Hi!
It's been quite a while since my last post. I rarely visit here since I got passionately addicted to a game—Among Us— and played almost every day from evening until dawn. But sometimes, I would watch streams of my favorite streamers during the no-game day. Now, November 2020 came, and I had to balance my employee and student life. I even applied and enrolled in the DOST Coursera program but only managed to finish two short courses out of 25 that I enrolled in because of my review.
I want to post a travel blog, but my other laptop has been borrowed for almost two months now. All my travel pictures are saved there. Hopefully, it will be given back to me by the end of this month.
So yeah, that's the reason why I'm on hiatus.
For the main topic, I started joining the Goodreads Reading Challenge in 2016. Since then, I have always set a number of books to read every January. As for 2020 reads, I only set 20 books even though I can read more even if I would start reading in May. Luckily, I didn't go higher, else I would lose the challenge. Hah! My laziness struck! So I started reading like a hungry hyena two months before the challenge ends. My pride in not wanting to lose the challenge made me read in between my work (morning) and studies (night).
Okay, enough with the storytelling already. Instead of giving you my thoughts on the books that I've read, I'll be showing you my ratings and their genres since I'm thinking of posting another blog for the review alone (you sure?).
MY 2020 READS
1. King's Cage (Red Queen #3) by Victoria Aveyard
- Fantasy
- Romance
- Young Adult
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
2. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
- Mystery
- Thriller
- Young Adult
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Good Girl, Bad Blood (AGGGTM #2) by Holly Jackson
- Mystery
- Thriller
- Young Adult
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Eight Perfect Murders by Malcolm Kershaw
- Mystery
- Thriller
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Ask the Past: Pertinent and Impertinent Advice from Yesteryear by Elizabeth P. Archibald
- History
- Humor
- Nonfiction
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
- Mystery
- Historical Fiction
- Thriller
- Young Adult
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover
- Romance
- Contemporary
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8. Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker
- Mystery
- Thriller
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot #1) by Agatha Christie
- Mystery
- Classics
- Thriller
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
10. 7 Leadership Qualities of Great leaders: What Makes a Great Leader by Philip Andrew
- Self-help
- Inspirational
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
11. Heart of Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov
- Science Fiction
- Classics
- Fantasy
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
12. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- Poetry
- Young Adult
- Contemporary
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
13. The Little Snake by A.L. Kennedy
- Fantasy
- Fable
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
14. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Classics
- Short Story
- Thriller
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
15. The Lady or the Tiger? by Frank R. Stockton
- Classics
- Short Story
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
16. An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce
- Classics
- Short Story
- Historical Fiction
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
17. The Light Princess by George MacDonald
- Fantasy
- Classics
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
18. A Respectable Woman by Kate Chopin
- Classics
- Short Story
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
19. The Diary of a Madman by Guy de Maupassant
- Classics
- Short Story
- Horror
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
20. Four Men in a Cave by Stephen Crane
- Classics
- Short Story
- Humor
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
21. The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm by Mark Twain
- Classics
- Short Story
- Humor
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
22. The Kiss by Kate Chopin
- Classics
- Short Story
- Romance
Rating: ⭐⭐
23. A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell
- Classics
- Short Story
- Mystery
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
24. The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde
- Classics
- Short Story
- Humor
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
25. Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death by Patrick Henry
- Classics
- History
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
MY TOP FIVE
1. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- If you love poetry, then better check this one. I enjoyed this book. It's written beautifully. I also recommend listening to the audiobook. The author herself was the one reading it. It became more beautiful and heartfelt. I had to read while listening to her.
2. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
- It's my second time reading this book, and Thomas and Audrey Rose never fail to surprise me all over again. Still one of my favorite mystery books.
3. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
- Another newly discovered gem. This book was my savior last year. I'm glad that I found this one and was able to get back on reading.
4. The Diary of a Madman by Guy de Maupassant
- Short, but full of horror. This book is insane, I must say. I tried the audiobook, and the voice actor gave justice to the madman's POV.
5. Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover
- For me, Colleen Hoover is the Queen of Romance. It's a sad and depressing story, somehow. The ending was realistic, and because of that, it was satisfying.
Summing Up
A snippet from Goodreads From my 2020 reads, the majority are a mystery, classics, and short stories. I opted to read short stories more since I can finish one book for a couple of minutes only. If only I started reading in March, I'd probably finished more than this. With that, I was able to finish 25 out of 20. Somehow, I feel like I was cheating. But hey, it's still a book even though it is short. (Taps shoulder. Hah!)
Anyway, this is my first post in 2021. Planning to read more in 2021 (at least 40 books), and hopefully, I would be able to share again my thoughts.
K N E E L Y R A C• Instagram • Twitter • Goodreads •
Wow, 40 books for 2021? That's a lot of books read for 2020 - well done!
Thank you! I still have lots of books that I haven't read yet. So, I'm planning to read this year. 😅 I remember your comment on one of my book reviews, so I'm gonna recommend The Poet X. 😊
Good luck with this reading challenge. Let us know your reading experience in this community too 😊 I'll pick one of those book for my February reading list.
Yes, I will. Thank you for your invitation, by the way. If you haven't replied to one of my comments, I wouldn't know about this community. 😊 And I would love to hear your thoughts, too.
Ah, finally!
You have some really solid looking books right there! Especially The Light Princess immediately caught my attention. The Model Millionaire by Wilde as well.
I've read The Mysterious affair at styles last year. It was enjoyable.
Haven't read any book from your top 5 though. Gonna The Diary of a Madman soon!
Thanks for sharing! :D
This line, though! HAHAHAHAHA! I remember that you're not into YA. 😁 The Light Princess is good; it's like Sleeping Beauty with a different plot.
As for The Mysterious Affair at Styles, I should thank Eight Perfect Murders for mentioning Agatha Christie several times. Also, one of the Hivers recommended Hercule Poirot Series. That's the cue that I should start reading her books.
I would love to know your thoughts on those three books. 😁
You have numerous classics in the list it seems. And although I'm not into YA, I'm quite fond of children's literature. ;)
Agatha Christie is probably one of the most renowned authors of the history of publishing. You didn't know of her as a kid? That's surprising!
Ah.. so many books! 👏 Meanwhile, I have this one book I've been reading for a year now. Only a bit above a hundred pages left but still lazy to finish it. hahaha 😞
What book is that? Maybe, you're not into that book. I'm like that, sometimes. 😁
ung blue book ni mark manson 😆 everything is pak.. ganern. hahahaah
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