I cannot believe this is my first post of 2024. I think I haven’t taken such a long break from blogging ever since I started. My life has been the most chaotic it has ever been. Who knew being a-soon-to-be 25 year old teenage girl was so hard?
I feel like I am a completely different person now than I was at this time last year. Since the last time I uploaded, I graduated from my dual master’s degrees did an internship for six months, got a job there, was sabotaged (it’s a longgg story) and ended up enrolling on a third master’s degree. Oh and did I also mention that I found out I am a victim of identity theft in January?
Long time no see. I don’t really know how it happened, but I took an unexpected hiatus which is a shame since I read a lot of books that I genuinely adored and wanted to share. I read more books than I ever have, but November is always synonymous with seasonal depression for me and I also had a test that I have been preparing for, for years and I couldn’t bring myself to write a single word because I was so stressed or unmotivated. I guess that explains why I took left, but I still enjoyed reading so many amazing posts by the bookish community. I am happy to see that November is ending because all of these things are now over and I can finally breathe. I really missed posting and since I had such a good time doing it last year, I will be participating in Blogmas from December 1 to December 24 !
I sincerely wish you all the best for 2021! I am so grateful that I got to connect with so many people here, over this platform, and Instagram and Twitter. You have all made my 2020 better!
Last year has been challenging in so many aspects globally and personally. I have to say that I was still blessed in 2020 and many amazing things happened to me! But I do remember the pain, loss and helplessness we felt at times and I’m happy these dark days are behind us. I always struggle at New Years Eve and my heart is always heavy so I decided to challenge myself and I wanted to see if I could read Crescent City under three to two days to take my mind off things and I did! It was such a wonderful experience and reading throughout the day made it easier for me. I kind of missed out on all the “lasts” but I’m happy to focus on all the “firsts” 2021 has to bring!
December reading Wrap-Up!
So this month I read 8 books for a total of 2926 pages!
(ARC) Afterlove by Tanya Byrne: ★★★. See my review here.
(ARC) Dearest Josephine by Caroline George ★★★ See my review here.
How the King of Elfhame learned to Hate Stories ★★★★
Opposition ★★★★
Faking Under the Mistletoe ★★★★★ See my review here.
(ARC) The Pilots (no rating and upcoming review).
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) ★★★★★
I discovered new all-time favourite books in December: Faking Under the mistletoe and Crescent City and I highly recommend both of them! The first is a feel-good book perfect for this holiday season and the second is the best book ever written. It’s as simple as that.
I also took part in blogmas and I actually liked taking the time to sit down and write my posts; it reminded me of why I liked blogging so much and I hope I will be more consistent this year.
2020 review
I had a great reading year! I read more books than I’ve ever read with a total of 58 books which is a little more than one book a week! I’m so proud of myself for achieving that. I finished the year with a bang when I finished reading Crescent City yesterday! Let me tell you it is my favourite Sarah J. Maas Book ever!
I stepped out of my comfort zone and read some non-fiction books and a few classics that I actually enjoyed; I finished series that I had started years ago (The Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout as well as the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer) and began some others which I was always curious of (The Raven Boys series and the Shatter Me series). I really can’t wait to see what 2021 has in store for me in terms of books and as well as my personal growth.
2020 favourites
Pictured below are my favourite books of 2020! I love these books so much and highly recommend them! I would like to add Born A Crime by Trevor Noah which I don’t own a physical copy of.
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Reading stats
My average rating is very high because I haven’t read any terrible book this year and I did a lot of research of what I wanted to read and discovered that I have a genre (Romance Fantasy) and tropes (Enemies to lovers, fake dating) that I really liked and stuck to that. There have been a few books that stood out (Anything by Sarah J, Maas) but a lot of the books I read were very enjoyable but I didn’t fall in love with them as I did previous years (the Folk of the Air series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Gayle Forman books…). Really hoping to fall in love with many books this year!
Reading goals
Here are some of the goals I’m hoping to achieve in 2021:
Read 70 books.
Read more books by people of color.
Read more diverse books in general (disability rep).
Read more non-fiction books.
Participate in a few readathons and reading challenges.
Reread some books.
Be more active on my Bookstagram and my book blog.
That’s it lovelies! What are some of your favourite books for 2020 and what are your reading goals for 2021?
I hope you are all well and safe. As some of you know, I moved to Paris a week ago and started classes this monday. It has been a dream. I still can’t believe I’m here and that I get to visit all of these places. I have kept myself from hitting bookstores because you know, I’m on a book buying ban but my will power is thinning out. My schools are beautiful and I might share pictures here if some of you are interested.
However my apartment is…a nightmare? Seeing my apartment for the first time was so disappointing and after living for a week in it, I have decided to move again. Apartment hunting in Paris is as daunting as it sounds but I have three visits tomorrow and I hope everything works out for me.
All of this means I haven’t been able to read at all, not a single page even though I received Blood and Honey a few days ago aka my most anticipated read of the year. I really hope I will have a better reading month for the end of September, once everything is settled!
I really hope everything is going well for you and I’ll see you soon.
Anotherbookworm 