Today is important for two reasons, first, my favorite holiday is here! Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating! It looks nothing like most years, but I’m grateful we have a vaccine so there’s hope that next Christmas will involve all the large family gatherings I’m missing this year. Secondly, today marks the beginning of #Top10of2k20 with Books I Wish I’d Made Time For This Year! I’m really thrilled that Kim has graciously allowed me to be officially part of the event and I look forward to reading and seeing everyone’s contributions.
I kept putting off writing this post because I was like, “You still have time! You can read [x book] before it’s time to write that!” But I think it’s time to face the facts. There are several books that I desperately want to read that my brain is like, “That’s nice. You may either reread or read holiday novellas. That’s IT.” So, here we are. Last year I treated this as a bit of a Most Anticipated Books of the Year lists check in and I liked that format. So let’s get started!
Most Anticipated of the Year
Including my honorable mentions, I had sixteen books on my Most Anticipated Books of the Year list (17 if you count The Bride Bet, which was postponed to 2021). Of the main list, I read all but one, The King of Crows by Libba Bray, which technically speaking, I started and read up until my favorite character was okay and then I stopped before things could get bad. So, if you were wondering where I’m at in terms of reading non-romance novels… It’s not going well. Of the list in full, I’ve also not read Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan even though I keep staring at it covetously because I love the cover. I desperately want to read it, but Kennedy always emotionally destroys me and I’m just not ready for that right now and haven’t really been in all of 2020. Send help. This does mean that I read 14 out of 16 though, so that’s awesome!
Most Anticipated Books of Winter
Similar to why I haven’t been able to pick up Queen Move, the other queen of angst for me is Scarlett Peckham and so I still haven’t read The Lord I Left! A travesty. Anyway, of the ten main books on my Winter TBR, I failed to read three. One of those is The King of Crows, but the other is Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse and I have no excuse. I’ve been meaning to read it for months and just… don’t pick it up. I also had four honorable mentions and I’ve read one. *hangs head in shame* The ones I have left are Headliners by Lucy Parker, Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli, and We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia. I’m dragging my feet on finishing the London Celebrities series for literally no reason and I’m really aggravated with myself about it. I adored Pretty Face and should have immediately moved on, but apparently I stashed the entire series in a hoard for emergencies part of my brain so that is… not helpful. Break the Fall is a YA novel that deals with some #MeToo issues that I just haven’t been in the head space to handle and honestly, I almost forgot about We Unleash the Merciless Storm entirely. I didn’t really see people talking about it.
Most Anticipated of Spring
Oh dear. So of the ten main books on my list, I only didn’t read Crush the King by Jennifer Estep and, as previously mentioned, Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan. As for why I didn’t finish Crush the King, I think it’s because it was another series I wanted to read straight through and never quite felt up to re-reading the first two. It’s also been a challenge for me to read much fantasy this year, which is really unfortunate. In my honorable mentions, I didn’t read three, Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare (again, fantasy, it’s not working for me!), Sure Shot by Sarina Bowen (honestly, no idea why I haven’t picked this one up), and The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes by Suzanne Collins (I’ve mostly lost interest in this one entirely, tbh).
Most Anticipated of Summer
I did it! I read them all!
Most Anticipated of Fall
I read all ten of my main picks! I have two honorable mentions that I haven’t read, Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas, which I promise I will as soon as I actually get caught up, and A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, which I’ve decided against reading. So honestly, a solid job all around!
Now, there are a couple of books that came out in 2020 that I either didn’t know about before making these lists or people talked about so much that I really wish I’d made time to read them. At the top of this list is The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin. Closely following it is The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, which it seems like everyone has loved. There are others, but if I start listing them all, I think we’ll be here all day. So, for now, let’s make that final top ten list of books I really do actually want to make sure I get to!
- Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan
- The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin
- The Lord I Left by Scarlett Peckham
- Headliners by Lucy Parker
- Crush the King by Jennifer Estep
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
- Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare
- Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
- Sure Shot by Sarina Bowen
- Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas
I hope you’ll share with me your lists! I definitely want to see them. Again, if you’re celebrating, I hope you are having such a wonderful Christmas! If you’re not, I still hope you have a fantastic day.
xx
firewhiskeyreader 