two friends and too many books
One of my favourite box discoveries this year has been the LitJoy Crate Magical Editions. Harry Potter is one of the great loves of my lives and I will always love items related to the books. I’ve tried a few different Harry Potter subscription boxes and this is one of the best I’ve found despite it not being a monthly subscription.
As I said on my Worst Reads of 2019 post, I’m a pretty easy to please reader. I tend to get swept away in the story and for the most part I enjoy almost everything I read. So when it comes to choosing the best books I read this year, I have to admit that I had a really hard time. There are so, so many good books that I read over this year that it was hard to choose the best, and even harder to narrow it down to the top 5. So in order to do this, I gave myself some criteria. In order to end up on my Top 5 Reads of 2019 list, the book couldn’t be a re-read. It also couldn’t be a sequel, and so I will admit that I cheated a little bit and made a list of the best sequels I read in 2019 just to make narrowing this down a little easier. With those criteria in mind, I was still left with a fair bit of a list, so I had to narrow it down some more. That was the hard part, but I was able to do it. Below the cut, in no particular order, you will find my five best reads of 2019.
One of my favourite series of this year was The Cruel Prince series. I loved and hated the characters. I loved the books. I was SO excited when I heard that Queen of Nothing was being published earlier than anticipated because the ending of The Wicked King had me angsting for the next book.
**Disclaimer: I recorded a free advanced reader’s copy of Followers by Megan Angelo in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this opportunity.
Followers by Megan Angelo is a Sci-Fi/contemporary story about the downsides of fame and technology. It takes place in two different timelines, with two main points of view, but eventually those timelines collide. I gave it four stars on Goodreads.
I am someone who is rather easy to please when it comes to books. I often fall in love with the books that I read, and it’s not very often that I find a book that I don’t like or even a book that I rate lower than a three stars. I always try to find something redeeming, and maybe that’s a bad thing, but it’s just the kind of reader that I am. I tend to fall deeply into whatever book I’m reading. However, I can’t say that every book I read in 2019 was a positive experience for me. Below the cut, you will find the five worst books I read in 2019.
Another year and another year of reading! There’s something about a fresh start and a new year that just makes me really excited! So because 2020 is here, I decided to set a new batch of reading resolutions. Well, they are somewhat similar to last years, but personally I don’t mind that so much.
Can you believe it’s 2020 already? I can’t, but here we are and that means that there is a whole year of brand new books coming our way. It’s problematic because that means my TBR will never end, but it’s also so exciting because there are so many new books to look out for and to try and get my hands on.
OwlCrate has been by my side for a most of the time that I’ve been really active in the bookish online community. It’s the subscription service that I get every month and I’m always so excited about it. To be clear, I purchase this every month and this is not an ad.
Conversely to going into books with high expectations, sometimes you go in with pretty low expectations or no expectations. Those are always really nice times because then you end up falling in love with something you never expected. That’s why it felt most appropriate to follow up my most disappointing reads of 2019 with its opposite: my most surprising reads. You’ll find them below the cut.
It’s a new year and it’s time for a new TBR! I’m excited for all the possibilities that are afforded by a new year of reading. What new books will I read? What new adventures will books take me on? It’s an exciting time for sure.