Well happy almost New Years my friends - here comes my last post of 2020 and WHAT A YEAR it has been! Even though this year has been a bit sucky overall in terms of the global pandemic, I am always a positive person and like to focus on the good things that have happened. In 2020 I got to visit a few of my favorite places on earth: Nashville, The Finger Lakes, Nantucket, and Chincoteague Island. I got to transition to working fully from home which cut out my long commuting times and allowed me to spend more time with my hubby. I got a promotion at work and had my best sales year ever, rekindled my jewelry making hobby and started crafting a lot more, stopped tracking macros and started eating intuitively and stopped obsessing about my diet & weight, drank a lot of good wine, chose to move my body constantly even when the gyms closed, celebrated my one year wedding anniversary with my husband, and bought a new home together! 2020 has been a lot of things but it's still been a good one over here.
And of course as always - I did my fair share of reading in 2020! I will have read 34 books this year which is surprisingly a lot less than
normal for me....BUT considering I read 3 of the first Outlander books
this year which are all close to 1,000 pages each, I'm still quite
content with this reading level! Before I get into my reviews for my most recent book reviews
since my last set, I thought I would do a quick review of my top 5 favorites books I read in 2020! This is the first time I've done this since doing these book review round-ups but I figured this would be a good time to start!
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NUMBER 5:
The Outsider (original review in
this post). I will say: number 5 for me was a hard decision between
The Nightingale and this book but ultimately....this was the first Stephen King book I've ever read and there is a reason he is a famous author. The character development, writing, and mystery just drew me in completely and I REALLY need to make a point to read another one of his novels in 2021!!!
NUMBER 4:
The Silent Patient (original review in
this post). If you are looking for a great psychological thriller, this one fits the bill! There are a lot of books in this genre that don't live up to the hype, but this one did FOR SURE for me and I enjoyed every minute of it.
NUMBER 3:
Daisy Jones & The Six (original review in
this post). This book had sex, love, and rock and roll: what more could you want? Well, how about some really deep character development and a story line that felt so real I had to google the book because I really thought the band was real? This book literally gave me goose bumps at one point and I really really (really really) enjoyed reading it.
NUMBER 2:
The Guest List (original review in
this post). I'm kind of surprised I have this one listed as my number 2 book (to be fair it was hard deciding which of number 2 or 3 should have been number 2!!) I don't think anything about this book was astounding or the most original ever - but when I think back about which book I really ENJOYED reading most this year, this one hands down comes top of mind. You can critique plot or writing style or character development as much as you'd like but ultimately - reading is a hobby for me and something I do to relax and have fun. This book kept me intrigued, curious, and I really enjoyed this new release this year. It had good mystery and I enjoyed the eerie location and modern setting. I would totally re-read this one again which I do NOT say often.
NUMBER 1:
Outlander (original review in
this post). Well: here we are. I'm a bit late to the game on this series but let me tell you: it's worth the length, it's better than the TV show, it's simply put a semi-modern day classic. Claire and Jamie's love story is...everything. It's a historical fiction novel but it's never boring or dull: it's a romance novel but always tasteful and has just the right amount of *ahem* heat to it, it packs so much action and adventure and emotion into one book so no wonder it's so long. I loved every character, hated every enemy, wanted to weep and cry tears of joy at so different parts of this novel. A+++ to this book, this series, I am so glad I have so many more to keep reading!
And now: while none of the books I read recently made my top 5 list - two of them were really enjoyable! Here's my recap:
By Sophie Cousens. Synopsis from Amazon:
Their lives began together, but their worlds couldn't be more
different. After thirty years of missed connections, they're about to
meet again...
Minnie Cooper knows two things with certainty:
that her New Year's birthday is unlucky, and that it's all because of
Quinn Hamilton, a man she's never met. Their mothers gave birth to them
at the same hospital just after midnight on New Year's Day, but Quinn
was given the cash prize for being the first baby born in London in
1990--and the name Minnie was meant to have, as well. With luck like
that, it's no wonder each of her birthdays has been more of a disaster
than the one before.
When Minnie unexpectedly runs into Quinn at
a New Year's party on their mutual thirtieth birthday, she sees only
more evidence that fortune has continued to favor him. The gorgeous,
charming business owner truly seems to have it all--while Minnie's on
the brink of losing her pie-making company and her home. But if Quinn
and Minnie are from different worlds, why do they keep bumping into each
other? And why is it that each fraught encounter leaves them both
wanting more?
A moving, joyful love story, This Time Next Year explores the way fate leads us to the people we least expect--no matter what the odds.
This was a cute read, especially fitting for around the holidays and New Years. I wouldn't call this a romance novel, and it was not really laugh out loud funny, but it was still a heartfelt coming of age story with a bit of a long winded romance story tied in. Some of the coincidences in this book were way too unrealistic, but there was a fun group of characters that made you smile often throughout the novel. You couldn't help but feel bad for poor Minnie Cooper (yes, that's unfortunately her name) when she constantly has the worst luck every year on her birthday, but you also cannot help falling in love with her and rooting for her throughout the story. If you want a book that's not overly original but will still make you smile and provide an easy and rom/com feel - this would be a good pick for you.
