The Bookend to 2020: A Bookish Post

By

 

Happy New Year's Eve! 

If you're like me, you've been getting the days wrong. I can't believe it's the last day of 2020. Are we sure it isn't December 29th? Honestly, where did the time go? I remember thinking this year was at least ten years rolled into one, but here at the end, it really seems like a shorter year. I guess just a lot happened. 

So this post is kind of like bookish awards where I choose my top five reads of the year overall and the top reads in certain categories. I've included links to my Goodreads reviews for the top five in case you wanted to see what I thought of them.  So here we go... 






In no particular order, my top 5 reads are:


 Empire of Blood by Olivia Cornwell


The Geppetto Codex by Kyle Robert Shultz

 The Drowned Vault by N.D. Wilson


Flight of the Raven by Morgan L. Busse



 You Who? by Rachel Jankovic

These are the top five that stuck in my mind throughout the whole year, but here are some special mentions:

Most Influential Theological Book:

 Yup. This one again. For being a read I originally didn't think much of when I started reading it, it's one I'd read again. And again.

Favorite Anthology:

 Of Monsters and Myth is an anthology by the Phoenix Fiction Writers. They just celebrated their third anniversary! Click on the link to visit their website and check them out. They have so many good books and are just all around amazing people. The Phoenix Fiction Writers

Favorite Writing Craft Book:

 A is for Arsenic: the poisons of Agatha Christie  by Kathryn Harkup. Okay, technically this isn't a "writing" book but it's writing research. Close enough. 

Favorite Short Story:

 Tyra by Jaye L. Knight features the only wolf that I like: Tyra. I've been terrified by wolves since I was small, but Tyra is special.

Favorite Children's Book:

 The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister is my favorite children's book. I read it so many times when I was a kid. I got my own copy this year to read to my little nephew when he comes over.

Favorite Classic:

 I got to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen in my British Literature class this year, and I had a ball! The entire class totally nerded out over this, and there were a lot of debates on the characters. 

Favorite Novel:






Yeah... There are two. I couldn't pick between them. 

Last year there was a favorite poetry book, but I didn't read any this year so we'll have to see what happens in 2021. 

That's it! I made it over my Goodreads Goal this year so I'm gearing up for next year. I've gotten my written TBR list ready. I think there's 185 books for next year? I'm being very optimistic. I might get to 85. We shall see.

Tell me reader. have you read any of these books? What did you think? Do you do the Goodreads Reading Challenge? Did you participate this year? How did you do? 

Happy New Year's Eve and Happy New Year! Talk to you all next year!






-Julia Garcia/ Arysta Henry






Comments

  1. Azelyn KleinJanuary 1, 2021 at 7:16 AM

    I recently ordered a copy of the Geppetto Codex, and I'm still waiting for it to arrive. *stares longingly at mailbox* I loved Of Myth and Monster! Happy New Year! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arysta Henry January 1, 2021 at 4:39 PM

      Ooh! I can't wait to hear your thoughts! Ah! Of Myth and Monster was so good! Do you have a favorite story?
      HAPPY NEW YEAR!

      Delete
    2. Azelyn KleinJanuary 6, 2021 at 5:55 AM

      A favorite story? Oh, man, I don't know. Of the ones that stick in my mind, I remember H.E.R.O. and Lamp of Silver the most, but I loved them all! How about you?

      Delete
    3. Arysta Henry January 6, 2021 at 11:59 AM

      Those were really good! My favorite was Nate Philbrick's "Aura", but I also enjoyed "Mistakes Were Made" by Hannah Heath, "The Boy Who Listened" by Kyle Robert Shultz, "H.E.R.O." by Beth Wangler, "The Gods of Troy" by E.B. Dawson and "The Lamp of Silver" by Grace Crandall. They each hit something that I've been mulling over in the past year and even now. Questions that need answers, if not deep thought.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NaNoWriMo Know Your Novel Introduction

By
Image
This is my first time joining the wonderful  Christine Smith  and a bunch of other wonderful writers in her three-month Know the Novel link-up for writers in these final months of the year. I'm completely nervous, having never done anything like this before, but also very excited.  October's theme is  Introduction  which is the post featured today.  Earlier this month I announced that for the months of October and November I would be switching projects from Harbinger  to Tear   in honor of NaNoWriMo, using this month to prepare. So without further ado, let me introduce you to my novel. KNOW THE NOVEL: PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Q 1. What first sparked the idea for this novel? A 1. Well, most of my novel ideas, (no pun intended), come from questions. I had this question pop into my head, "Where does Writer's Block come from?" This story was born out of the quirky answer that I came up with. Q 2. Share a blurb! A 2. I warn you this is an extremely rough b
Read more

NaNoWriMo Know the Novel: Introduction

By
Image
I can't believe it's already this time of the year again. Last year I joined Christine Smith   in her three-month Know the Novel link-up. This link-up starts the month before NaNoWriMo and goes through December. If you've been following this blog for more than a year, you'll recognize this series from last year. If you just started following me or are visiting this blog: Welcome! I'm so glad you're here. This month's theme is Introduction  and sets up the groundwork for what I'm doing today.  I've mentioned Harbinger  before. It's a WIP I've been working on for almost six years now. Over the summer I've decided to split it in three books, so now it's the Harbinger Trilogy. The working title for book one is called Sirens of Fate,  and it's this book I will work on for NaNoWriMo. I'm rebelling NaNo, meaning instead of doing this writing challenge traditionally and starting a book from scratch on November 1st, I'm using the c
Read more

Hello, 2022!

By
Image
  Hello! So, I realize that 2022 began nineteen days ago, but I was waiting for results from a sort of poll I was running on social media. Now that I have the results, I can proceed with this post! Before I reveal any "words of the year" or goals for 2022, let's see how I did for 2021. Read 90 books in 2021? I actually read 100, surpassing my Goodreads Goal by ten books! This has been a number I've been trying to read for at least three years, but I've finally read 100 books in a year! Did I learn to draw a hand? Sadly no. A few months into 2021, I had a whole host of medical tests and drawing went out the window. I would love to start learning to draw again, but I just started a new job so we'll see if and when it will make its appearance in my life again. So, this didn't happen by March of last year, but it did happen. Sirens of Fate , the first book in my Harbinger Trilogy, did go to a developmental editor last year! It needs another rewrite, but hopefu
Read more