I’m not a BookTuber (yet...) but as I have been working on my planner collection this year, I found that trying to include my reading habits in my daily planner was just too much. And the collection wasn’t all together in one spot, making a quick glance at the total record for the year near impossible.
I had started a book list insert back in 2019 (in addition to my Goodreads account), but the paper I used turned out to be too thin for most of the pens I might grab to note a recently finished book. I also had cut them to standard TN size rather than the actual size of my WindRose Custom TN which is A5. So in addition to not being a good physical fit, there was ghosting, bleed through, and wasted pages.
I used some heavier paper and printed out dot grid on both sides (found at September Leather as a free printable), cut the paper down to size and sewed up a couple of new inserts during a mental health day this week. Turns out this paper is even heavy enough that the ghosting from my Sharpie pens isn’t too bad.
I spent yesterday copying over the entire of the 2019 Read Books and DNF lists and then expanded my 2020 Read lists to include more information. I really wanted to have notes on the books so that there were plausible reasons for why I might recommend a specific book to someone else. To do that, I needed more details than just the author’s last name and the book’s title.
I also was curious as to how many books I was getting through each month. Now before people start thinking I’m the laziest person in the world, let me disabuse you of that notion. I rarely sit curled up with a physical book anymore. Attention Deficit Disorder, remember?
2020 shut down libraries for an extended amount of time. I don’t have space for purchased books and besides the lack of space, the money can be better spent on bills, food, my kid, my husband, my father, my truck, or any number of project supplies or tools.
Most of the books or short stories I have consumed this year have been via podcast, audiobook, or the rare ebook on my phone for easy access. As a result I managed to get through all four books of The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer while New Year’s purging, the Ash Princess Trilogy by Laura Sebastian while spring cleaning, and The Looking Glass Wars series by Frank Beddor while mowing Pop’s yard.
I also found myself becoming a fan of specific narrators (Rebecca Soler, you complete Marissa Meyer’s works so wonderfully!) There was one case in particular, argh, where I found that the final book in one of my all time favorite series was completely ruined by the narrator, despite her status as an award winning actress and narrator. And all because she used the wrong damn accent for a character that all the other narrators of the series were able to nail just fine. (I’m looking at you, Johanna Parker. 😤 🤬) I wanted a record of these things so no more books were ruined for me. If she’s narrating a book I want to read, I’ll find a different audio version or stick to the ebook instead.
As I finished transcribing my September 2020 books, I looked back over the selection and was kind of shocked by my subgenre choices. They were back and forth across the spectrum!
49. The Athena Project by Brad Thor
- Scot Harvath #10, Athena #1
- thriller & suspense - military; hints of science fiction - alternate history
- audiobook, read by Elizabeth Marvel
I started this book in August and just needed a few more days, so September started off with some oddly satisfying girl power. By most reports, Thor intended to spring board another series out of this book. It’s been 10 years, Brad. It isn’t the first in a series anymore, it’s a small side hustle.
Trigger Warning if you decide to read it: Nazi medical experiments history. Athena is a group of female operatives trained in the same manner as Delta. Harvath makes some brief appearances, but for the most part the story centers around the four members of Athena, and this may be why Thor abandoned his spin-off. Many might argue that a man’s man can’t write women. I would tend to agree... except in this case. A Goodreads Review may still be forthcoming here...
50. One Night with a Goddess by Judi McCoy
- Goddess #2
- romance - contemporary with hints of billionaire and fantasy
- ebook
I picked the first book up in 2007 off the Dollar General Dollar Books spin rack. I didn't want to go out and buy the second two books, so thank goodness for Hoopla! When I can't find a book through my actual library or through Libby/Overdrive... there's Hoopla for the obscure. This book was mostly to satisfy the completionist in me as well as a welcome distraction from the guts and gore of Athena.
A decent little story about a doctor from family money who comes home from Doctors Without Borders to his well-to-do grandmother's event hall business where he finds Chloe Degodessa, the in-disguise Muse of Happiness, reigning supreme and running his grandmother's business. Her father god Zeus wasn't happy with her 100 year performance review and thus sent her to Earth to spread happiness for one year before returning home to live out her immortal days doing nothing. The one and only thing she must not do, is fall in love. You get the drift from here.
51. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
- Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments #4
- fantasy - young adult
- audiobook, read by Ed Westwick & Molly C. Quinn
What can I say? I'm a sucker for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. For starters, any scene with them in it, I envision the amazing Harry Shum Jr and Matthew Daddario playing out every last syllable and movement. Jace is definitely Dominic Sherwood in my head, Izzy is Emeraude Toubia, Simon is Alberto Rosende... Okay, so essentially I envision nearly every character in my head as the actors who played them in the Freeform television show. I miss that show. And fun fact! I follow Molly C. Quinn on Twitter because I adored her as Alexis Castle (ABC's Castle with Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic) back in the day. Plus she's one smart lady.
The only problem I come across in these books is with Luke and Clary. Clare has him as a bookish and nerdy, white werewolf. I see him much more badass, played by Isaiah Mustafa. So did Mustafa fit the bill as Luke? The more I read of Clare's story, absolutely not. Am I glad that the casting director went a different way with the character of Luke? Abso-freaking-lutely!! I have a very similar issue with Clary, but we bring the movie into it as well here. I do not see Lilly Collins as a very strong Clary, so it turns out the further I get in the world, the more she fits in line with how Clare wrote the character, particularly in this book. We see a lot of Clary being a pathetic little waif and Luke being... Well, a pathetic excuse for an Alpha. I don't see how he holds the pack, seriously. Mustafa and Kat McNamara's performances in the television show brought life and power to the characters, something Clare apparently cannot write in for them in the source material.
52. Betting the Scot by Jennifer Trethewey
- The Highlanders of Balforss #2
- romance - historical
- ebook
Yup. I'm a sucker for Scottish Historical Romance. I actually reviewed this book (though it is not up yet) and the first in the series on Goodreads. I haven't often reviewed books. I rate them and move on. That's actually a habit I would like to break for 2021, resolution if you will. So that being said... If I took the time to actually write a review on Goodreads for the first book, searched high and low for the second book (Thanks again Hoopla!), and physically wrote on paper a review for the second... I liked it that much. Again, I'm a sucker for Scottish Historical Romance! I can't help it!
53. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
- Stephanie Plum #4
- mystery - private detective
- audiobook read by C.J. Critt
I picked up the Stephanie Plum series years ago when I was in a Female PI phase and decided to get back to it. This book... I got through it. It was background noise. No Lie. I found that I wasn't all that impressed with Stephanie. The writing it great. Evanovich is a fantastic writer. I just don't care for how Stephanie goes through life. The only thing that saved me was that I saw Jason O'Mara in my head as Morelli and Daniel Sunjata as Ranger (from the 2012 One for the Money movie starring Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum herself.) Other than that, I'm hoping the story gets better from here and doesn't continue to be a complete and utter crap show. Although, Heigl's performance as Stephanie was pretty spot on.
54. The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare & Wesley Chu
- Shadowhunters: The Eldest Curses #1
- fantasy - young adult
- audiobook read by BD Wong
So. Remember when I said I'm a sucker for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood? Geah!!! Tessa Gray makes an appearance as well, so the previous reading of The Infernal Devices Trilogy this year served me well. Additionally, it was nice to depart from Clary's drama for a moment, particularly since this trip of Magnus and Alec's is mentioned in the main storyline. I love when stories are interconnected within a world setting. I honestly would love to see this on screen starring Shum and Daddario again. I mean seriously.
55. Sandstorm by James Rollins
- Sigma Force #1
- thriller & suspense - mystery thriller with hints of alternate history from a science fiction/fantasy bent
- audiobook read by John Meagler
I ended September with another cross over series find. Thanks to the Scot Harvath series (written by Brad Thor), I found my way to Cotton Malone (written by Steve Berry) and finally picked it up this year. From there, I found out that James Rollins also has some crossovers in future books with Scot and Cotton and therefore, the completionist in me must know the whole story. Besides which, I love alternate history mysteries in the vein of Indiana Jones and The Librarian. At the end of each Cotton Malone and Sigma Force novel, the authors break down what was true in their stories from history and what is complete fabrication, or what is speculative, and invite the reader to look into it themselves to enrich their understanding of our world history. In this case, the story revolves around the lost city of Ubar, the Queen of Sheba, and the hunt for an ancient truth.
This ticked all the boxes for me, but I still gave it only 4 stars on Goodreads. I mean, I realized I had been giving 5 stars to so many books, I need to be pickier. There is a slightly snobby British Lady Kensington (she has her reasons) who's Middle Eastern orphaned best friend was previously engaged to one Dr. Omaha Dunn, an American Indiana Jones like character, who Lady Kensington routinely calls Indiana instead, just to goad him. The story was predictable, if you've spent any amount of time reading adventure stories that unravel historical mysteries with alternative history like I do, but the writing was superb, the characters were fleshed out well, and the history's mystery was thought provoking. But what I didn't like is that the dust jacket talks about Painter Crowe, the one member of Sigma Force along for the ride as though he is the main character. I have since started reading book 2, and although Painter is featured and mentioned, he is not the main character once again.
These books have Sigma Force as the background, it is what ties the books together into a series along with Painter's existence/mention, but other than that, the stories have little to do with one another and could easily be picked up in no particular order unless you're reading them for character development. The point of these is the individual adventure, not the main characters who are on the journey. Those are probably going to change every new book.
So that was September 2020. See what I mean about subgenres being all over the place? I had two YA novels, two romance, two thriller & suspense, and a rogue mystery thrown in. And even within the same genre, the YAs being the exception since they're from the same world setting and author, the subgenres couldn't have been more different! In Romance there was a contemporary fantasy and an historical "bodice-ripper" with heart. There was a military suspense and alternate history thriller.
And, except for the Shadowhunter books, none of the people on my friend list have read any of the others. I'm an outlier, but I'm okay with that. And this was a very, very long post. I see why people film these Wrap-ups rather than type them out, but the computers I have are not capable of editing video easily, therefore it's blog posts for now. Until next time, keep reading!
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