Tag: 2020 Books

The End of Year Book Tag – 2020 Edition

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I did my first End of Year Book Tag for 2019* and in what I’m guessing will become a yearly tradition now, I’ve come back to it again in 2020 as we’ve got one week left to go until this hot mess of a year comes to an end! I pretty much said the same thing last year (and basically in my posts for the last few weeks) but I can’t believe this year is coming to an end already! It felt like it took forever but also no time at all. Now without further ado, let’s get into this tag!

*I’m still not quite sure who made this tag but I did find it on Jenn @ Jenniely’s page.

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

I won’t be counting my actual ‘current reads’ list but even not counting those, I do have a fair few that I started but wasn’t in the right mood for at the time, so I put them aside–it’s not at all because I wasn’t enjoying them though (honestly)! I’m still keen to get back to these ASAP.

Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

Confused man’s face with mouth hanging open (that is literally me rn)

Still not really sure that I get this question. I mean, it’s not autumn anymore but also, no I don’t have any particular book that I read to transition into the ‘end of the year mode’!

is there a new release that you’re still waiting for?

I was going to say no but then I remembered Love at the Icicle Café, which I added to my TBR just last week and it’s only out on 29 December, so I guess there is one I’m still waiting for in 2020 😂 The rest have all come out and what a year it has been!

what are three books you want to read before the year ends?

Hmm… I’m going to pick one from the list of books that I need to finish: Clap When You Land, but the other two are The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Dragon Republic (before diving immediately into TBG)!

is there a book that you think could still shock you and become your favourite of the year?

Ngl, if I do manage to read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue before the year ends, I think that there’s a very high possibility it could end up being my favourite. Based on what others have said about it I have a feeling I’m going to really really love it and omg, I can’t wait to read it!

have you already started to make reading plans for 2021?

I was going to say no but then I do already have a few blog tours lined up for January so I guess I do 😂 These are just some of the titles I’m on a tour for and I’m excited to give them a go!

Aaand that’s a wrap, folks! Well, that ended up being a lot shorter than I thought it’d be 🤣 Why did I think this tag was miles long when I did it last year? LOL. Anyway, I’m not going to tag anyone specifically but if you wanna do it, feel free to link back to me so I can check out your answers!

ARC Review: To Kill A Mocking Girl (A Bookbinding Mystery #1) by Harper Kincaid

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Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Goodreads: To Kill A Mocking Girl (A Bookbinding Mystery #1)
Publish date: 12 May 2020
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genre: Cosy Mystery

Panda Rating:

Bookbinder Quinn finds herself in trouble when her ex’s fiance turns up dead and if she’s not careful, her days might be numbered in this debut perfect for fans of Kate Carlisle and Eva Gates.

Quinn Victoria Caine is back in her quirky town of Vienna, Virginia, starting her new life as a bookbinder in her family-owned, charm-for-days bookshop, Prose & Scones. With her trusty German Shephard RBG-‘Ruff Barker’ Ginsburg by her side, what can go wrong? Okay, sure, bumping into her ex, Scott, or her former high school nemesis, Tricia, is a drag. It certainly doesn’t help they have acquired the new hobby of shoving their recent engagement in her face every chance they get. But that doesn’t mean Quinn wanted to find Tricia dead in the road. So why does half the town think she may have done it?

Quinn is determined to find Tricia’s killer, even if it means partnering with her cousin-turned-nun, Sister Daria, and Detective Aiden Harrington, her older brother’s too-movie-star-handsome-for-his-own good, best friend. They believe she’s innocent, but of course that doesn’t influence the police, who peg her as their prime suspect. Or, at least until she’s poisoned.

But there is no way Quinn is going to stop now. Vienna is her town and-for better or worse-Tricia was one of their own. Someone may have killed the mocking girl, but no one’s going to stop the notorious QVC.

This is my first cozy mystery and I’m wondering why I’ve never read one of these before because what didn’t I like about it?! Right now I’m coming up blank because I enjoyed every single moment of this fast-paced murder mystery set in the small close-knit community of Vienna, Virginia. I can’t believe this is Kincaid’s first cosy mystery because she had me reeled in from the first page! Is it too early to be chanting for more when this book hasn’t even been published yet?

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eARC Review: The Sunday Potluck Club by Melissa Storm

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Goodreads: The Sunday Potluck Club
Publish date: 31 March 2020
Publisher: Kensington Books
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:

(actual 2.75 stars)

New friends can be found in unexpected places. For Bridget and Amy, that place was the cancer ward of an Anchorage hospital. Now, as each struggles to overcome loss, they lean on each other for support—sharing suppers, laughter and tears.

Bridget and Amy aren’t about to let hardship knock them down—Bridget plans to return to her veterinarian school studies, Amy to her position as a second-grade teacher—but neither feels quite ready. And so the Sunday Potluck Club is born, a way for Bridget, Amy, and other women who have lost a loved one to find solace and understanding. Savoring favorite dishes while sharing memories and the comfort of connection, the members of the Sunday Potluck Club nourish body and soul.

As weeks go by and the group grows in unforeseen ways, both Bridget and Amy are inspired to find greater purpose. Amy reaches out to a student whose father bravely faces his own struggle. Bridget volunteers at the local animal shelter, rehabilitating dogs whose unconditional love will bring others a chance to heal. And with the help of a very special man, Amy is realizing that there’s always room at the table for love and rekindled joy… 

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The cover caught my eye, and I liked the idea of a group of friends who meet under unusual life circumstances celebrating their friendship through Sunday potluck get togethers. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the story that was delivered. I think there were maybe two potluck gatherings in the whole book, and the friends didn’t spend any time talking. There was none of that ‘savoring favorite dishes while sharing memories and the comfort of connection’, and also none of that ‘nourishing body and soul’!

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Goodreads Monday – House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

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It’s the first Goodreads Monday of 2020, friends! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.

This week’s book is House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas. I’d be seriously impressed if you haven’t heard of this book by now! The hype leading up to its release was massive and since it came out about two weeks ago, I’ve still been seeing tons of people talk about it every day. This adult romantasy has a 4.54 star average with 9.4k+ ratings and 2.5k+ reviews.

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First Lines Friday – 13 March

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Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“Most of life’s defining moments happen unexpectedly; sometimes they slide past you completely unnoticed until afterwards, if at all.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

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First Lines Friday – 06 March

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Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“Sweet sixteen is when the claws come out. We’re all flash tonight. Jenny and Summer and Mads and me. Vodka and heels that we could never quite walk in before, but tonight we can.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

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First Lines Friday – 28 February

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Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“Raithe’s first impulse was to pray. Curse, cry, scream, pray–people did such things in their last minutes of life. But praying struck Raithe as absurd given that his problem was the angry god twenty feet away.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

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First Lines Friday – 21 February

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Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“Wren had learned early on that trouble comes in all sorts of packages. Even vanilla ones with rose petal frosting.“

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

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First Lines Friday – 14 February

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HAPPY FRIDAY AND LOVERS DAY, book friends! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“On Sunday I work in sans serif.
Boldface for all the headers, because that’s what the client wants, apexes and vertexes flattened way out into big floors and tables for every letter, each one stretching and counting and demanding to be seen.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

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2020 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Announcement & Possibility Pile

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Last year I decided to participate in the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge for the first time. I liked the idea of completing the challenge but I’m also 100% sure the reason I even looked at it in the first place is because of the cute and colorful list of prompts that they came out with. I’m sorry I just really like pretty things 🤣 That aside, I failed to complete it because I just wasn’t organised. I filled a spreadsheet with possible book options for some prompts at the start but gave up before I even really started trying. Bad panda 🐼

BUT I’m ready and eager to make this year different! I’ve not only identified many possible options for each prompt but I’ve even decided what I’ll read for a few of the 40 regular prompts. I haven’t started looking at the 10 advance level prompts yet though I’m not sure that I will this year!

There are basically no rules to this challenge. You can complete it whatever way you want and on Facebook it got a little ugly when people seemed to judge others for saying that they’d use one book for multiple prompts. It wasn’t a fun time 😒 Why can’t we just let people read whatever and however they want without making them feel like they’re “cheating” when there aren’t even any rules on how to complete this challenge in the first place? Sure, a challenge means you push yourself but it’s really nobody’s business but your own, isn’t it? #tea. BUT I DIGRESS! What I meant to say before going off on that rant is that I’ve made some bookish choices that count for multiple prompts but if I complete the regular challenge early (haha) I’ll go back to some of those prompts and choose a different book for it. That way, I’ll feel like I’ve pushed myself even more but I will also have happily completed the challenge in a relaxed and fun way without putting unnecessary pressure on myself. On that note, here are the books that I’ve chosen for some of the prompts. There’s still a possibility that these may change based on my mood but I’m going to do my best to stick to them.

A book published in 2020
A book by a trans or nonbinary author
A book about a book club + A book that has a book on the cover
A bildungsroman
A book with a map + A book by a WOC

A Western
A book by or about a journalist + A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics
A book with a robot, cyborg or AI character
A book with at least four stars on Goodreads
A book with a pink cover

So far I’ve also managed to complete three of the prompts with the books that I’ve read so far this month:

A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins
A book with a bird on the cover
A book with a three-word title
☝🏽 (I’ve been on the fence about counting this last one though… Would you count it?) ☝🏽

Just like I’ll do for the ARC Apocalypse challenge, I’ll share a quarterly update for the POPSUGAR, which will only help to hold me accountable for my participation and so I don’t half-ass anything lol

Are you also participating in the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge? What do you think of my possibility pile? Do you have any suggestions for what I should read for some of the other prompts?