Hello my loves,
I read 91 books this year! And I’m so happy about it. Also very proud of myself because like…I read almost 100 books between March-December 2020 and I’m not even sure how that happened.
For reference, in 2019 I read a grand total of…21 books.
Amazing, I know.
As some of you guys may know, reading has always been a big part of my life and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since I was little, I was seriously the biggest bookworm. After getting older and discovering One Direction, Tumblr, fandoms and Youtube etc. however, I probably only ended up reading around 20 books a year which, is still an okay number and good for some people, but just not for me because I know I could’ve read so much more than I did. Essentially, I was just lazy and procrastinated it however, this year lockdown really gave me the push I needed to start reading properly again and now look where I am – 90+ books later and the bookworm is officially back! I’m now making a conscious effort to read consistently and not procrastinate it, and I’ve really fallen in love with reading all over again which I’m so happy about, especially considering I only started this streak in March last year and not even at the beginning of it (Jan). I’ve set my Goodreads goal to read 50 books this year because I don’t want to put pressure on myself, but secretly I’m going to hopefully aim for 100 books this time by having the extra 3 full months available to me.
Anyway, back to last year.
Here’s all the books I read in 2020 – all books with reviews will be linked.
✨
In Another Country – Ernest Hemingway
Banal Story – Ernest Hemingway
An Alpine Idyll – Ernest Hemingway
Ten Indians – Ernest Hemingway
The Undefeated – Ernest Hemingway
The Killers – Ernest Hemingway
Fifty Grand – Ernest Hemingway
A Canary for One – Ernest Hemingway
Hills Like White Elephants – Ernest Hemingway
Today is Friday – Ernest Hemingway
A Pursuit Race – Ernest Hemingway
Che Ti Dice La Patricia? – Ernest Hemingway
A Simple Enquiry – Ernest Hemingway
Now I Lay Me – Ernest Hemingway
Hoseki No Kuni 1 – 9 – Haruko Ichikawa
Men Without Women – Ernest Hemingway
A Night in With Audrey Hepburn – Lucy Holliday
Come Rain or Come Shine – Kazuo Ishiguro
Eleanor & Park – Rainbow Rowell
Will Grayson, Will Grayson – John Green, David Levithan
The Murmur of Bees – Sofia Segovia
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling
Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling
The Deathless Girls – Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Truly Devious – Maureen Johnson
Burying the Honeysuckle Girls – Emily Carpenter
The Note – Zoe Folbigg
Beautiful Broken Things – Sara Barnard
Every Single Secret – Emily Carpenter
The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern
Girl, Woman, Other – Bernardine Evaristo
The Beekeeper’s Promise – Fiona Valpy
Wham! George & Me – Andrew Ridgeley
Clockwork Angel – Cassandra Clare
Queenie – Candice-Carty Williams
Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins
Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Red at the Bone – Jacqueline Woodson
With the Fire on High – Elizabeth Acevado
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
My Sister, the Serial Killer – Oyinkan Braithwaite
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – Holly Jackson
The Weight of Lies – Emily Carpenter
The Vanishing Stair – Maureen Johnson
the sun and her flowers – Rupi Kaur
Until the Day I Die – Emily Carpenter
Life is Strange – Emma Vieceli
The Giant, O’Brien – Hilary Mantel
A Song Below Water – Bethany C. Morrow
The Lost Girls of Devon – Barbara O’Neal
Year of the Monkey – Patti Smith
Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey
Strange the Dreamer – Laini Taylor
Clap When You Land – Elizabeth Acevado
Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng
The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead
The Black Kids – Christina Hammonds Reed
Daisy Jones & The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid
Woven in Moonlight – Isabel Ibanez
Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng
Zikora – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
(will not be doing a review for or reading her future work due to her being transphobic)
Evidence of the Affair – Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Dutch House – Ann Patchett
The Hand on the Wall – Maureen Johnson
Women Don’t Owe You Pretty – Florence Given
✨
The question I feel like I’m going to get asked the most from this post is – how did you read so many books?
Well…
From March I was on furlough for a couple of months, meaning I was essentially sitting at home with nowhere to go (because you know, lockdown) and an endless amount of time to throw myself into my books, so I did. That really gave me the push I needed in order to get back into reading again, and when I went back to work full time in June, I somehow just managed to keep it up. I continued to read a lot when I got home from work and on weekends, and then after a few months of that I started to have two books on the go at a time and I started taking my Kindle to work to read on lunch breaks too, because sometimes when I got home from work I didn’t have time to read. That’s about it really!
What was my favourite book of the year?
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and The Color Purple by Alice Walker. All of my feelings regarding these books are in my reviews which I’ve linked, but wow. Wow wow wow. I don’t think anyone would try to speak ill of The Color Purple but I’ve heard a couple of criticisms of Where the Crawdads Sing and I have 100% become one of those people that refuses to hear it because yes that’s your opinion, but it’s wrong.
What was my least favourite book of the year?
Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz and The Note by Zoe Folbigg. I didn’t write a blog review for The Note because I DNFd it after 100 pages but it was the most boring and ridiculous rubbish I’ve read in a long time, I’m not even sure how it got passed to be published.
Book with the best cover?
Deeplight by Frances Hardinge and With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevado. The most beautiful covers ever!
Honourable Mentions
- The Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson – I’m not a series kind of person (probably because any series I ever try to read are fantasy, and I don’t like fantasy all that much) but this was so good! Definitely my favourite and the best series I’ve read so far – I’m excited to read more of Johnson’s other work!
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston – just…a dream. I feel like for me personally I definitely expanded my reading last year and made a conscious effort to read more “classic” books and books by people of colour. This was a hidden gem that I wish I had read sooner and I absolutely adored it.
- Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – I really loved this book, highlighted the heck out of it and I’m so excited to read more of her work, I think I found one of my new favourite authors.
✨
And I think that covers everything! As I said, all book reviews are linked if you’re interested in any of my thoughts for any of the books I’ve mentioned and you can also always add me on Goodreads to keep up to date with my reviews and what I’m currently reading if you want to – let’s be friends!
All my love,
Chloe .xx
Goodreads – ChloLuna
I loved this little summary of all the books you read last year, which books you did and did not like and which ones had your favourite covers! I am definitely someone who is more into Netflix at the moment but I know that once I start reading a book, I will get obsessed and not be able to put it down! xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! Maybe in 2021 you’ll have a switch of interests hehe, reading might become your new Netflix! xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m curious to know what you do with your books once you’re done reading them. Do you donate them? Are they e-books? Do you have a massive bookshelf to store your books?
I think I read 1-2 books last year which I’m ashamed to admit. Also, everything I read is self-help, non-fiction because I’m boring. 😅
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good question! As part of a bookshelf revamp I’ve been doing for the past year I now only physically buy the books I want to own and have on my shelves, otherwise I just read them on my Kindle ☺️ Wanted my shelves to be more structured and aesthetically pleasing so that’s the way I’m doing it!
I need to read more self-help books because God knows I need it haha, maybe a goal for 2021! X
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like that approach, where you only keep the ones you like. Yes, there’s never enough shelving, is there? I would love to get a solid bookshelf. So far I’ve only had cheap ones that fall apart, so all of my books are in boxes right now. 🤷♀️
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Billy bookcases from IKEA are the best ones I’ve used!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have been advocating for a Billy bookcase for YEARS and my husband insisted on buying a crappy bookshelf from Walmart instead. It fell apart so we got rid of it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A Billy bookcase is the way to go!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow…I’ve been in a reading slump so I can’t even imagine reading that many books…which is sad because I love reading. This post really inspires me to try to read that many books, or at least more classics…heh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reading slumps are the worst, I’d recommend reading one of your favourite books or something you’re really excited to read to get back out of it! Baby steps 💞
LikeLike
That’s amazing! Well done! ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! ❤️
LikeLike
Wow that’s so many books Chloe, so amazing. I absolutely adore your book review posts so much, they give me so much inspo. I definitely need to read ‘Where The Crawdads sing’ for sure! Deeplight & With The Fire On High both have such gorgeous covers – I love that question & answer – I definitely want to read With The Fire On High, I remember thinking it sounds fab after reading your review. Good luck with your book goal this year hun, I’m sure you’ll smash it and enjoy reading so much… ps what does DNF mean please? hehe xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much angel! They were all such wonderful books, if you happen to read any let me know! Would love to hear your thoughts. DNF stands for did not finish! xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will do for sure lovely! I’m definitely leaning towards ‘with the fire on high’ being one I purchase soon 😍 ah thanks so much hun! I finally know 😂 xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s so cool!! I just read 5-6 webcomics online 😁
LikeLiked by 1 person