A Year in Review

What I read

This was a weird year of reading for me because I read a lot of romance, and I don’t normally read romance. I blame it on Sarah J Maas.  Let me know if you’ve read any of these in the comments below! Did you like them, hate them?

1-2. Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo:  Leigh Bardugo is one of my favorite authors. I LOVED the Grisha trilogy and I loved this duology. She’s amazing.

3. The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye: I hated it so much which is really disappointing because I was so excited about reading it. I found it to be rather cliché and boring.

4. The 5^th Wave by Rick Yancey: I don’t normally read sci-fi, but this one was actually entertaining. It’s disappointing it started focusing on romance rather than survival though.

5. Murder on Orient Express by Agatha Christie: It was one of my goals to read an Agatha Christie novel this year, so I started on this one. It was interesting and surprisingly not as predictable as I thought it would be.

6. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: 80’s nostalgia at its finest. Actually, it was a decent novel. Not great, but it was fun to read. I’ll go see the movie.

7. 1984 by George Orwell: This was a reread for me. I LOVE 1984 .Everyone should read it. Seriously, it’s important.

8. Red Rising by Pierce Brown: I wanted to like this one more than I did, but I think I need to give it another chance. I just wasn’t expecting the main character to be so young….

9. Animal Farm by George Orwell: I am really interested in Russian history, especially post-Bolshevik Revolution, and because of that, this was a really fun one to read.

10. The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg: I couldn’t stand this novel, which is unfortunate because the premise was interesting. The characters and magic were just stale to me.

11. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins: I remember nothing about this novel, except that it was kind of funny.

12. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys: This takes place in the 1940s in Soviet-occupied Lithuania and focuses on a fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl’s experiences as she and her family are forced to work in a work camp in Siberia. It was so heartbreaking but also so interesting.

13. The Gunslinger by Stephen King: I really wanted to love this book, but I thought it was rather boring. I’ll probably continue with the series though.
14. & 17.City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, and City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare: I read this while I was in high school and never finished the series because it was still being written/published at the time. I loved it though. It’s definitely one of those guilty-pleasures though.

18. Easy by Tammara Webber: I really hate books where girls experience assault and some guy walks along, helps her out, and they fall in love. Rape and assault should never be a plot device.

19. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: This was SO much better than  Murder on Orient Express. It definitely kept me guessing until the very end.

23. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart: This book was so good and so sad and just so different from most YA I’ve read .
24. & 22. The Diviners and Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray: Read my review of The Diviners here.
25. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles:  Review will be posted tomorrow. 🙂
26. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead:I tried. I really did. I mean I guess it was a different take on the normal vampire story, but I still wasn’t crazy about it.

23. & 28. A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas: I AM OBSESSED WITH THESE BOOKS. And Rhys. It’s a wonderful Beauty and the Beast retelling.
24. –32. Darkfever series by Karen Marie Moning: I needed something to fill in the void after reading A Court of Thorns and Roses. I read through these so quickly I don’t even remember really what they were about.

33. I wish You Were Mine by Lauren Layne:Don’t remember much about this one either.

34. Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young: I don’t even really like romance. What was I doing with my life?

35. Confess by Colleen Hoover: I actually really enjoyed this one , and if I’m going to read romance, I’ll probably read more by Hoover. I liked that she touched on other issues impacting the characters outside of their romance.

36. Wait for You by J. Lynn:  I remember this one only because it made me roll my eyes so much. I’m sorry, but this girl-changes-bad-boy trope has to end.

37. Losing It by Cora Carmack: Okay, I liked this one. It has a college setting and a romance between a student and professor, so it has that forbidden stuff going on. It was fun. Did I mention I read a lot of smut this year?

38. Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover: After A Court of Thorns and Roses, this is my favorite out of all my romantic crap I read this year. Does it inspire me to keep reading romance? No, but I still enjoyed it.

39. Inescapable by Amy A Bartol: I think I enjoyed this one, but I don’t remember much about it. I just really want to read more books with a college setting, but there doesn’t seem to be much good stuff out there.

40. Vampire Girl by Karpov Kinrade: This is the book that ended my romance reading spree. It was a little much.

41. First Year by Rachel E. Carter: This was kind of engaging. The premise sounded interesting, especially because Ry was set up to be a kick-butt female protagonist. But it sort of fell flat. I’ll probably post a review of it soon.

42. The Black Witch by Laurie Forest: Read my review/rant here.

43. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: I’m trying to make up for all the crap I read by reading a classic, and I love gothic fiction, so naturally this was a contender. I liked it, but it wasn’t my favorite, and the end kept dragging on.

44. A Separate Peace by John Knowles: This is such a great book. It was so sad and real, and honestly, I just love coming of age stories. Expect a review soon.

45. Caraval by Stephanie Garber:I’m almost done with this one and I love it. Expect a review soon.

 

How many books did you read? What was your favorite? Least favorite? Sound off in the comments below. 🙂