two friends and too many books
How is it the end of the year already? I can’t believe we’re about to start a brand new decade. This past month I read 18 books, which is pretty exciting because I officially beat my record of books read this year by reading 235! I also participated in the winter session of the Magical Readathon, which was definitely fun. I have a few books at the beginning of January to finish it up. You’ll find everything I read this month below the cut.
It’s hard to go into books with no expectations, as much as I try to. I try to keep myself neutral but then I get my hopes up anyways. However, sometimes when I get my hopes up, I get let down. This year there were five books that disappointed me. That doesn’t mean they were necessarily bad books, but I just wasn’t happy with how they turned out. Below the cut you will find those five books.
Does anyone else have a problem with follow through? I do. I fall in love with these series and then I need to have their sequels in my life and then I put off reading them. I don’t know why I do this, but it just seems to be something that happens. That being said, I did try my best to finish up some series I was reading and to continue one with some of the series I was reading. This post is a highlight reel of my top 5 best sequels I read in 2019.
When I turned 27 at the end of 2018, I wrote a post featuring 27 books I wanted to read. That post can be found here. On my half-birthday, I did an update, which you can find here. This is my final update, because tomorrow I turn 28 and my 27th year has come to and end. So let’s see how I did. Which of the books that I hadn’t yet read at 27 and a half, have I now read? You’ll find out below the cut.
I had a rather interesting reading month this month! I thought I was having a bad one where I hadn’t read very many books, but I ended up reading 16, which is pretty good in my opinion. I also read my longest book of the year this month, and did okay at catching up on some series that I had been procrastinating on. Find out what I read below the cut!
***Disclaimer: I received a free early access copy of The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young from NetGalley through Wednesday Books for review purposes. Thank you to Wednesday Books for sending me a gifted copy of the finished product!
When I heard that Adrienne Young was coming out with a book similar to her debut, Sky in the Deep, I knew I absolutely needed to read it! It was one of my most anticipated releases of 2019. After a bit of a hiccup in my reading, I was finally able to devour it in a short time.
**Disclaimer: I was kindly sent a free copy of When Paris Was Dark by Y.M. Masson in exchange for an honest review.
When Paris Was Dark by Y.M. Masson is a historical fiction account of the life of a young boy named Alain who lives in Paris during the German occupation in World War 2. It is inspired by events from the author’s own life. It was published on April 29th, 2019. I gave it three stars on Goodreads.
I love reading in October. As silly as it might sound, it gives me a good excuse to read spooky and creepy books and I am entirely here for it. They’re not always ones that I will pick up in the rest of the year, but I definitely indulged this month! I have to admit that I wasn’t amazing at sticking to my TBR for the month but I did end up reading 20 books and finally breaking 200 books read this month!
**Disclaimer: I received an advanced reader’s copy of The Family Upstairs from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell is an adult mystery thriller set in London. It is about a young woman named Libby who comes into an unexpected inheritance and an unexpected family history. The book is set to be published on November 5th. I gave it five stars on Goodreads.
**Disclaimer: I received a free early access copy of Love, Heather from Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for review purposes. Thank you to them for this opportunity.
Love, Heather by Laurie Petrou is a YA contemporary, with some mystery/thriller aspects, that draws inspiration from classic 80s revenge flicks. It is set in Canada and primarily revolves around a girl named Stevie who is a freshman in high school and struggling with certain social dynamics. I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads. It publishes on October 8th.