Month: December 2019

Top 9 Books of 2019!

Alyssa Cohen9 Comments

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

I cannot believe we are less than 24-hours away until the start of a new decade! While 2019 was truly a great year, I am really looking forward to 2020! 2020 will be a year of huge changes for me, and I hope to document and share them with you on this blog while they happen.

I read 59 books in 2019, and while that sounds like a good number, I have barely read any books over the past three or so months. If I was more consistent, I probably would have reached the 75 book mark. However, my goal was to read 40 books, and I surpassed that goal by quite a bit! This list was slightly difficult to put together, but only because there weren’t any books that I was totally 10000% in love with last year. None of these books top my number one favourite book of last year, which I think is notable. Nevertheless, I loved the books I have on my top list this year, and hope you enjoyed them if you read them as well!

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#9: The Perfect Wife by J.P. Delaney
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: click here!
Source: ARC via Penguin Random House Canada

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#8: Amelia Westlake was Never Here by Erin Gough
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: click here!
Source: ARC via HBG Canada

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#7: The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: click here!
Source: Finished Copy via HBG Canada

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#6: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: click here!
Source: Purchased @ Chapters Indigo

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#5: The How and the Why by Cynthia Hand
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: click here!
Source: ARC via HCC Frenzy

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#4: Again, But Better by Christine Riccio
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: click here!
Source: ARC via Raincoast Books

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#3: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: click here!
Source: ARC via Netgalley / Simon & Schuster Canada

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#2: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: click here!
Source: Finished Copy via Raincoast Books

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#1: The Starter Wife by Nina Laurin
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: click here!
Source: ARC via HBG Canada

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Those are my top nine books of 2019! I hope we all have a healthy and prosperous 2020, filled with lots of great reading! What was your favourite read of this year?

Good Night Book Owls!

Reflecting on 2019 Bookish Goals

Alyssa Cohen1 Comment

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

During January 2019, I wrote and shared a blog post talking about my top bookish goals for 2019! Today, I am going to be reacting and reflecting to them, and letting you know if I completed the goal or not! To view the original post, click here.

GOAL #1: Goodreads Reading Challenge: 40 Books

I COMPLETED THIS GOAL! I read 59/40 books this year, which is the most amount of books I have ever read in one year! As you will read in my Top 9 Books of 2019 post that will be out on Tuesday, I actually could have read quite a few more books than 59, although I have been quite busy lately. I am so proud of reaching my Goodreads goal this year, and hope to do so again in 2020!

GOAL #2: Read More Diverse Books

After reviewing all of the books I read on Goodreads, I am going to say that I completed this goal as well! I read quite a few books that had several diverse themes or were written by a diverse group of people.

GOAL #3: Variety of Genres

Unfortunately, I do not think I achieved this goal. Most of the books I read were either Mystery/Thriller novels or Contemporaries, which is what I usually have been reading over the past few years.

GOAL #4: Be More Selective with ARCs

Like the previous goal, I don’t think I completed this one either. I received A TON of ARCs this year, and about 40% of them I have yet to read. I will definitely be carrying this goal into 2020!

GOAL #5: Purchase Less Books

I definitely think I completed this one! This year, I learned to utilize and love my local library, and I think I only made one book outlet purchase this year! I can’t even remember the last time I bought a book for myself, which is crazy!

GOAL #6: Read More eBooks

Even though I believe I read more eBooks this year than I did last year, I still didn’t read that many, and will not be giving my self a stamp of completion for this goal!

GOAL #7: Participate in 5 Readathons

Unfortunately, I didn’t make enough time to participate in many readathons this year, and will be carrying this goal into 2020!

GOAL #8: Use Bookstagram

I 100% completed this goal this year! I accumulated over 1000 Bookstagram followers this year, and am looking forward to posting more frequently next year!

GOAL #9: Create a Book Club

I completed this goal as well! I created a book club at my school this year, although we haven’t had our second meeting yet…

GOAL #10: Read Harry Potter

Unfortunately, the goal I wanted to complete the most wasn’t even started this year! I own the entire Harry Potter series, but have yet to get past the second book. I am determined to complete this goal over the upcoming decade, and we shall see if I can complete the series sooner than later!

Those are all of the goals I set for myself for the year 2019, and I completed exactly half of them, which isn’t too great. I hope to stick to my goals even better in 2020, and I will be sharing my full goal list with you in just a few days! Did you set any bookish goals for yourself? If so, did you stick with them? Let me know in the comments!

Good Night Book Owls!