Okay. It has been a hot minute since I did a wrap-up, and honestly, it’s because I haven’t been reading much! Or blogging much (but that’s okay). The ongoing pandemic, some big life changes, and the usual obstacles have been a wild ride but I’m proud to be back on the reading wagon and just the fact I technically have been reading the last few months (except for August). I figured, why not do a small post to write out what I’ve read in the last 6 months, get myself back on track and just celebrate the lovely books I read!
Let’s get into it!
April
The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon
★★★★★ (5/5) | REVIEWThe Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
★★★★★ (5/5) | MINI-REVIEWRadio Silence by Alice Oseman
★★★★☆ (4/5) | NO REVIEW – beautiful book, very emotional and had me TerryLetters to the Lost by Bridget Kemmerer
★★★★★ (5/5) | NO REVIEW – Bridget never lets me down <3–
May
Starsight by Brandon Sanderson
★★★★★ (5/5) | NO REVIEW – absolutely loved this, this series is amazing!–
June
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins-Reid
★★★★★ (5/5) | NO REVIEW – TJR is one of my new favourite authors!Starfish by Dawn Akemi-Bowman
★★★★★ (5/5) | MINI-REVIEW – this was beautiful, I need more from this author.The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic
DNF – I couldn’t keep reading this one, it wasn’t keeping my attention and was kind of cringy. Sorry!–
July
You Have A Match by Emma Lord
★★★☆☆ (3/5) | NO REVIEW – I was a bit disappointed by this one, it just couldn’t beat Tweet Cute, but it was still a good YA coming-of-age type of story.The Shut-Ins by Katherine Brabon
★★★☆☆ (3/5) | REVIEW – Super interesting, thought-provoking but overall, okay. I feel like this book strangely made me more introverted/anti-social! It was an odd experience haha–
August
Nothing to see here… I kept myself busy streaming a lot on Twitch and didn’t really feel like reading much, so I took a break.
–
September
As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson
★★★★★ (5/5) | REVIEW TO COME – I’m devastated that this series is over. It was amazing.The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
★★★☆☆ (3/5) | REVIEW TO COME – Not as good as Circe in my opinion, more thoughts to come.The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
★★★★★ (5/5) | REVIEW TO COME – Helen continues to exceed expectations, I want to reread the books in this series all over again!
Except for July, I have to say that even though I didn’t read as much as I did last year; I read quite a lot of 5 star books that I absolutely loved. I’m proud of my reading and that I’ve read so much quality over quantity. I’d rather read 1 star book than three 3-star books that are more mediocre than amazing. I’m so incredibly behind on my Goodreads challenge…but I don’t really care.
My main challenge this year has been to survive this pandemic and continue to hold onto my hobby and passion for reading. I’m still finding moments when I’m lost in a book I can’t put down – and those moments are priceless. I’m in the process of convincing coworkers to also start a book club and I’m really enjoying the readathons I’m participating in without much stress. So, I guess I wanted to talk about that because I’m happy with my reading year so far! This wrap-up is pretty packed but I’m definitely feeling motivated to read and take my time with it.
It’s been super interesting seeing my own reading tastes, habits and motivations evolve over the last year and even the last 6 months as I went through a lot of life changes and was really focussing on my mental health. I think it’s become so important for me to prioritise and evaluate what reading means to me, to maintain a healthy relationship with reading and it’s happening. I don’t think I’ll do another 6 month wrap up if I can help it – I will aim to do short monthly wrap-ups so look out for those again 🙂
How has your reading been in the last 6 months? What books were standouts?
Until next time,
4 Comments
Malka @ Paper Procrastinators
I honestly can’t remember a full six months of reading without the help of Goodreads or Storygraph! But I do know off the top of my head that this has been a pretty good reading month. I think that the books I’ve enjoyed the most have been graphic novels, and I love how I’m prioritizing them so much this year! I haven’t really had any all time favorite reads, but that’s okay. I’m hopeful that the perfect book of my heart is waiting for me on some shelf somewhere!
Tracy
I admit that I definitely used Goodreads to help there!! It helps that I didn’t read many books too haha, and yay! I wish I could prioritize graphic novels, I find them so interesting – but I agree that they tend not to be my all-time favourite reads because I personally connect better from novels where I can get insight on what feel, think a bit more – if that makes sense? I’m sure you’ll find your perfect book somewhere soon too!
tasya @ the literary huntress
Waah it seems like you had a great reading months, based on your rating! Honestly the past 6 months were such a blur lol I didn’t really remember a lot? I’ve been reading a lot of books from Southeast Asian authors though and it makes me really happy!
Tracy
Yes! I think that’s something I’ve liked the most. Even though I didn’t read a lot, what I did read, I really enjoyed and that makes it so memorable. Southeast Asian authors are amazing!! I hope you’ve enjoyed them 🙂