2019 Reads
- kitcatbooks09
- Feb 21, 2020
- 15 min read
After a year or two of being in a massive slump, I decided this year to finally kick myself and get back into reading. For Christmas, my sister had gotten me my own set of the Harry Potter books, and I really wanted to read them. In February I finally got back into the swing of things, and I couldn’t have been happier.
January:
I read two manga’s, it was because I was at my Dad’s and I just couldn’t read. But I read the first two RWBY manga’s, Red Like Roses, and Mirror, Mirror, which I loved so much. They were very simple, but I adore the show, and I loved them, so I was happy.
February:
In February I finally got back into reading, like really back. I read the whole Harry Potter series again and relived my childhood. Still an amazing series! I reread the first two book in the Storybook of Legends series by Shannon Hale. I don’t know why I picked them up, but they’re still good little easy reads, ones I’ll definitely be giving my niece one day. I then read the third RWBY manga, From Shadows, and finished the month with The Isle of the Lost Graphic Novel. I did this as I had read the book a while ago, and had gotten the graphic recently, I wanted to finish the series and decided instead of rereading the first, I would read the new version I had gotten. After so long of not reading as much as I wanted to, it was so good to be back in the swing of things, even if most of my reads were rereads. At least I was reading!
March:
March was a slower reading month, but had all new books for me, including a new author, and my first new 5-star read. The only one previously is HP, the Goblet of Fire. But in March I read the second and third book of the Descendants books: Return to the Isle of the Lost, and Rise of the Isle of the Lost. These books were fun reads, set between the first and second Descendants movies, which I love. Then I started Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, and I read the whole series. I know a lot of people who complain about this series, but personally, I enjoyed it. While everyone loves the Darkling, I hated him, if he wasn’t the psychopath he was, I would have loved him more. He was an excellent villain, but not one I can love. I think of the three, Siege and Storm is my favourite, mainly because of a certain Prince. Then I read Six of Crows. I will admit, it took me 50-70 pages to really get into it, as I felt like they were slower, but once I was in, it went! I adored the story and the characters! I love how none of them are the usual good guy, but instead anti-hero’s, and it was so good! That book I will be reading again soon this year.
April:
April brought another 5-star new read, and a 5-star reread. The rest being about 4. (My rating system is weird; I’ll have to explain it one day.) So, to start off April, I read Crooked Kingdom of course! I loved this one so much! And out of the two books, this one was my favourite. I cannot wait to reread them soon and maybe write better reviews. Then, because I was so enthralled by the Grishaverse, I read King of Scars. I loved it! But not as much as the previous duology, but I can’t wait to read the sequel of this one, especially after that ending! It may not be until 2021, so I’ll be waiting ‘patiently’ in the corner. I then got the fourth RWBY manga, I Burn, and read it, and was just as happy with that as I was the others. During this time, my friend Ash and I had started our bookstagram! And through that, I made a friend, Angela (@a.potter.nerd), who is now one of my closest friends on booksta, and we ended up buddy reading my next read. So, we read Snow Like Ashes, as she had been meaning to, and so had I. It wasn’t a bad read, there were some issues we talked about, but overall, we enjoyed it. So, I had to buy the next two and wait for those to finish our buddy read. I then, towards the end, decided to do another reread, this time for the Healer Trilogy, by Maria V. Snyder, aka my favourite author. I still adore those books, and Touch of Power is one of my few previous 5 star reads, no matter the issues, it has a place in my heart. Scent of Magic still has parts I get dragged through, I love it still, but rereading it, I may skip certain chapters. I then realised I didn’t have the third in my place, so I had to end my rereads there. To end the month, I read two plays for one of my classes (I was at uni at the time) I read Checklist for an Armed Robber, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Both great plays! And very interesting ones.
May:
May was my best month of reading. With 16 reads all up! 2 new 5-star reads, and 2 old ones I reread. First, I got the sequels to Snow Like Ashes, so Angela and I finished the series. The second wasn’t the best, with only small good parts, but the third was pretty good! I then reread Poison Study, my absolute favourite book ever! I still love it so much! That was followed by a book that utterly destroyed me. All the Bright Places was a mentally draining book, one that left me in tears. I highly recommend! 5 stars! But after that, I didn’t want to read anything heavy because the night before I had been bawling, so I picked up a graphic novel. Nimona was just what I needed and was beautiful! One of my favourite graphic novels ever! So good, such a fast read, and such an amazing story! From there, I read the first 7 Amulet graphic novels. They are some books I adored as well! I can’t believe I owned them for a year and never read them! During my read of these, I finished The Language of Thorns, a bunch of fairy-tale stories for the Grishaverse. Pretty good. I then picked up Warcross, which was the first book of the year I wasn’t that big on, it wasn’t the worst I read this year, but I just wasn’t a fan. It was... meh. Then I picked up the RWBY manga, not the official ones I read earlier this year, but the stand-alone one that was created. Pretty good. Then I ended my month with another reread, this time for Magic Study, the sequel of Poison Study, which is amazing as well. (It’s my favourite series, so I’ll never stop harping on about it.)
June:
Pride month!!!!! So, for the most part, I read lgbt+ books, except 3 books, and this month brought 4 new 5-star books! And one old one. The first was We Hunt the Flame. I think this was another buddy read, I can’t remember now. But I adored this book so much! And I’m eagerly awaiting the sequel! Can it hurry up, please!!!! But then I started my lgbt+ reads. I started off with Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Oh, my, gods! I loved it! It was adorable and so well done! I then moved to The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, which was another amazing read! I loved the story and the characters! I’m about to read the novella as my first 2020 read and can’t wait to see my babies again! Next came Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda. And... meh. I really wasn’t a fan of the book. I loved some parts, but overall, I think I was just bored. Then came They Both Die at the End, which was better than the last book, but honestly, I still wasn’t a big fan. I think it’s being made into a show soon, and I’ll be interested to see what they do, and hopefully answer most of my questions. But otherwise, the book was mediocre to me. (Don’t hurt me, it’s just my opinion.) Next, I read Heartstopper Volume 1. This was adorable! And I need the sequel soon! So cute!!! Then I got the Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy! Sequel to an earlier book, and I adored it! I love Felicity and her adventure! And seeing my babies again was so amazing! I then read Leah on the Offbeat, and it was worse than Simon in my opinion, but still meh. Just was not my thing. I continued with Girls of Paper and Fire. I enjoyed the book and the story, but it wasn’t my favourite, but I’m hoping to continue it soonish, eventually. By this point, I was unable to pick up another contemporary. I’m a huge fantasy reader, and I had read a lot of contemporary and historical fiction in some cases this month, with only two fantasy. So, I went off the beaten track. I had finally gotten the 8th amulet book, so I picked that one up and finished it that day! It was my favourite Amulet book! I need the next one! Can it be released, please! Then I finished off the month with Fire Study (can you guess the series) and it was a good way to end the month and help me avoid a slump I was feeling like I was about to fall in. So, I was happy with my month of reading.
July:
The first two weeks of July were a winter class for me, and I was booked, so my reading was a little slower that month. I reread The Supervillain and Me, a book I discovered last year and thoroughly enjoyed. I then reread the whole Glass Trilogy (Storm Glass, Sea Glass, Spy Glass) and remembered how much I enjoyed those books! I then finished my class! So, yay! I picked up Daughter of the Pirate King and read that almost in a day! I loved it so much! Then I immediately picked up the sequel and flew through it! It’s one of the series I’m on the fence about making it a 5-star. (As I said, my rating system is weird, and I want to work on it more, so they may jump up when I re-evaluate my books.) I also read Riden’s Chapter, which was short, but really fun to read after the books, you can’t help but laugh and shake your head at him, like you have no idea Riden. I then picked up the Caraval Trilogy. (Caraval, Legendary, Finale) I enjoyed the series, but I wasn’t the biggest fan. I was interested enough to go through it, but I got annoyed more than I liked. I know a lot of people like it least, but I think the third is my favourite, only because I liked some things that happened in that one more, the first coming up on a close second. But they were almost all on par with each other. I then read Spider-Gwen Vol 1, which was a fun little read, I’ll have to continue getting these editions eventually! Then came one of my favourite books of the year, I’ve had a few 5-star reads, and I would have some more, but this book stuck out to me for so many reasons. The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary was a gorgeous book that talked about certain things so well, things I haven’t seen many books tackle (I plan on properly reviewing this book for multiple reasons, so you’ll understand more then) but it was an amazing book! And so well done! I then read Maria’s new book, The Eyes of Tamburah! Which was amazing! And another series I can’t wait for the sequel! And I finished with the fourth Descendants book, Escape from the Isle of the Lost, which was pretty good.
August:
August was a month where I mainly focused on retellings. I had started the first book in the last month but ended it in August, so it counted. I read Stars Above, which is just a few novellas for the Lunar Chronicles series (which I love.) I then read Cruel Beauty, which wasn’t bad, but not my favourite book of the month, or the year. But it wasn’t the worst. Next, Alice by Christina Henry. I loved this book as it was darker than I was expecting and was amazing! I personally was disappointed at one part, but overall, I really enjoyed the book, which made me get the rest of her dark retellings. I followed this with A Curse so Dark and Lonely, which was my friend Ash’s favourite at that moment. I loved it too! And I can’t wait for the sequel coming soon!!!! Then I read ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses) and kicked myself for not reading it sooner. I rated the first a little less than the second and third, but it was still really good. But ACOMAF (A Court of Mist and Fury) was my favourite! It was so, so, so good!!!! It told the story so well and was amazing! And showcased so many amazing themes! Then ACOWAR (A Court of Wings and Ruin) followed with another amazing story! And an ending I loved! I can’t wait for the continuation she has planned! I also read ACOFAS (A Court of Frost and Starlight) which I know some people dislike, but it’s a novella, not a novel, so I don’t know why they complained about the size. But I enjoyed it well enough. I then went to The Wrath and the Dawn, which I enjoyed a lot more than I expected I would! I was expecting the worst and found a story I really liked! I then read two of the novellas I could get for free, The Mirror and the Maze and The Crown and the Arrow, which were good little novellas. I then picked up Heartless while waiting for books to arrive, mainly some sequels. And my gods, this is one of the books I was most disappointed about. I was expecting something great as I loved the author's other work, but I almost dnfed Heartless, and I probably should have. I was just so bored. Almost nothing happened! And I know it’s an origin story, but the character was already the worst at the start. I get her desires, but my gods girl, I was so over it in the first few chapters. I then got my books, so I read Red Queen, which was much better than my previous read. But much like Alice, I was annoyed at something that happened, but I still enjoyed the story enough to like it. Then the Rose and the Dagger, which was such a great sequel to The Wrath and the Dawn! Just as amazing! And I have a feeling I’ll be rereading them sometime this year. From there I read Wires and Nerve, a graphic novel about one of the characters from the Lunar Chronicles and loved it! So much that I straight away put in another order for the second! I then went to Lost Boy, another by Christina Henry, and loved that book too! It was such a great retelling! I finished the month off with a non-retelling, I was so close! But I really wanted to read this book. I got The Merciful Crow and adored it! It’s a book that is also on the fence but maybe leaning more and more toward 5 stars over 4. It’ll probably jump when I re-evaluate. But I was so glad to have read the book and cannot wait for the sequel!!!!
September:
September started off with a second reread of Touch of Power, don’t ask me why I don’t know either, I must have just felt like it. I continued with Gone Rogue, the sequel to Wires and Nerve, and I loved it as much as I did the first! I love Iko! I then went into Scent of Magic again. But this time I had a reason I could continue. I went to The Dry next, as I needed to read it for one of my classes, and my gods! I loved it! I haven’t read crime in a while, and this one was absolutely amazing! It was something I read in two nights, and I couldn’t put down! So good! I then went on to Taste of Darkness, the third book isn’t h Healer Trilogy. I had found my copy and taken it back home with me, so I was very happy to reread it finally! I then picked up Flame in the Mist, I had enjoyed her other series, so why not. I did really enjoy this book, it was not what I was expecting, and loved a lot of what happened. I read the short novellas, Okami and Yumi, which were alright, but didn’t do much. Then I picked up Smoke in the Sun. It was... meh. I felt like the story had a good idea, but overall it was rushed, and I got annoyed at too many parts. But I still really like the first one! Next o reread an old book of mine, Angel. I remember it being good and found it was still alright, but my tastes have changed, and it wasn’t as good. I also forgot it had one of my most hated tropes, insta-love. *shudder* from that I did a bad and reread ACOMAF and ACOWAR. Again. And I reread Daughter of the Pirate King and Siren Queen. Again. But I was in the mood to read them! And they’re great books!!!
October:
To start October off, I went back home for a week, and while I was home, I didn’t read much. But I read Falling Kingdoms. I’ve heard a lot and it was pretty good, good enough that I ended up buying the whole series in hardcover so I wouldn’t have different sized books! It’s a series I will be reading this year! I went back to my uni home and picked up Serpent & Dove, and my gods, so good! It’s another teetering on the 4-5 mark, I had some small things that annoyed me, mainly about Reid, but I loved Lou! And the story! It was just so good! I then read a series I regret. I brought Everland a while ago, or Steph brought Everland and I brought Umberland. We were going to read them then pass them on, but I found the first and third on sale, so decided to get them for myself. In hardcover as I liked the covers and the deckled edges. And I did not love the story. I honestly got annoyed more often. The second was better, but only for one character, I got frustrated at the rest. And the third. Don’t even get me started. I think that book was almost thrown across my room 5 times in the first 50 or so pages. I then reread The Goblet of Fire, I was knee-deep in assignments, all of them my finals and were stressing me out, so I brought the illustrated edition of GoF and read it. And I’m so happy I brought it! Still my favourite Harry Potter book! Hands down! I then finished the month with Four Dead Queens. I picked it up as soon as I was finished for uni, and I enjoyed the book. It had some twists I was not expecting, and all I want is more! I’m fascinated by the world and would love another story one day.
November:
So, November, this month I will admit had more rereads then it should have, but at least I was still reading. This month also had my one and only dnf of the year, which was surprising. I started it off with After the Fall, a companion novel to RWBY, following some characters that had been in the show a while ago. I thoroughly enjoyed this and can’t wait for the sequel! And I hope these characters tie back into the show soon! I then went to the Percy Jackson Series again; I still love these books! And forgot how good and how funny they are! My favourite will always be The Last Olympian, even though it’s the most depressing and makes me cry. It’s just so good! I then went on to read Across the Universe, or at least I tried that book was an easy dnf, it was so bad y’all. So bad. I then picked up City of Brass, which I enjoyed, but I got annoyed at times with a certain POV character, but he eventually grew on me. I’ll have to get the sequel soon! I then did some more rereads. I read Wicked Lovely, which was as bad as I remember, but in a good way. I still enjoy that story, but only the first one, I still can’t get through the second for some reason. I then reread Fever, which is actually the third book in a series, but is my favourite of those. It’s a quick read and I just felt like it. Then Unearthly. I need to reread the sequels again soon, as I can’t remember them as much, but I still like the first, for the most part. And finally, I finished with Divine by Mistake. I do still enjoy this book a lot, it’s something I read years ago and enjoyed, even if it had some things that I’m still like, okay... but it’s good.
December:
Finally, December. I didn’t read too much this month as I got busy towards the end. But I read two new books, A Darker Shade of Magic, and A Gathering of Shadows. And my gods! I need the third! Now! (I may have just ordered it) but I loved the books. The first one is another one teetering between 4&5 and the second is a solid 4, it just felt slower at the start in my opinion. But I loved the story and the games! And everything! Kell!!!!!! I’ll be rereading these and finishing it soon!!!! I then went back to rereading. I reread Stray by Rachel Vincent, which is an old favourite of mine, I still see all the issues with it, but it had an impact on me as a kid, so I still adore it! I need to finish the series one day, but I can’t get matching copies. I then went onto Fangirl, which is still a good book in my opinion, and one of the first contemporary novels I remember reading and loving. Need, which is also just as bad as I remember, actually, worse, but I still enjoy rereading it every so often. Then I may have done my third reread of ACOMAF and ACOWAR. They’re good books!!!! Then my final book of the year, which I finished on NYE, was Poison Study. And what a way to end the year!
Overall, I’m really happy with what I read this year, and mainly that I was reading! It’s a huge thing for me as I realised how bad I’ve been the past couple years mentally and how it affects my reading. I’m hoping for 2020 of getting to 100 books again and going past it if I can, but ultimately, I just want to keep reading. Books are so important to me, and I don’t want to lose their impact on me. So, here’s to another year of reading! Let’s hope I can find some new favourites, and when I re-evaluate my books, I do it every so often, I might be adding some of the ones that are on the edge.
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