I nearly missed doing this tag but lucky for me Jamsu reminded me with her post that June was nearly over and it was high time that I reflect upon my 2020 reading!

So what are the winners and the losers so far? Fair warning: I seem to have a hard time choosing only one winner by category so, bear with me, you’ll probably have two at least! On 65 books read at the time of typing this post, that’s not so bad!

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2020

Three completely different books I know!

I listened to the audiobook of Daisy Jones thanks to a fellow book blogger: Daisy! It was on a dare as I had no intention to read it. But she told me she would read one of my YA books if I read Daisy. I recommended Six of Crows and she ended up reading Crooked Kingdom too! We were both smitten so that was just amazing!

Crescent City started slow with me not liking Bryce so much then ended up on one of the best breathtaking finales I have ever read!

Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon was an inspiring, true, hard historical fiction. Once again Amy amazes me by the beauty of her writing , the strenght and compassion of her characters. This one is my favorite of her alongside Making Faces and From Sand and Ash.

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2020

This one is a no brainer: Truel1f3 by Jay Kristoff. Yet I hated Jay sometimes while reading it but it’s been everything I expected and more!

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET BUT WANT TO

I have it on my shelf since May but other books keep coming in the way ….even if I had preordered that one the moment I knew it would be published!

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

Again, two completely different books as I love reading different genres!

The Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton because, cover aside (gorgeous right?) I just love Alwyn’s books! And she is also a fantastic human being pure and simple! I will miss not chatting with her at YALC London this year!

And Fredrik Backman because he has an extraordinary penmanship, deep, insightful. He always grips me right into his stories and has me very contemplative after. I also have to thanks other bloggers here as I had no idea he would publish this book!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Three books guys, sorry for you!

Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi … it really pains me to put it into this category as I so loved Juliette and Warner’s story. But the magic did not happen guys! It left me cold and it was kind of a mess.

Ruthless Gods by Emily Duncan is another book that left me bereft. I had even ordered the special Owlcrate edition. But it felt too far off, too creepy and I could no understand the love story.

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller also let me down. I didn’t like the female character plus a murder was really brushed under the rug and kind of validated or excused. I found her shallow in the beginning and by the end, she tried to do what was right but it did not save the book, on the contrary. If you go for a villain as your hero, go all the way and don’t stop to pussy foot because you’ve got a case of cold feet!

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Three books or one book and two series. Again vastly differents.

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St James completely took me by surprise. I am so not an horror or ghost stories reader yet this book really enthralled me! The audiobook was excellent and I was truly enraptured!

The Diviners by Libba Bray is also a kind of horror historical fiction series. Not my genre either yet again the audiobook swept me off my feet. It was just excellent and mesmerizing!

The Foxhole Court trilogy by Nora Sakavic. It’s about a band of rejects, all deeply flawed, some neurotics, other on the run as they are chased by the mafia and they play a fictional sport called Exi. They drink, sometimes take drugs. They fight. They are all deeply flawed so that should never have hold my interest but rather should have disgusted me yet it was highly addictive!

FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR

Beth O Leary and Taylor Jenkins Reid.

I have read first The Switch by Beth O’Leary then The Flatshare (yes I know I was late to the bandwagon) and she reminded me how much I had forgotten that I love these British authors who write woman fiction. 

Taylor Jenkins Reid…after Daisy Jones I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyne Hugo and she did it again: impressed me! Her writing is formidable and powerful.

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

Nikolai Lantsov! I even chose him for my “Meet Your Next Book Boyfriend”! Smart, sarcastic, with a huge sense of duty to his people, loyal, courageous, easy on the eye….

NEWEST FAVOURITE CHARACTER

Cordelia Carstairs! She is courageous, intuitive, smart, loyal, level headed …what can I say?

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

No real tear jerker so far I am afraid… but these books made me shed one or two tears

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

This one was an audiobook too and the banter was just excellent. I had a big goofy smile on my face so many times! But that can also be said from The Switch.

FAVOURITE BOOK TO FILM ADAPTATION

Sorry but I haven’t watched a film yet this year!

FAVOURITE POST YOU HAVE DONE THIS YEAR

Probably this one for rather evident reasons as I was fed up with people spreading hate and intolerance on social media.

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

WHAT BOOK DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

Mmm let’s see: all the books on my TBR? 😀 

But there are two books that I plan as soon as they land in my mail as they’ve been long awaited

Pfew ! That’s it! Do we have some books in common? What’s your best so far? Consider you tag if you want!

Thanks for reading.

Sophie