My 2020 Reading Wrap-Up

Where did this year go? I swear it should honestly be about September right now, not a few days away from 2021! I mean, I was all complaining about how 2020 has to come to an end (it was absolutely cursed), but I can’t believe it’s finally here. Literally, my family celebrates Christmas, and it didn’t really feel like it at all? It’s so strange, I feel like I’ve fast-forwarded over these past 9 months especially.

Now that we’re done with my abrupt intro, I’m here to write about my 2020 reading wrap-up! Going into this, I honestly had no idea how I was going to structure it. However, I was just thinking of someone who took the “Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag” questions and adjusted them for the end of the year too (ahh I wish I remembered who). I think it’s a really good idea, so I’ll be using that to structure my post & to talk about some of my memorable reads from this year! So, let’s get started!

This year, I read 34 books out of my goal of 20! I mean, I’m really happy that I was able to read this amount consistently through the year, but I still felt like I could have done more. I usually read around 50 books every year, but in the first few months of 2020, I lowered my goal to 20 after sensing that this was going to be a slower reading year. It’s kind of strange, but I feel like I still haven’t passed my “true” reading goal! Anyways, I’m hoping that 2021 will treat my reading even better, and I’m hopefully going to set a higher goal for then!

Chain of Gold is definitely my favorite book of the year (along with many others that I am too indecisive to choose from)! I am such a big fan of the Shadowhunters franchise, and I thought that this was a really great start to the series. I think I’m one of the few people that actually like Grace in the series? I found her to be a really interesting character, and I’m excited to see how her story-arc develops in Chain of Iron! I also really loved Matthew, and I think that he’s totally underrated in it. I’m dying to see what happens to everyone and I think that it deserves my own “best book of 2020” award!

I wish I was joking when I say that I’ve only read three sequels so far this year, with only two of them being enjoyable. I’ve started sooo many standalones and series, but I’ve hardly continued or finished any! However, Aurora Burning was SO GOOD! Like, I usually don’t read sci-fi, but I absolutely loved Illuminae and the Aurora Cycle by Kaufman and Kristoff. Aurora and Kal are so cute & I loved the whole cast of characters. There is the infamous cliffhanger that so many people were talking about, but I’m doing my best to forget about it until the third book comes out! It’s a really fun read, and it does sequels justice.

There are so many. I am such a horrible victim of begging for books to be released, yet not reading it when it finally does. So, just to name a few, I desperately need to read The House in the Cerulean Sea, Anxious People, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories. I think that if I needed to make a whole list of all of them, it would take up paragraphs, so I’ll spare you from all that reading.

I haven’t really done too much research when it comes to 2021, so a lot of my anticipated releases are series continuations that I’ve loved from past years (though, I’m hoping to come up with another post soon about it)! I’m most looking forward to Chain of Iron, as I’ve literally mentioned a few paragraphs before, but I also really want to read A Court of Silver Flames and A Vow so Bold and Deadly. I’ve been eyeing You Have a Match by Emma Lord too, since I loved Tweet Cute by her this year.

I’m honestly really upset that I didn’t like Yes, No, Maybe So! It sound like the cutest rom-com kind of story and it was even a Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee! The first few chapters were promising, but it went downhill for me from there, and ended up being a regrettable disappointment. There were so many unrealistic pop-culture references & the romance/characters never connected with me enough to care. So anyways, it was very sad.

My biggest surprise is probably The Inheritance Games! I had seen it on Instagram, but was a little hesitant because of the lack of reviews & how few of my mutuals had read it. I am SO glad I did though! I am a huge fan of riddles/puzzles, so I loved the premise of it. There were so many reveals and surprises, and it made for such a thrilling read. I totally thought that it was a standalone coming into it, so it was exciting to know that the characters would be coming back in a sequel (though also upsetting, because I am horribly impatient).

I think that one of my new favorite authors is definitely Emma Lord, who wrote Tweet Cute! It was such a refreshing, cute rom-com, and even though it was cheesy at times, it was the perfect light read! I talked a little bit about it before, but I’m really excited for You Have a Match to come out early next year by her. It’s about a girl using a DNA service to find a long-lost sister, and I’ve already read so many positive ARC reviews so far!

I am the most emotional person when it came to books, and Beach Read had me crying really bad by the end. I initially came into it thinking that it would be a light read, but it was so much more than that in a good way! It covers some heavier topics, but it made the book so much more meaningful! The slow-burn romance and the broken characters healing each other were so perfect, and I would highly recommend it if you’re a fan of the genre.

I really loved Ruhn from House of Earth and Blood! I really loved his developing friendship with Bryce, and he sounded so sweet. Plus, he’s a fae prince, which always gives me good vibes (I love books about fae so much)! He was definitely my favorite from the book and I wish that he got more page time (like screen time, but with books lol).

So anyways, that wraps things up! I hope you all have a great New Years and I hope you all have a great end to 2020!

Have an amazing Tuesday and happy reading!

-Allison