Hosted by Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner, I like how this survey delves into the specifics of books read and gives me a chance to review all I read and wrote this year. I removed some questions that weren’t relevant to me, so be sure to visit the original post if you’d like to complete the survey. Links to reviews where applicable. My annual overview (in which I recap my goals progress and set new ones) will go live January 2nd.
2020 Reading Stats
- Number of books read – 106. The second highest number of books read in my 10 years of tracking!
- Number of re-reads – 10. I had a goal of 10 This is the first time in who knows how many years that I didn’t reread The Hobbit or White is for Witching. But I did make time for The Lord of the Rings, as I took last year off to read the corresponding HoME volumes.
- Genre you read the most from – I don’t track genres but once again I have a hunch it’s be middle grade speculative fiction (about 30 titles, up from about 25 last year). Or I could say fantasy (for all ages) –
Best in Books
- Best book read in 2020 – I usually list these in order that they come to mind. I could only think of three immediately. It’s been a year. 😛 Looking at my 2020 Goodreads shelf, I realized I read a lot of stellar books, but only a few that really spoke to me personally.
- The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf (middle grade speculative fiction)
- Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (middle grade fantasy – review coming in January!)
- Black Water by David A. Robertson (adult memoir)
- Deeplight by Frances Hardinge (young adult fantasy)
- Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (young adult speculative fiction)
- That’s What Friends Do by Cathleen A. Barnhart (middle grade contemporary)
- 84, Charring Cross Road by Helen Hanff (adult memoir)
- Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Herandez (middle grade speculative fiction)
- Cog by Greg Van Eekhout (middle grade science fiction)
- Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn’t – Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore. Objectively it’s a strong story. Unfortunately, I found the plot too similar to their other books. As well, it’s a dual narrative and the contemporary storyline didn’t captivate me.
- Most surprising (good or bad) book read – 84, Charring Cross Road surprised me by being far slimmer and more emotional read than I anticipated.
- Book you ‘pushed’ the most people to read – Maybe The Barren Grounds or Black Water, both by David A. Robertson? Happy to support an author from my hometown!
- Best series started/ended/continued – Nevermoor!!!! The last book I read in 2020 was Hollowpox. This series delights me.
- Favourite new author discovered – So many great voices debuted in middle grade this year. Many remain on my TBR. Some that I’ll be keeping an eye going forward are Ernesto Cisneros (Efrén Divided), Carlos Hernandez (Sal & Gabi), Christina Soontornvat (A Wish in the Dark), and Daka Hermon (Hide and Seeker).
- Best book from a genre you don’t typically read – With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (young adult contemporary)
- Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book – Unlike last year’s survey, where I answered Middlegame for many of the questions, I’m struggling to come up with answers to book specific questions. I know there were a few books that I read in one or two sittings. OH OF COURSE Bloom by Kenneth Oppel, haha. That took me long enough to recall…
- Most likely to reread next year – Again, nothing sticks out as particularly re-readable. Perhaps Hollowpox as I wait for the next book in the series, or Deeplight by Frances Hardinge (but I’d more likely pick up one of her books I haven’t read yet).
- Favourite cover – I usually share a bunch of covers in response to this question. This year I have two definite favourites. As they’re both backlist titles, I’ve added a few covers from 2020 to fill things out a bit 😜
- Most memorable character – …oof I don’t know. I left this question to last and now my brain is tired and I give up.
- Most beautifully written – The Girl and the Ghost
- Most thought-provoking/life changing book – An Introduction to Zen Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki gave me lots to think on.
- Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2020 to finally read – The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. I finally read a Discworld book! Thanks to Annemeieke’s @ A Dance with Books challenge for prompting me to do so.
- Shortest book – I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya (96 pages)
- Longest book – Not counting The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings (644 pages) by Phillip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski
- Most shocking book – Two Dark Thrones by Kendare Blake. I think the second book was most shocking in that series?
- OTP of the year (you will go down with this ship!) – Can I answer myself and a fictional character? …No, I will not confess that here.
- Favourite non-romantic relationship – Ugh so many great friendships I could list here this year. I’ll go with the relationship between identical twins Iris and Lark in The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu?
- Favourite book read by an author you read previously – Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
- Favourite book read solely based on a recommendation – I don’t think I read anything solely on a recommendation! At least, nothign I can think of this year, after scrolling my 2020 shelf.
- Best 2020 debut – Ahh, once again I feel like I read a lot of debuts! I think my favourite is That’s What Friends Do. I’ve mentioned a number of other debuts elsewhere in this post. I’ll give an honourable mention to historical middle grade fiction Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis with Traci Sorrell. (Unfortunately, McMannis passed away prior to the book’s completion).
- Best world-building – Toss up between Deeplight (Hardinge’s Cuckoo Song was also the answer to this question last year) and Hollowpox.
- Most fun to read – Have to give Cog and Sal & Gabi props again.
- Made you cry – I think I actually teared up at 84, Charring Cross Road . I don’t recall any other tears while reading this year.
- Hidden gem – That’s What Friends Do came out in January and still only has 183 ratings. Talking About Buddhism (review coming next month) is an older dual language (English and Japanese) book about Japanese Buddhism that I think is a great resource (13 ratings).
- Crushed your soul – Nothing can claim that title this year.
- Most unique – Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin
- Book that made you the most mad – The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole, which highlights some of the injustices Black Canadians face.
Your Bookish Life
- New favourite book blog discovered – Oh my gosh, I must have started following more blogs than ever this year. Here are some that come to mind. From Wyrd & Wonder, I discovered a ton of quality SFF blogs such as The Thirteenth Shelf, Peat Long’s Blog, Jessticulates, Acqaudimore Books, Books, Bones & Buffy, Dianthaa Dabbles, Mary and the Words, Jake is Reading, Natrosette, Bookends and Bagends, Portable Magic, and Thoughts Stained with Ink. Two of my favourite middle grade readers started Bit About Books. I’ve also been enjoying, The Bookwyrm’s Den, Amaysn Reads, Reading with Rendz, Moon Child Don’t Cry, Bookish Wanderess, and Bec & Books.
- Favourite review – I wrote a lot of reviews this year. None in particular stand out as a favourite, or better than any of the others. My review of the Three Dark Crowns series was something a little different for me and reflected my experience of reading early in the pandemic.
- Favourite non-review post – The first one that jumps to mind is a post I did on the copies of The Hobbit that I own! There is probably better content that I wrote and this is pretty niche, but I love it haha.
- Favourite bookish photo – Tie between The Goblin Emperor and The Inklings (not sure how to share the tweet without including the tweet its a reply to…)
- Best moment of bookish/blogging life – Hmm, there’s no singular stand out moment… throughout the year, connecting with other readers online has been important.
- Most challenging thing about blogging/reading life – HAH. WELL. I was one of the ones who threw myself into blogging and reading, but it was challenging at times when I was fretting about being unemployed and preparing for job interviews.
- Most popular post – By views, “18 Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Books by Black Authors” was most popular.
- Post you wished got a little more love – This is tough! I feel like wrote so many posts this year, lol. “Favourite Reads of the Decade” actually got a lot of attention but I have a lot of new followers who probably haven’t seen it and I would love to hear your thoughts.
- Best bookish discovery – None this year! Apart from the great books I read.
- Completion of challenges/goals – To be discussed in my “wrapping up, looking forward post” on January 2 (The short of it is I’ve done alright! You can get a sneak peek by looking at my reading challenges page.)
Looking Ahead
- Most anticipated debut – The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid (cover to be revealed)
- Most anticipated sequel – Across the Green Grass Fields (Wayward Children #6) by Seanan McGuire
- Most anticipated non-debut – Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi
- One book you didn’t get to in 2020 but will make a priority in 2021 – The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker
- One goal for your reading/blogging life – Keep up all the good habits I developed in 2020! Read lots, review lots, enjoy chatting with blogging buddies.
And that’s a wrap on 2020! Let me know if you completed this survey. Happy New Year’s Eve! 🎉 See you on the other side 😄
Happy New Year, Jenna! I love that you reread the LOTR books this year. I’ve always wanted to read/reread them but haven’t made time for it yet. Maybe I’ll try this year.
Thanks Athira, Happy New Year to you as well! It’s definitely a time commitment to read the LotR (I make a lil reading schedule for it specifically) but it’s also definitely worth it 🙂
Hollowpox was so good! I own a couple of Frances Hardinge novels and still haven’t tried her work, so I really need to get on that. I’m really looking forward to Across the Green Grass Fields, too, thanks to you bringing it to my attention! Thanks so much for the shout out. 😀 Happy New Year!
Thanks for stopping by! 😊 Ooh, I feel like anyone who likes Nevermoor will love Hardinge’s works. Hope you enjoy Across the Green Grass Fields as well – I think it was you looking for centaur books way back during Wyrd & Wonder?? haha
Happy to have foun this blog too! First year I’ve really felt part of a community when it came to this. Love that Inklings photo and intrigued to see what you make of The Bone Ships.
Thanks Peat! What a year for blogging, hey? IIRC I learnt about The Bone Ships during Wyrd & Wonder. Hope to get to it in the next couple months.
I LOVE Sal and Gabi Break the Universe! I can’t remember the last time a book made me laugh out loud so much. I hope you enjoy the sequel! Hope your 2021 is full of amazing reads!
I loved the sequel! Possibly even more than the first?? Maybe I should have listed Fix the Universe instead haha. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Definitely going to have to agree on One Dark Throne–that book was WILD. Like–that whole series was, honestly, but the second book definitely delivered on the WAIT WHAT front.
Aw, thank you for linking my blog! I’m so glad you’re enjoying my posts, and so glad you followed me in the first place so I could find your lovely blog! <3
I'm embarking on the History of Middle-earth books this year after rereading LOTR last year, and I'm both daunted at trying to do a volume every month, but also really excited about all the new Tolkien knowledge. Also so glad to hear you liked The Inklings! I've been eyeing it for a while now, and after my current Tolkien nonfictions, I'm hoping to pick it up!
I learnt after I read all the Three Dark Crowns books that it was originally planned to be a duology?! I would have died if the series ended after the second book haha.
It’s not so often I find other bloggers who write so enthusiastically about Tolkien! I may not write about Tolkien’s much as I should here, but I definitely enjoy reading your posts on the topic 🙂 I have only read three volumes of the HoME (corresponding to LotR) and while they are dense, there are lots of treats to be discovered. I think the Inklings book provides a good overview of the group – maybe a bit presumptuous at times, but a good read for those of us who may be far more familiar with one member than the rest 😛
I read that, too! I’m so glad it ended up as four; the world needed all that expansion!
Same, though! I know of, like, two other people, maybe, who write about him consistently, and it’s always such a treat to find another fan. That’s good to know about the Inklings book!
wow this is really cool and extensive!! also i reallyyyy need to get into nevermoor! i just feel like i would love it T.T
Thanks! I like doing this survey cos it gives me a good overview and time to reflect on how my reading went in the previous year. Nevermoor is brilliant, I agree you will probably love it. 🙂