Favorite Books I Read In 2019

In no particular order, my favourite reads of 2019 were:

The Last Letter - Rebecca Yarros
This book left me freakin' traumatised. I'll never ever read it again. However, it was heart-breakingly beautiful and it definitely lest its mark on my soul.

Wild Like The Wind - Kristen Ashley

Hound broke my heart! I loved him even though he was so far from perfect.

The Guild Codex: Spellbound series - Annette Marie

Yes, I'm putting the entire series on the list. It was so much fun and I LOVED it and will spend most of 2020 anxiously awaiting the next book then the next book until it is complete!

The Guild Codex: Demonized Series - Annette Marie
Yes, these are on the list too. Annette Marie has been the author to make the biggest impact on me this year so it shouldn't be surprising.

Red Winter - Annette Marie
Yep! More Annette Marie. I'm not sorry. This book blew me away and I can't wait to finish the trilogy early in the new year.

Sapphire Flames - Ilona Andrews
I don't think there will ever be an Ilona Andrews book I don't love. I don't think it's actually possible.

The Bar Next Door - Katia Rose
Monroe and Julien were awesome characters and their relationship made me swoon! The book was a perfect blend of sexy, sweet and fun and left me wanting more therefore it definitely deserves a mention.

Unearthed by Cecy Robson
This book was a great start to a new series and considering how excited I am for the next book in the series, well, it had to be on the list, didn't it?

The Cruel Prince - Holly Black

A last minute edition as I only got around to reading it last week but I have to admit... I thoroughly enjoyed The Cruel Prince and when looking at the books I've read this year it would have been a mistake not to include it.

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So, that's my list! The books that had the biggest impact this year, for me. 

What are yours?

Weekly Update #92

Welcome!

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. 

It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Now that's explained, it's on to my weekly recap!

I almost forgot it was Sunday seeing as we're in that weird in-between period that happens between Christmas and New Year where you lose all track of time.

Most of this week has been completely uneventful. A blur of reading, vegetating, eating and watching movies interspersed with boardgames and only the required interactions with the outside world.

Christmas itself was awesome.
Good food, good company and presents.
The little dude was absolutely thrilled with his gifts and that made me so happy.
My own pressie haul was pretty cool too!
Books, giftcards, cosy socks, perfume, colouring stuff and a cross stitch kit to name a few of the items. 😊

I wish you all a Happy New Year for the coming week.
Ours are always super quiet nowadays (we left the noisy and slightly wild Hogmanay's behind in Edinburgh) and this year will be no different. We're having the little dude's bestie for a sleepover so his parents can attend a party so we'll be having party food and some games but that's about it.

Hardback/Paperback

These were under the tree!

Freebie

I've never read a Penny Reid but I'd have to have been blind to never have seen these covers kicking around before! It's time to give her a try.

eARC

I used to love Sylvia Day's historicals back when historical romance was my jam!

I'm in the mood for something along these lines so this'll probably be my new years reading. 

This series is fast approaching a point where I don't know if I can bear it anymore! I NEED to know how it ends and I need all the books now. I have no doubt that this book will be great but make everything even more unbearable! The suspense may actually kill me! 😭

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I DID it!! I read it!! Finally! And I really quite enjoyed it.

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I read this one too! And I liked it even better than the first!
So glad that book three had released by the time I read this though or the ending may very well have killed me!

All. The. Things.

The Nightmare Before Christmas. How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Home Alone 2. Home Alone 3. Moana.

The Man In The High Castle. The Expanse S4. The Big Bang Theory (almost finished S11 of the rewatch!).

So many things... But I still haven't got to The Witcher or You (season 2).

2020 Reading Challenges
Merry Christmas 2019
TTT: Books I Hope To Find Under The Tree



2020 Bookish Resolutions
Final Update: 2019 Reading Challenges
Review: Druid Vices and A Vodka
TTT: Favourite Books of 2019

(True story.)

Have a great week all!

2020 Reading Challenges

I want to keep things pretty simple this year and not get too caught up in reading challenges... But I also like having reading challenges to focus my reading. *le sigh*

In a compromise with myself, I decided to sign up for broad challenges that will let me read whatever I want but will still push me on.
There are also a few things I want to achieve with my reading so...

This year. I'm signing up for:

The Audiobook Challenge - hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Hot Listens

The Rules: 

Listen to audiobooks! Any audiobooks.

Target:

Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20 books.

I upped my target on this challenge last year so I've selected a number that should really be a challenge for this year!

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Beat The Backlist - Hosted by Novel Knight. 

The Rules: 

Read books published before 2020.  Re-reads count. Any format. Any length. As long it is a 'book' on somewhere like GR, it's game!

Target:

80 books

I failed to hit my target of 60 books this year so it may seem mad that I've raised the bar even higher for next year but I have a lot of older series to read so I'm going for it!

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2020 New Release Challenge - Hosted by Unconventional Bookworms

The Rules: 

Read and review books released in 2020. Minimum 100 pages in length. Any format. 

Target:

"New Release Pro" (31-60 books)

If I'm not reading backlist, I'm reading a new release so it makes perfect sense to join this one too!
If nothing else, it'll act as a good reminder to actually read new releases since I'm diving deep into the backlist next year!

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2020 Bookish Resolutions - hosted by Berls & Michelle at Because Reading

The Rules:
Create between 3 or more resolutions (with longevity as it's a year-long challenge) related to books/book blogging/writing

My Goal:

I need to post about my goals for this separately as they're lengthy.
Not in volume but some are quite specific and need explaining.
I'll link here once it's live.

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Book Blog Discussion Challenge - 

hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction & Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight

The Rules:
There are a few (to keep the posts on topic) but the general gist is to write book-related discussion posts. As long as the posts are about books/reading you are good.
Check out the sign up post for full set of rules.

Target:
1-10 - Discussion Dabbler

I am a complete noob to discussion posts (well,  writing them at least) so this one really will be a challenge for me!

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And last but not least...

The Rules:

I don't think there are any beyond read books!

Target:

Last year, I aimed for 2 books a week (104) this year I'm shooting for  3 books a week (156)

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Oh okay... Squeezing in one more because I LOVE a re-telling!!

The Rules:
Read re-tellings! Any and all re-tellings!

Target:
"Warrior Princess" (6-10 re-tellings)

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And that's it!

I know it seems like a lot but - with the exception of the Discussions Challenge - all my choices allow me complete freedom with my reading selections and they also complement each other!
Many books will count towards more than one challenge.
I'm excited to see if I can achieve it all!

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What, if any, challenges have you signed up for this year?