I first discovered this post on BookLoversBlog on NYE and decided it was the perfect way to wrap up my reading and blogging year. The survey was originally created by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner and asks us questions that reflect the last year of books, reading and blogging. I was wondering how I would do my yearly wrap up and I’m so glad I stumbled across this survey because it’s not only fun but also covers all the bookish and blogging bases. I’ve decided to split up the survey into three posts though because it’s quite long and I want to answer all the questions! Part I will cover my 2019 Stats and Best in Books, Part II will be about my Blogging/Bookish Life, and Part III will be about Looking Ahead in 2020.
Number of Books Read: 206 Number of Re-Reads: 3 (The Cruel Prince, The Hating Game, Pumpkinheads) Genre Read the Most From: Contemporary Romance & YA Fantasy (I think it might be a tie!)
HAPPY NEW YEAR, BOOK LOVERS AND FRIENDS!!! The last decade has been a helluva journey that’s been full of both high-highs and low-lows. I still can’t believe that we’re already starting a new decade, but I hope that it’s brilliant for all of you. I hope the year ahead is full of light, love, happiness and peace. And of course, all the very bookish things!
So it’s time for December’s last WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
With all the family time and holiday festivities fully under way over the last week, it’s not surprising that I haven’t been able to read much. I think I ended the year on a pretty good note though. I finished The Folk of the Air series and I surprisingly enjoyed The Queen of Nothing the most in the whole series.
Goodreads: Sadie Genre: Young Adult Thriller, Mystery, Audiobook Panda Rating:
A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she’s left behind. And an ending you won’t be able to stop talking about.
Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.
But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.
When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late.
I’m really surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this story. I had seen very mixed reviews and the more people said they were disappointed by it, the more I hesitated to read it, but I started it on a whim and I certainly don’t regret the decision! Sadie is a young adult mystery/crime thriller told through an interesting format: a mix of podcast and first person POV. It delves into pretty dark topics including child abuse (off page) and drug/alcohol abuse and addiction. It’s not a happy story by any means and there isn’t much of a happy ending (though tbh, I’m still a little salty about that ending!), but I think it’s worth the read.
I wasn’t tagged to do this one but I first saw it on Jenn @ Jenniely’s page and immediately thought I’d love to do it, especially after doing the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag! I really can’t believe it’s the end of the year already. We’ve got less than one week until we’re ringing in 2020, friends! How is it even possible when sometimes it still feels like February only just ended the other day?! Craziness… Anyway, without further ado, let’s get to it!
Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?
I started The Goldfinch during The Worst Reading Slump of 2019. It was a bad time for my mental health and now whenever I think of picking it up again, I just feel dread… I wanted to read Good Omens before the show came out but I wasn’t in the mood for it and it was tough to concentrate. The same goes for My Lovely Wife! I hope I can at least finish one of these before 2019 ends!
Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?
I’m… Not sure what this means? An autumnal book? But… It’s not autumn? Or am I just confusing myself? Lol
Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?
I’m taking this question to mean are there any more books that are coming out that you’re looking forward to and the answer would be no! 2019 has been an incredible year for books but there’s nothing else I’m waiting on now!
What are three books you want to read before the year ends?
If I really only had to pick three of the many, it’d be these: The Queen of Nothing (I just finished TWK and I’m not putting this off anymore!), The Toll and Well Met!
Is there a book that you think could still shock you and become yourfavorite of the year?
Ooh, I feel like this is a pretty tough question to answer because I’m not even sure if I can say what my favorite of the year is! I’m notoriously bad at making these kinds of decisions. I’m thinking of all the books that I still want to read before 2020 (beyond the three above) and I think there’s a strong possibility for one of them to be a contender… I’m not going to name which book though because I don’t want to jinx myself 🤪
Have you already started making reading plans for 2020?
I’m surprised to say YES to this question! In previous years I’ve never really made plans for reading but now that I have a blog and am participating in blog tours and have eARCs to read before certain dates, I’m hoping to get better organised by setting up a proper calendar for when I need to finish books! I really want to get on top of my eARCs (NetGalley mostly) in 2020 because then I won’t feel so guilty requesting more books to read 🤣
And that’s a wrap folks! I still can’t believe 2019 is pretty much over. I still have to think about my favorite books of the year and that’s for sure going to be a tough one since I’ve never read so many books in one year until now 🤣 I think I’m looking forward to the challenge though! Let’s see if I’m saying that by the end of it lol
I TAG…
It’s okay if you don’t like tags or don’t feel like doing this one. No pressure at all! Also, even if you’re not tagged and want to do it, consider yourself officially tagged! Don’t forget to link back so I can see your answers 😉
HAPPY TROPICAL CHRISTMAS, FRIENDS! I hope that you have the most beautiful day with your family and friends. May your day be filled with so much love and happiness. Lots of love from the other side of the world!
So it’s time for December’s last WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
Since last Wednesday I managed to read four books! My reviews for these are in the works but see my mini-reviews below:
Friends, we’re a little over halfway through the last month of 2019! How insane is that?! So it’s time for December’s second to last WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
Since I decided on Tuesday that it’s time to bring some more festive feels to my blog, I’ve decided to kick off Tag Thursday with Jenniely’s Bookish Naughty Or Nice Book Tag! I’m sure the majority of you already follow her by now, but if you haven’t seen her posts, you should definitely check it out! Her content is top and her graphics are always gorgeous and absolute goals 😍I wasn’t tagged in this one but I saw it on Jenn’s page and then I saw Sammie did it too, so I thought I’d jump aboard too. So, let’s get to it!
Shots fired!I repeat, shots fired! Gah, my guilt alone would send me straight to the naughty list but it’s kind of comforting to know I’m not alone in this. I’m still doing my best to get them all read though!
I stumbled across this post on Loretta’s page (which by the way is awesome and you should defo check it out if you haven’t yet!) several months ago and it looked like so much fun that I couldn’t wait to try it myself. But of course with life, reading, and all the awesome tags out there, I’ve only just now got around to doing it! It involves one of the things that I secretly really love to do on the interwebs: take quizzes! Yes, I’m a quiz-taker-lover! Especially when it’s a book related quiz but also pretty much any rando quiz I come across; you can bet that I’d love to do it, if I haven’t already done it 😂 This tag is then pretty perfect for me! Here’s what Loretta has to say about her tag:
“Now here we are! All of these quizzes tell you who you would be if you were in that specific universe. I tried to stick with the same quiz makers as much as possible for the sake of consistency, but was forced to stray on a few of them. Each fandom title links back to the original quiz I took (at this point you’re like, please for the love of god, stop saying the word quiz), so you all can take them too. So go forth and prosper. May the odds be ever in your favor. MWAHAHAHAHA!!”
With that said… Let’s get to it! First up are THE RULES:
Take all the quizzes down below and record your answers somehow. I decided to just copy the text from each quiz and paste it into my post, but screenshots work too! Whatever floats your goat (Yes goat. I SAID WHAT I SAID).
NO CHEATING. You get one shot to take each quiz my friends. I’m watching you. ∗Suspicious squinty eyes∗