Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful holiday over the last few weeks and that you and your loved ones are safe and sound. I’m pretty sure the holidays didn’t go exactly the way we’d hope they would but let’s stay positive and look forward to the upcoming year – hopefully things will change for the better!
This pandemic seemed to take quite a toll on me and my mental health but one of my new year resolutions is to get back on my feet and try to lead a normal life. I went from writing 2 blog posts a week to absolutely none for more than 6 months – I’d really like to change that now. 2 posts a week seems a bit daunting now, now that I have so much on my plate (I’m now a freshman, yay!) so I’m thinking around twice a month. I think that would be a more achievable and practical goal at this point. Additionally, it saddens me to say this, but since most of my posts revolve around the books that I recently read and I sadly don’t have enough time to read that much, this is probably for the best.
Now that I got those updates out of the way, I’m going to move on and discuss the topic for which you clicked on my post to begin with – my 2020 reading challenge!
I’d challenged myself to read 50 books in 2020 and that goal seemed pretty achievable up till October – I was reading at least a book a week and was pretty happy with my pace. And then university started and it all blew up in my face. Thanks to my Literature course and its (never-ending) reading material I didn’t fall completely behind but yes, my TBR suffered a lot. Therefore, it isn’t quite surprising that I was unable to complete my 2020 Reading Challenge. I’m quite disappointed with myself but I’ve kinda moved on now – I’m focused on succeeding in my 2021 Challenge. Needless to say, this year’s challenge has now dropped from 50 to 30 (I hope I can read at least those many books). Though I was unable to read 50, I think I read a decent number totaling to 48 books (so close right!).
I don’t plan on listing all the books I read in 2020 but here is a list of the books that I rated at least 4 stars out of 5 (Some books have reviews which you can read by simply clicking on them!):
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling
- Far From The Tree by Robin Benway
- American Royals by Katherine McGee
- Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen
- The Awakening by Kate Chopin
- Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi
- Frankly in Love by David Soon
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Anna K by Jenny Lee
- We Used To Be Friends by Amy Spalding
- Little Monsters by Kara Thomas
- Rules For Being A Girl by Candace Bushnell and Katie Cotugno
- Meet Me At Midnight by Jessica Pennington
- The Percy Jackson and The Olympians Series by Rick Riordan (I think I reread this series for like, the sixth time)
- The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan (no comment xD)
- Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
- A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
- Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno
- Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab
- Perfume by Patrick Süskind
- Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith
- Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson
- Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz
- One Way Or Another by Kara McDowell
Phew! Those were quite a lot of books! I hadn’t realized that I’d liked so many of the books I’d read in 2020 so much. That’s quite a relief, honestly – I know that I didn’t waste too much time on books that I didn’t really like. Like I previously mentioned, it is pretty evident that the latter half of 2020 was blogging free since I don’t seem to have any book review posts. Oh well, I really hope that changes this year.
I’d really like to hear about your old (and new) reading challenges. Are there any books that you think I missed in 2020 and absolutely must read this year? Are your and my reading preferences similar? I’d love to chat with you and hear more about your blogging journey as well! See you guys soon!
– Just Another Magical Soul
Just Another Magical Soul 