
Books read: 28
I started the year off strong with "The Starless Sea" by Erin Morgenstern and the "Throne of Glass" series by Sarah J. Maas, and then everything changed when the fire nation att- I mean, when COVID hit. My focus was blown and I found myself running to my bookshelves to re-read old favorites for comfort. 28 books in an entire year is a shockingly low number for me, and I was frustrated and extremely disappointed every time I would try to read a book and I would only read a couple pages or when it would take me weeks to read a children's book. In the end, I tried to go easy on myself because of all the extenuating circumstances this year (COVID, lost concentration, anxiety, new job, entire family getting the Corona Virus, etc). It was a tough year in a lot of different ways, and reading a few less books than usual won't be the end of me. I'll just keep reading, and like every year, I'll try to read more this year.
🌟🏆🌟 The Starless Sea - Favorite Book of the Year
Absolutely transported me. Kept me captivated the whole way through. Rich sensory details, fascinating story, unique story structure/arrangement. Magical.
🏆 Kingdom of Ash - Made Me Cry the Most
Throne of Glass series review // The whole series was fantastic. A bit of a deceptively slow start to the series with the first book, but takes off quickly following that. Massively detailed and well-planned story and world, phenomenal character development, magnificently strongly written female characters including female protagonist and antagonists. The final book made me cry s o m u c h. I cried for about the final 30 minutes to an hour of reading and then composed myself to get dinner and then started crying all over again as soon as someone mentioned it. A wonderfully satisfying and thorough conclusion to an extraordinary series.
🏆 Lays of Ancient Rome - Best New (to me) Format
I love discovering new formats for poetry, and this was possibly the best way to be introduced to lays.
🏆 Return of the Thief - Best Feeling of Finally Finishing a Series After ~15 Years
The Queen's Thief series review // "The Queen's Thief" series is my all-time favorite YA fiction series. The author started writing the series in 1996 and I started reading it around 2005 or so. The finale to this series has been a long time coming, and it was worth the wait.
🏆 The Night Circus - Best Comfort Re-Read
This award is pretty self-explanatory. This book is written by the same author of "The Starless Sea": Erin Morgenstern. She has a real knack for writing unconventionally structured, sensory-rich, magical, escapist stories, and I absolutely love it.
🏆 The Little White Horse - Best Book That Was Completely Different from the Movie But Both Were Good and Fun In Their Own Ways
The movie based on this book is called "The Secret of Moonacre" and it is adorable.
🏆 Six of Crows - Best Re-Read That is Supposed to Have a Netflix Adaptation Coming Soon and Here's Hoping It's Good Because the Books are Amazing 🤞🤞
I'm not really sure what else you want me to say about this one.
The Complete List:
January down to December. Underlined books are linked to review posts (links open in new tab). Books in blue indicate awards given above.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
Luna Gale by Rebecca Gilman
All My Sons by Arthur Miller
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas
Lays of Ancient Rome by Thomas Babington Macaulay
Dreams by Olive Schreiner
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Timothy of the Cay by Theodore Taylor
Anthem by Ayn Rand
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner
Return of The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge