I’ve already done this before, but I’m still going to do it again.
A lot of things have changed since my first time doing this nearly a year ago (will be exactly a year this Saturday) and I now have some new favorites and possibly a whole new outlook on life, so I’m curious to see how my answers will differ this time around.
Many thanks to the amazing Nikki @ The Night is Dark and Full of Books for tagging me! (and I’m so sorry for taking 6 months to finally do this!!)
Hey guys and welcome back! Today is the 7th day of 2020 and life is finally getting back to normal. Yesterday was the first day of school again, and to be honest, I kind of missed having classes and assignments. I know. I can barely believe that I even thought that myself. But of course, when assignments properly start, I’m going to be wishing for another break once again.
Anyways, today I’m going to be wrapping up my 2019 reading year.
To help wrap up my past reading year, I’ve decided to do Jamie’s End of Year Survey with a twist. Instead of answering all her questions (46!!), I’m going to pick a handful to answer, and also do a wrap-up my way. Initially, I was going to do 2 different posts, one with the survey and the other with my wrap-up, but that’s going to be repetitive, so I’ll be combining both.
This is probably going to be rather long, so without further ado, let’s get started!!!
2019 Reading Stats
Number of Books Read: 98
Number of Re-Reads: 3
Genre You Read the Most From: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
I didn’t make it to 100 books. But that’s okay. Because I got to 98, which is still a pretty good number and I’m really proud of myself for making it that far.
The re-reads were The Fixer and The Long Game, both by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter. The first two were great, and I loved re-reading them. The third one was a little cringey, and I can see why it appealed to a Younger Rukky, but it was not for Current Me.
Lol, no surprise. Mystery/Thriller/Suspense was by far the genre that I read the most from, with Fantasy coming in second, and Contemporary in third.
I made a little pie chart to break down my reading even further, and I’m so relieved that it turned out looking okay.
if it’s a little fuzzy, I apologize!
I also did another chart showing my year in books by rating, so here you go:
I like how most of my books were 4 or 3 stars. The books were either mediocre or pretty good, just not super great, and I’m happy with that. I think it also shows that I’ve figured out what books work for me, and what don’t, and so hopefully next year, this will have much less 2 or 1 star books.
I did have a couple of DNFs (Did-Not-Finish), and most of them, I plan on trying to re-read another time, while some I absolutely did not like.
For Blanca and Roja, Ninth House, and Blindsighted, I don’t think i was in the right mood when I picked them up, so I was really bored and impatient with them. These are the ones I plan on picking up some other time.
Marshall Law just wasn’t for me. I got it for review from Reedsy, but I didn’t like it and never finished it.
Captive Witness was disappointing, because I loved Nancy Drew once upon a time, and when I picked this up, I couldn’t get over how old fashioned it was. I was cringing so much, and decided to stop so that I wouldn’t ruin all my great memories of reading all the various series.
The Perfect Husband was a nightmare. I am so done with that book. Usually, when there is extra stuff going in books, especially in thrillers and mysteries, I just skim past and move on. But this book had stuff in pretty much. Every. Single. Chapter. I can’t believe I got to 74%. SEVENTY-FOUR, guys. And you’d think that they don’t have time for any of this extra drama, and so called “romance” when the MC is being hunted by a pure 100% psychopath. But no, they can’t stop their “love” for five seconds.
So yeah. 3 of them, I might try later, 2 of them were just not for me, and 1 of them was a true nightmare. But I’m still pretty glad that I only had 6 DNFs the entire year.
This was more of a political thriller, but I still loved the mystery of who was behind the attack. I’m also a huge fan of any book with “secret agents” and Mary and Stone were amazing and made me love the story even more.
It was interesting being told what happened to Frank in bits and pieces, and what brought him to that beach. There was so much suspense, as things were slowly revealed and I liked that. The book wasn’t perfect in other aspects, but the suspense was really great.
This is a master thriller. It was honestly the first time that I’d been truly petrified and nervous, and anxious about how things would end in a book. It was a little over the top, and would probably be better as a movie than a book, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
I loved this. I loved the characters. I loved Kaz’s cunning ruthless and brutal, I loved Inej, Jes, Wylan, Nina and Matthias, I loved everything about it. Well, it was slow until the heist at the end, but I liked the build-up and relationships between the characters, and how we got to know them so well. This is honestly my top fantasy book of 2019.
This is a fantasy that I loved because of it’s worldbuilding. The way Allomancy was described, the way the Empires and cities felt so real that I could literally picture everything happening clearly, that was amazing. I loved the heist, and was shocked at how things turned out, but what I loved the most about this was how real, and possible, and well-thought out the world and Allomancy was.
I got a recipe for November Cakes. That’s honestly enough to bribe me into loving this book. But really though, I sincerely enjoyed the story. The happiness, calm, and peace that came after I finished reading it. The deadly but utterly beautiful horses. Puck and Sean fighting for what they want, what they love. It was really beautiful, and I’m so glad that Meegs pushed me to read this.
He’s grumpy. He’s strict. He’s mean. But underneath that tough exterior, Ove is hurting. And this book is about what caused it, and what happens when a new bustling family, with a fiery and delightful mother, moves in next door. I loved this because of the characters, and because the found family relationship that all the neighbors built with one another. Ove is also really endearing, and it was heartbreaking reading about everything that went wrong in his life. Even if it was fictional. This book made me so happy, because Ove learned to live and love again.
I may have loved this solely because the ending shattered my heart. But I’m also a big fan of coming-of-age novels, and this is one of them. At first, I didn’t like many of the characters, and I was a little annoyed, and maybe bored. But as the story continued, and the years passed, and the war dragged on, I began to feel for all these characters. I began to understand them, love them. And when that ending came, even though I knew, even though I’d been warned, it still shattered me when that happened. It’s a book that made me laugh, made me smile, made me cry. And I don’t think a book has ever done all three to me.
This was a great book about a woman fighting society’s sexist and racist views through a newspaper column in 19th century Georgia (aka the 1800s). Jo was a great main character, and I loved Old Gin, Noemi, and Nathan so much. She’s brave, she’s fierce, and she was risking so much to write her Miss. Sweetie column and using it to inspire change in her community. This was one my most anticipated books this year, and it did not disappoint.
I’ve already read the first book, A Darker Shade of Magic, and even though it was slow in the beginning, I loved the magic and the world, and I can’t wait to read the second book.
Best Sequel of 2019?
Vengeful by V.E. Schwab. This was such an awesome sequel, and I loved the new villains, as well as Victor’s search for a cure. The ending was really great, but I hope that there is still a 3rd book! Mitch, Syd, and Victor were so sweet together, and honestly, this book was just perfect.
Best Series Ender of 2019?
Nope, none. The only Series Ender I read in 2019 was The Queen of Nothing, and that was most definitely one of the worst I’ve ever read. I’m just really disappointed and salty about it.
Favorite new author you discovered in 2019?
My new top three authors that I discovered in 2019 are:
Maggie Stiefvater (The Scorpio Races), V.E. Schwab (Vicious), and Brandon Sanderson (The Final Empire).
Favorite cover of a book you read in 2019?
It’s a tie. I can’t pick one over the other! Both covers are just so beautifully gorgeous.
Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2019 to finally read?
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. I’d seen it in my library a lot, and I can’t believe that I never picked it up until earlier this last year. It was one of the first YA mysteries that I read, and I really loved it.
Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2019?
This post is already over 1,500 words long, so I’m going to stop here. I think I’ve covered all the major questions, and if you’d like to see all the books I read last year, check out my 2019 Year in Books on GoodReads. I’ll probably be doing a Blog/Life Wrap-Up next, and I may do a Most Disappointing Books of 2019. Not sure yet, but keep an eye out for another wrap-up!
That’s it for this post! What was your favorite book of 2019? Have you read any of the ones mentioned above? What did you think? How many books did you read in 2019? Chat with me in the comments below!
Good morning dearest readers and welcome back! Today, I’m going to be doing a book recommendation post (my very first one!!!) and sharing with you some of my favorite books.
At first, I wasn’t sure whether to do this in a “if you liked this, then I think you should read…” format, or if I should do it in a “here are all my favorite books! I highly recommend you read them” format, or if I should do it by genre.
I’ve finally decided to do it by genre and I’m going to try to do them monthly. To start it off, I’m going to be sharing some amazing mystery and thriller books.
I have another idea which is to recommend books to characters from other books (inspired by Meeghan’s Overwatch recommendation posts! Definitely check them out!!!!) but I’m not going to do that for now. Let me know if you’d like to see it soon though!!
These two books are my all time favorite political thrillers, and I loved re-reading them again this year. Tess, Asher, Vivvie, Henry, even Emilia, were all spectacular characters and I loved following them on their adventures from navigating friendships to terrorists. The twists in both of these books are amazing, and I really wish that there had been a third book.
I definitely would recommend this for a YA political mystery, with some family drama.
Lisa Gardner is one of my automatic-read authors, and this book did not disappoint. The mystery was engaging, and the topics that the story touched on were heart-breaking while also being realistically portrayed. D.D. and Flora were both really great characters, and I loved how different, but also how similar, that they both were. The final reveal shocked me, and it never even crossed my mind that X could have been the killer.
I would recommend it if you like police procedurals and murder mysteries.
Baldacci books and I have a complicated history. I loved the Will Robie series, read one of his King and Maxwell books and wasn’t really wowed by it, and then I read Long Road to Mercy and I was so annoyed and angry about it.
However, Hell’s Corner was a hit for me and I loved the complicated plot and characters. Mary and Stone were really interesting and made an awesome pair. I loved how Stone taught Mary some really important life lessons without explicitly doing so, and watching them both have each other’s back. I was sorely disappointed to find out after I read the book, that this was the last one in the series. The ending was absolutely shocking and kind of aggravating, but in a good way.
I would recommend this, especially if you’re looking for a political mystery with assassins and MI6 agents.
Even though this is technically sci-fi, I’m still going to put it here, because it was definitely a thriller and I loved it. The concept of ExtraOrdinary people, who unlock powerful powers after a near-death traumatic experience, was so intriguing.
I loved reading about how Eli and Victor became EO’s and what led to the thrilling chase and fight between these two ex-best friends. And guys. Victor is not a hero. Eli wants to be a hero but he’s also not a hero. They are both villains, and that made everything much more fun, because there’s no “good guy” to root for.
I also loved the found family relationship with Mitch, Sydney, and Victor. It was really sweet and honestly, I just really liked this book.
I’d definitely recommend this for a science-fiction novel with thriller aspects, and amazing characters!
This was really good. The mystery is not very interesting, but it is really thrilling. Darby was a great main character, and I felt her pain and struggles as she tried to help the little girl, while surviving a horrible blizzard.
The setting and the blizzard added to the helplessness of the situation and increased the terror of Darby, and me as the reader. The ending was rather implausible, but to be honest, I didn’t really care and I was glad that things turned out the way they did. This was one of the first truly thrilling thrillers that I read.
I would recommend this for a short thriller, with a powerful punch.
That’s it guys! I feel like this was not a really good recommendation post, but hopefully it’ll still make you want to pick up one of these great books! I am obviously horrible at this lol.
What are you reading? Have you read any of the books above? What did you think? Do you have any suggestions for great and amazing thrillers? What recommendation post would you like to see next? Was this an utter disaster, or are you partially curious about these books? Chat with me in the comments below!
Good morning! I hope you had an amazing weekend! Today, I’m going to be doing my monthly wrap-up for November of 2019.
It’s unbelievable how fast the year has gone by. I mean there are literally 29 days left of 2019! A new decade is about to start!! Please tell me I’m not the only one absolutely anxious, scared, and excited about this!!!
November was an interesting month. I got the last week off of school, so that was great, but all my plans for blogging and reading…didn’t happen unfortunately. The beginning of the month was great and I was super excited, but then it kind of dipped from there.
Books:
Covers are from Goodreads
I read 7 books, which is a bit of a disappointment since I read 13 books last month. I’ve got to read 14 books by the end of the year to reach my goal of 100. I’m not sure if I’ll make it, but hopefully I will. I did read some of the books on my Nov TBR, but not all, and I didn’t write a review for any of them lol. However, the links lead to my unofficial thoughts on Goodreads.
I also did 2 official reviews. I have so many backlogged reviews that I honestly need to write, but don’t feel like it. Maybe I’ll do more in December? or probably I’ll just wait and really start writing them in the upcoming decade 😉
Three Days Missing by Kimberly Belle // Rating: ★★★★☆ One sentence summary: An interesting thriller with great characters and an underwhelming reveal.
Vengeful by V.E. Schawb // Rating: ★★★★★ One sentence summary: A great sci-fi thriller with amazing characters and an intriguing plot.
Total Number of Books Read This Month: 7
Total Number of Reviews: 2
Tags:
Well, technically I did only 1 tag, but since I answered some questions in a tag-ish kind-of format for my 200 Q&A Answer post, I shall count that as a tag as well.
I had the whole of the previous week off, and I didn’t write/draft any extra posts. I’m really disappointed. I had a horrible migraine one day and then I went out some other days, and I just didn’t get anything done. I’d been planning all month, I was pretty excited, and it didn’t happen. Oh well.
I’ve been thinking about doing some different and hopefully interesting posts including a book recommendation post so if that’s something you’d like to see let me know in the comments!
I also still haven’t posted the LTB topics for this month, but I’m going to try and post them tomorrow. Sorry!
That’s A Wrap!
In the end, I read 7 books, did 2 reviews, 2 tags, and 5 LTB discussion posts. 6 of the books were 4 or 5 stars, so that’s amazing. I only met my goal of writing at least 3 discussion posts that I set for November, so hopefully I’ll do better this month.
My goals for this month are to read 14 books (at least 10), do 4 or 5 tags, 3 reviews, and 4 LTB posts.
And that’s it for this wrap-up! How was November for you? How many books did you read? What do you think about problematic books? Would you like to see a book recommendation post? Any ideas for more creative posts that I can try out? Anything you’d like to share? Let’s chat in the comments below!
Good morning everyone! Welcome back! I hope you are having a great week so far. Today I’m going to be reviewing Vengeful by V. E. Schwab. This was an amazing sequel with wonderful characters and an intriguing plot.
Summary: Sydney once had Serena—beloved sister, betrayed enemy, powerful ally. But now she is alone, except for her thrice-dead dog, Dol, and then there’s Victor, who thinks Sydney doesn’t know about his most recent act of vengeance.
Victor himself is under the radar these days—being buried and re-animated can strike concern even if one has superhuman powers. But despite his own worries, his anger remains. And Eli Ever still has yet to pay for the evil he has done.
Quote: “I don’t want to survive. I want to thrive.”
*Victor. I’ve always loved Victor because he’s not necessarily the good guy. He’s more like the lesser of two evils, which makes him a very interesting character. He doesn’t have the same views of what is right and wrong, nor does he particularly care about the suffering of others at his hands. But he’s still a good guy, with a good heart, no matter how small it is. He cares and loves certain people, and he isn’t drawn by a desire to kill just for the fun of it, or to rule, or whatever it is that makes people become evil. And that is what makes him a phenomenal anti-hero. This was much more evident in this book, and I loved seeing what he does and why, and seeing him care about Mitch and Sydney.
*Eli. We get a whole new side of Eli in this book, and despite the fact that I want to hate him viciously (no pun intended lol), I really can’t because we get his backstory. We learn what happened to him as a kid, what made him what he is today. It’s traumatizing, and it made me want to sympathize and feel sorry for him.
*Sydney & Mitch. The small family moments were amazing, and I love how much of a dad Mitch is. He may be big and intimidating, but he is such a softy on the inside, and his love for Syd is so heart-warming. Sydney was also pretty interesting, and I understood her want to have a friend, to have someone to talk to and trust. It broke my heart to see how much she missed Serena and wanted her back.
*Marcella and June. Marcella is terrifying. Terrifying. She’s probably insane and a little too vengeful. I’m pretty sure the book was named after her desire to take revenge on all the men who’d belittled her in life. June was an interesting character, and there were many unanswered questions about who she was. I loved her ability (she’s a shape-shifter), and her loyalty to Sydney even though it isn’t explained why. Hopefully it will be in the third book! if there is a third…
*Plot. This was so fast paced especially at the end and I loved the suspense through-out. That ending was amazing, and also pretty sad.
Quote: “Perhaps she was glass. But glass is only brittle until it breaks. Then it’s sharp.”
*Timelines. This confused me in the first book, and it still kind of confused me in this one as well. It’s a little hard to keep straight when it’s flip flopping over the years, but once you get the hang of it, it makes a lot of sense.
Quote: “Maybe we are broken. But we put ourselves back together. We survived. That’s what makes us so powerful. And as for family—well, blood is always family, but family doesn’t always have to be blood.”
I really loved this, I would recommend it, and I hope you enjoy it if you read it! The characters and plot were amazing, and I love how we got to see another side of Eli, while also being introduced to a new and terrifying villain.
One sentence summary: A great sci-fi thriller with amazing characters and an intriguing plot.
Overall, 5 splendid stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
That’s it for this review! Have you read Vengeful? What did you think? Did Marcella terrify you, while making you feel some respect for her? What’s your favorite V.E. or Victoria Schwab book? Chat with me in the comments below!
Eternity Books 