse and this new relationship was "real love." It seems like such a cop out; I understand that when a spouse dies, the living spouse will eventually move on and find love again without needing to spoil the first relationship. It is such lazy writing and happens too much in historical romance. And of course the heroine gets pregnant within one month of moving to the ranch. Then there was the villain. He was so one dimensional that you could see the cardboard under his clothes. One less book I will be taking into 2016 with me.