Cozies in 2020

One of my reading challenges for 2020 is to read 26-51 cozy mysteries. So in order to accomplish this goal I had to compile the cozies I’ve read, cozies I recently started and cozies I wanted to start. I actually won’t list the cozies I’ve read here since I’ve made a similar list last year, but I will list the cozies that I’ve started last year and series I want to start this year.

Last year I decided to start these three cozy mystery because I’ve heard good things about them. Jenn McKinlay is one of my favorite cozy mystery writer, I’ve read two of her series and really enjoyed them. So I decided to check the Cloche and Dagger series out because it was different from her other two. As per the other two series, The Gaslight Murder series by Victoria Thompson and Mrs. Jeffries Series by Emily Brightwell, I’ve heard that they were good so I decided to pick them up. Plus, I do enjoy long series when it comes to cozy books.

Last year I read the whole series of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, so for 2020 I decided to read the whole series of Miss Marple. I’m actually really excited since I’ve heard good things about Miss Marple. I’ve also decided to check out The Haunted Home Renovation Mystery and Blue Ridge Library Mystery because they look like something I would really enjoy. Usually I’m not much unto paranormal cozy novels, but it still looks interesting.

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I’m actually really excited for this challenge because I want to find more new cozies out there. I’ve read a few of them already, but I’m pretty sure there are more out there.

 

2020 Reading Goals

I’ve been procrastinating in posting my 2020 reading challenges because I’m not 100% sure what I wanted to do for this year. However, after days of soul searching I’ve come up with similar goals as I did last year. Not very creative!

So as always, I try to participate in at least four yearly challenges and try to challenge myself with personal goals. Anyways, here are my goals for 2020 including my Goodreads goal.

1. Start/Finish 1 full series
2. Finish 80 Books from my Goodreads Challenge
3. Finish 5 adult novels (not cozy)
4. Finish/be up-to-date in 6 series
5. Read five specific books
   • Thunderhead
   • A Court of Mist and Fury
   • Before the Devil Breaks you
   • The Shadow Hour
   • Three Dark Crowns
6. Finish books from my Five-Star Prediction list

So those are my goals for 2020. Its actually not as intense as in previous years, but I’m happy with it. Hopefully, cross my fingers I’m able to accomplish them.

2019 Five-Star Prediction Wrap-up

Last year I decided to do a five-star prediction TBR for the whole year. I know I’m a bit late in posting this wrap-up, but I really am behind on my posts.

To recap on what is on my TBR here are the books I predicted will get a 5 Star from me.

Amazingly enough, I actually read four of the five books, which I think is a great accomplishment for me. Unfortunately, I just didn’t get around to reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, which I am bummed about, but I really can’t do anything about that. I’m really sorry to say that none of the books got a five-star from me. Some came close, but it just missed the mark.

The Rattled Bones by Shannon Parker – 4/5 Stars

I’ve had my misgiving before picking this book up because I don’t tend to gravitate towards YA mystery. Ya tends to mellow out the mystery aspect of books, so its never really one I would pick. However, I’ve heard nothing but good things about this book so I thought I would love it as much as everyone. Unfortunately, the first half of the book was just very tedious and angsty that I almost DNFed it. Fortunately, I powered through and eventually enjoyed it. The problem is, its still not a 5 star.

The Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan – 4/5 Stars

I’ve read practically everything that Rick Riordan has written and really enjoyed them. So it’s no wonder that I picked one of them for my 5-star rating. The problem is that it just didn’t hit the mark for me. I wasn’t 100% sold on the characters and that took away some of my reading experience. I still enjoyed it, just not a 5 star read.

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – 3.5/5 Stars

I’ve been holding off reading this series because it got such a big hype when it was first released, so I just wanted to let the storm pass before picking it up. Which I think is good for me because it didn’t cloud my own judgment. As much as I wanted to love this book, it just didn’t come close to my expectations. I still gave it a 3.5, but it’s not the perfect 5. I’ll probably continue on with the series, but it might not be this year.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomy Adeyemi – 3/5 Stars

Out of all the five books on this list, I really wanted to love this one. I’ve heard nothing but great things about this book and the premise sound so amazing that I knew I was going to love it. That ending, oh the ending, I just couldn’t take it. The first half of the book also wasn’t my cup of tea, I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as memorable as I wanted it to be. I think my expectations were a bit high and it just fell short of it.

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So that’s my 2019 Five-star prediction. I was hoping that I would have a better outcome, but I still think I had a great read overall.

 

 

 

2020 TBR Challenge #1: Short Stories

Double Sin by Agatha Christie

Rating: 2.5/5

Why? In 2019 I read a lot of Agatha Christie’s books, practically all of her Hercule Poirot series. I actually held off reading this particular book to use for this TBR Challenge. I don’t read a lot of short stories so when I come across one of them, I try to keep it for this challenge.

Review: I have mixed feelings about this anthology because there were some good stories, the ones with Poirot and Marple in it and there were those that got lost in the mix. To be honest, I read this first few days of 2020 and I forgot the stories without Poirot and Marple in them. What I do remember is that they were ok mysteries, not really a monumental story that would grab you from the beginning, but it was ok. I didn’t really expect much from these short stories because I know that not all of them features Poirot, but I at least thought I would like most of them

Anyways, as I said before the one with Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are a lot more interesting than the other ones. That being said I would have to say that my favorite story is Double Sin, not only do we get Poirot in the case but Hastings as well. Which to be honest is my favorite of Poirot’s sidekicks. The Double Sin for me is interesting because there are a lot of different characters that Christie introduce in such a short period, and yet she was able to cast suspicion in each and every one of them, to the point that you’re not sure who’s done what.

This is actually the last book in the Poirot series I had to read and I’m done the whole series. I really don’t think I should have ended the series here, but it’s too late for me to change that.

Reading Challenge 2020: Middle Grade

The Middle-grade reading challenge is hosted by Becky from Becky’s Book Reviews. This will have to be the first time I’m going to participate in this reading challenge. Last year I didn’t get a chance to read a lot of Middle-grade books, therefore, this year I want to remedy that. By participating in this challenge I think I’ll at least be able to get 6 middle-grade books read by the end of 2020.

This reading challenge is year-round, it starts on January 1 and ends December 31 2020There are three options that you can choose from in order to complete this reading challenge.

Option 1: Read six middle-grade book of your choice
Option 2: Chose one author to focus on. Perhaps read through an entire author’s work.
Option 3: Read as few as six, or as many as you like, from the checklist below (please check the reading challenge site for further details.)

To be honest, I prefer option 1 but I really want to challenge myself and want to try Option 3. I think Becky included a variety of options on the list for me to work around it.

This is definitely a reading challenge that I’m excited about in 2020.

 

Top 5 Series 2019

Ok. So I’m cheating a bit because I separated my series books into a different category as my Top 10 Reads of 2019. When I compiling my Top 10 I realized that I was over 5 books, and since these books happen to be books in a series that I finished and really enjoyed, I decided to put them in their own separate category. Please be aware I didn’t actually read all the books in this series in 2019, but I did finish it in 2019.

I won’t really go into details about each series, but I will include a link to any reviews I’ve done for them, if any. This is no particular order and so here I go.

Monsters of Verity by Victoria Schwab

This is actually the first series of Schwab that I finished and like it a lot. I didn’t enjoy the second one as much as the first, but I think they’re both really well done. I really enjoyed reading this book, even though the ending broke my heart, I think it was still well written. I especially love her characters and how she brings life to them. I won’t mind reading more of this world.

Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner

I have to admit, I didn’t really like the second book as much as the first, but I think the sequel ties up everything very nicely. I may not have loved this as much as their other trilogy, but this still deserve to be on my top list for 2019. The one good thing that came out of Undying is that I started loving Mia as a main character. On Unearthed she kinda got lost for me, but by the second one, I did a whole turn around. I really can’t wait to read more books from these two.

The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

I guess this is another series of Amie Kaufman that I really enjoyed. I just really love how they write science fiction. I wasn’t a fan of the first book, Illuminae, but by the second and third book I was definitely hooked. I really enjoyed everything about it, even the different types of media format that they use. This is actually one of those books that you need to try on audiobook and follow along with a physical one. The audio and the book go so well together that you can’t help but feel immersed in the world. I definitely started their new series and loved that as well.

The Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski

I was so hesitant to start this series let alone finish it. The covers may be very pretty, but for me it looked too pretty, but I heard nothing but good things about this trilogy so I had to pick it up. I’m so glad I did because I loved everything about it. I haven’t done a full series review on it since I just finished the third book in December, but I’ll try to get around to it before the 2020 is done. Anyways, like I said, I enjoyed everything about this trilogy. The world is so beautifully done, the characters are well developed, and that ending was so bittersweet. It’s definitely one of those series that you’ll want to read over and over again.

Jackaby by William Ritter

This is definitely one of those series that became my favorite instantly. I loved everything about it, the world, the characters, everything! Although the ending did confuse me a bit, I eventually started to understand it and I enjoyed it even more. I hope that Ritter will continue on with this series with a different twist. I’ll definitely keep my eye out for this author and his future books. To be honest I don’t even know why the rating is low on Goodreads, because its a pretty good series.

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So that’s it for my top 5 series of 2019. I’ll definitely be posting my top 10 read in the next few posts.

 

 

 

2020 Finishing the Series

A few years ago I participated in this reading challenge and really enjoyed it. I do need to finish some of the series that I started a few years ago and I think this year is a great year to do so. I’m pretty sure Celebrity Readers is also the one who hosted the challenge when I first participated in it. Please check out the original post for further details of the reading challenge.

This reading challenge runs from January 1-December 31 2020 and there are a few rules/guidelines for this challenge.

• Post your intention of participating
• Link up reviews, wrap-ups/overviews, etc.
• Use the hashtag #finishingtheseries2020 on any social media.

Also, you may choose between three levels. Mine will be the B-List Series Finisher, which is read finish 5-8 series. This could be a series that you finish or one that you catch up. I’m not going to list the series that I will be finishing here because I haven’t really looked at books I need to read/series I need to finish. I’ll probably add it on here as I do finish them.