Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ ThatArtsy Reader Girl
Welcome back to another Top Ten Tuesday! Today we’re talking about our biggest bookish discoveries of 2019. The math worked out so we have nine this week but they are some great ones!
Haley’s Discoveries
1- Sequels: The Struggle Is Real
I had this epiphany recently as I was slogging my way through a sequel of a book that was at the top of my favorite reads of last year (not naming names). I still haven’t pinpointed exactly what it is but for some reason I almost (note that I said almost, not always) dislike the second book in a trilogy, series, or even *gasp* a duology, less than the first book. Honestly, I’ve found it quite frustrating, so if you have recommendations for book series that are consistant all the way through, recommend them in the comments!
2- Audiobooks!
We talked about our shared discovery of audiobooks recently but 2019 was definitely the year I actively chose to listen to audiobooks, even over bookish podcasts, and I more than doubled my reading stats between 2018 and 2019!
3- Hello Netgalley, My New Friend…
Any other Simon and Garfunkel fans out there? I never thought I would actually do it but last April I caved and got a Netgalley account. It was all in the name getting an eARC of The Grace Year by Kim Ligget, but since then I have set up my Samsung tablet (which I prefer over my husband’s kindle believe it or not) to be a dedicated e-reader and I make sure to read a few ARCs every month.
4- Social Issue Contemporaries Are My Jam!
I love that feeling when I finish a book and my first thought is: “The world is better because this book is in the world.” I feel that way about THUG by Angie Thomas, Heroine by Mindy McGinnis, and A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum. Stories have an ability to reach people and touch hearts in a way that few other mediums do. It gives me chills just thinking about it.
Emily’s Discoveries
1- TBR? Who’s She?
As I get older I find I am such a massive mood reader there really isn’t any reason to make a TBR list. There is no faster way to put me in a slump than to make me feel like I have a reading obligation! Last year I just gave up and read whatever I wanted without worrying about it and had a great reading year! Hooray for no judgment reading!
2- I’m Here For A Challenge
Now that said, sometimes I do need a push to pick up a book and that’s why I turn to reading challenges! There is still enough flexibility to pick up something I feel like in the moment, but with some guidance to keep me from feeling lost in my giant pile of books I want to read. Plus, really good challenges encourage me to pick up books that I might not gravitate toward otherwise! If you want to try a challenge, we have a huge master list of challenges you can check out!
3. I’m A Big Girl Now!
Please don’t get me wrong, I love YA and middle grade. These age ranges got me back into reading after a long time away (thanks law school!). And I definitely do still read a ton of YA and MG. However, looking back at my favorite reads of 2019, the overwhelming majority of my favorite books were adult reads. So this year I plan to focus more on adult books!
4. Real Life Book Clubs Are Amazing
I joined the Jen Hatmaker Book Club this year and part of that club is a Facebook page. Through that page I was lucky enough to meet a ton of awesome women who live in my area and we started an IRL book club. Other than blogging, this book club has been my biggest reading discovery this past year. We have been meeting since June and these ladies have become my best friends. Our group chats are the stuff of legends and I have never felt so instantly accepted. Book loving people really are the best people.
But By Far Our Biggest Discovery…
Was realizing what amazing blogging buddies we are! We had no idea that we had so much in common! We enjoy enough of the same books that we can talk about stuff and we actually share a lot bookish habits and opinions. At the same time though, we are different enough that it keeps life, and our blog, interesting! It is definitely our biggest bookish discovery of last year.
What About You?
What are the biggest bookish lessons you learned last year? Tell us all about them in the comments!
The middle book of a trilogy is like The Empire Strikes Back. It always ends with the bad guys on top. I love audiobooks. Last year of the 100 books I read 42 of them were audiobooks. After reading YA for 12 years as a teen librarian I am finding it hard to want to read any more. I’m off the board this week with my favorites of the decade
Oh my gosh! Hooray for the Star Wars references!
I can imagine that would be a lot? Do you purposefully read Adult novels when you get the chance or do you find it’s difficult to pull away from YA?
And yes! All praise audiobooks!
Great list! I would love to join an IRL book club. I just need to find one. 😉
I wonder that about sequels as well. I think the first book is introducing you to the characters and world, and it’s all so magical and amazing. The second book you already know that stuff, and you don’t want it to just go on and on with the same. I like it when the author mixes it up in a sequel-changes point of view, reveals a new twist that was NOT obviously ret-conned, etc.
Yeah. I definitely think that’s part of it. I’ve notice I especially struggle when I feel like the sequel is just setting every thing up for the final book. I find I get bored when that’s the case.
I HATE when sequels don’t live up to first books! It’s always a rare surprise when they’re even better! I thought LEGENDARY was better than CARAVAL — and I loved CARAVAL! I don’t think FINALE was as good as either, but still good. I also really loved the way SUPERNOVA by Marissa Meyer ended the RENEGADES trilogy. I think Rae Carson’s GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS trilogy consistantly got better and better with each book. I thought Mary Pearson’s DANCE OF THIEVES and VOW OF THIEVES were even better and way more powerful than the original trilogy. The Heroes of Olympus re-calibrated my love of Rick Riordan and brought him a level up from where he was with Percy Jackson…To name just a few offhand!
Right! So frustrating!
Thank you for all the recommendations. I will definitely need to check these out!
Yay for blogging buddies! I love Netgalley too, although Bookish First has been very good to me lately for ARCs. Hopefully 2020 will be a great year full of discoveries too!
Oh we will have to check out Bookish First! Any tips and tricks for getting approved over there?
I used to love NetGalley, but they don’t seem to like me much these days - probably because I don’t live in an English speaking country. Edelweiss is where I get most of my ARCs these days!
Yeah it helps that we live in the US.
Any tips for Edelweiss? We can’t seem to unlock the secrets to getting approved over there.
Well, your profile is VERY important. It has to be as comprehensive as possible - where to you post your reviews, how many followers you have on the various platforms. Also, when you request a book, make sure you fill in WHY you think you’d be a good audience for that book. Finally, if you’ve done that and get rejected, you can ask again and be more specific as to why you want to read that book. I’ve done that twice and gotten approvals after being denied. Mind you, one of them was because the author promised they’d tell the publisher to let me have the ARC, and after I said that, I was approved. Finally - of course - put your review up on the site.
I have the same problem with sequels. Hollow City (the second book in the miss peregrine’s series) was the only second book I ever liked BETTER than the first, but then the third one wasn’t as good as the other two. UGH!
Audiobooks save my reading life, without them I would have a lot less to talk about on my blog!
Same! I’ve read 7 books this year and only one of them was a book I actually sat down and read (thanks grad school!)
The only books I felt got better are the series progressed was The Winternight Trilogy. They are so good!
I’m glad you had so much success with audiobooks. How neat.
My TTT .
Great list! I do love my Audible account for books.
I must confess I have done the opposite to you, 2019 was the year I started reading more MG books. I found some great ones!
Audiobooks are awesome and definitely up reading stats. I learned to speed them up this year and that helped me.
I have thought about speeding them up but it seems like a process and I’m not ready for it yet. ? - Haley
Blogging buddies are the best sort! And yay for audiobooks! I have such a long commute to/from work I don’t know where I’d be without audiobooks! They’re a lifesaver. Real life book clubs are also so fun! That’s great that you got to discover that!
Sequels/ disappointing duologies are definitely a thing! I have the same problem sometimes. I agree about TBR’s too. I have a loose TBR but am totally a mood reader! I have to read whatever is catching my eye at the moment!
I listened to a bunch of audiobooks last year too. They got me through many boring workdays.
I don’t need challenges to read either but I love them!
Oh, Netgalley. I try not to request too much, but I do love it! I’ve gotten a lot of great books from there over the years. 🙂
And real-life book clubs are super awesome.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
It’s so dangerous but so amazing! We are definitely making a concerted effort to cut back on how many books we request but it’s a fantastic resource!