Mid-Year Book Update 2020
These are the books that I have read this year so far!! I have definitely had a pretty good year of reading that I hope continues into the future!!
January (4)
The Toll
Tunnel of Bones
See How They Run
Soul of the Sword
January was a good month to start off with as I caught up on my sequels that I missed last year. I didn’t get to read much though because I was on vacation visiting family across the globe.
The Toll was a good ending to the series by Neal Shusterman and it hit most of the points and wrapped up all the plot threads. There were a lot of POV changes that I didn’t like and were hindering somewhat.
Tunnel of Bones was a good sequel and it is set in a different location than the first book with a new set of problems for the main character. It wasn’t that extraordinary but being the middle book in a trilogy will do that for you.
See How They Run was an ok book. It’s been a while since I read the first one and the characters aren’t really that memorable to me. Thus, I was not involved so much as I should have been in the drama. There were some plot choices that I wish didn’t happen but I was able to get through it.
Soul of the Sword was actually a pretty fast read for a sequel. The action didn’t stop and it felt like we were also running with the characters and trying to not die. The character development was really good and it ended with the best way I think a love triangle should resolve.
February (2)
Red White and Royal Blue
The Hand on the Wall
February was a slow reading in terms of the number of books I read.
Red, White, and Royal Blue was a good romantic contemporary that released last year. It is a good LGBTQIA+ book that hits all the feels and the characters are well developed outside the romance also.
The Hand on the Wall was a nice ending to a great series. Although I still didn’t like the chapters set in the past, I did how Stevie was in this book and how she was coping with her life basically falling apart around her. I did like how the mystery (old and new) was resolved but at the time I was disappointed that Stevie wasn’t going to tell anyone about her findings.
March (7)
A Curse So Dark and Lonely
The Bone Witch
The Heart Forger
The Shadow Glass
A Question of Holmes
The Starless Sea
Nevernight
March was when I started to pick up the pace on my reading list. I managed to go through a whole series without getting sidetracked by other books. Although that series wasn’t really 5 stars, it was still fun to read and because I finished it in one month I still retained the plot and remembered the characters. I wouldn’t have liked this series if I read the sequels later.
A Curse so Dark and Lonely was a beauty and the beast retelling with a mc that is bought from “our” world to a fantasy world. I thought it was a ok retelling but they wasn’t much going on in the plot.
The Bone Witch series has a lot of world-building and surprisingly the plot twists really carried from the first book to the last book. The whole series was consistent and the characters really grew during the process as well. I didn’t quite like the ending but it was still nice to read.
I actually skipped a book in the Holmes series because I wanted to know how it would finish and I feel sorely disappointed. The mystery in this book was really good and thought out but I wish there was more in Holmes and Watsons dynamic and the book ends really neutral on their front. Also I thought Holmes could have succeeded better than what she ended up at and it didn’t really seem like much had changed from the first book.
The Starless Sea was a well written book but it sadly just wasn’t for me. It seems just like the Night Circus many years ago, I can’t get into Erin Morgensterns writing. I finished it but I didn’t get much enjoyment out of it (neither from the plot or the characters). The only plot point that I really liked was the intrigue behind the head librarian and his story with his lover.
On the other hand, Nevernight was so fun to read. The main character had a good POV and apart from some NSFW scenes were a good narrator and cynic on her situation. Also the assassin school was a nice setting and the drama didn’t slow down even if the main focus was on the mc learning all the time.
April (8)
Astrophysics For People In A Hurry (🎧)
The Tea Dragon Society
Norse Mythology (🎧)
Sadie (🎧)
Heartstoppers Volume One
Killers of the Flower Moon (🎧)
My Lady Jane (🎧)
The Conference of the Birds
April was the month that I did the O.W.L.S magical Readathon. It was the first time that I did this Readathon but I actually managed to finish reading 7!! books that month to accomplish my Readathon goals. It also allowed me to expand my reading to genres that I wouldn’t normally read.
I listened to Astrophysics for People in a Hurry on audiobook and it was a fast listen. The book is small and succinct and was just a general discussion about astrophysics. I managed to learn a lot in a small amount of time and the materials were delivered well.
I read this small comic about this two girls who have a LGBTQIA+ relationship and take care of dragons who make leaves that can be used to make tea. The art style was pretty and original and the story was fun and uplifting.
I also listened to the audiobook of Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. It was a good read and I liked how the stories were all structured and how they were separated by short chapters. This allowed me to pick it up and listen for 20-30 mins about a myth and then put it down.
Sadie was a mystery that I listened to about this girl that goes missing and this radio host is trying to solve what happened to her and traces her footsteps across the country. This does have some mature themes and is quite sad and depressing. I do have to say that the ending can be inferred from the beginning of the story but we don’t actually know how dark it actually goes until we get there.
Heartstoppers was a comic that has been hyped up for a couple of months in the internet. Though it was a good read, I wish there was more happening and I was somewhat disappointed.
Killers of the Flower Moon was a good nonfiction about the Osage Indian Nation and how the FBI got involved in one of the most devestating things to happen to the tribe. I was really emotional while reading this and it was emotionally draining for me to learn about the atrocities that happened to the Osage people.
My Lady Jane is a parallel timeline story with magical creatures about the 7-day queen Jane Grey. This was a fun read and the characters were quite hilarious. However there were some parts of the book that I didn’t like and wish that some characters had more sense and were realistic in how they interacted with the world.
The Conference of the Birds was the newest installment to the peculiar children series and it follows a new plot line and a new chapter in the characters lives. I do wish there was more Miss Peregrine in this book but the ending was spectacular and I want the next book soon.
May (2)
Godsgrave
Darkdawn
I finished the Nevernight series in May and while there were some low parts in this series, I did like it overall and how the plot flowed through the 3 books. Again I did not think that the NSFW scenes were well written and I mainly just skipped through them when they came up. I did like how the ending was and how everyone was satisfied and the people who needed to be brought to justice got all their karma.
June (4)
Night of the Dragon
Song of the Abyss
Take the Key and Lock Her Up
The Zeppelin Deception
Night of the Dragon was quite the emotional journey for me and I have to accept that it was well written though the ending did scar me forever. I do wish we did see more interactions with the main love interest and more happy scenes with the mc and them together but we can’t have it all.
Song of the Abyss was a weird one for me to read because I didn’t remember the characters from the previous book. I didn’t realize until after I read it that the adults in this book were the characters from the previous book so I read this treating it as a fresh new book. The plot was also totally different and didn’t even connect to the other book. However I did like it after I got used to the new plotline and characters we meet.
Like the previous book, I didn’t feel a good connection with anything that happened in Take the Key. I didn’t quite care for the main romance and also didn’t like how the setting would jump unrealistically without any consequence. The main character in the second chapter gets kidnapped in D.C and wakes up in Paris not even 24 hours later. Also the whole plot with the arranged marriage was weird as I find it unbelievable that no one in the public would question it. In this age where paparazzi follow Prince Harry and Megan everywhere, I don’t think anyone would buy it without sufficient proof.