2021 Reading: The Beast Within

 #20 A book about do-overs or fresh starts

I have read several versions of this tale and this is one of the most interesting. I like the idea that the curse for the Beast came on gradually as his actions caused others pain so he slowly turned into the creature. Once again, the Odd Sisters play a huge part in this story and the outcome for all characters. It’s interesting that all of these tales not only take place in the same universe, but also share characters and plot lines that are important to the over all story of all the tales. I believe that’s why the Odd Sisters are so important.

2021 Reading: Hello, Red Fox

 

I had never seen this book before, but one of my coworkers told me that it was cute and that I should take a look. Totally adorbs.

2021 Reading: Fairest of All

#7 A book where the main character works at your current or dream job

 Who doesn't want to be a beautiful queen as their dream job?

I decided that this year I was going to read the entire Disney Villain series by Serena Valentino because I really enjoyed Poor Unfortunate Souls and I think there is going to be a new one coming out soon and I thought it was time to catch up. 

It's very in right now to get into the story from the villain's perspective or to give background to "evil" characters and this book is just delightful. The progression of the story and its subtle differences to the tale that we know are both refreshing and heartbreaking when you see the villains as real beings. I know that the Odd Sisters feature heavily in the other books as well as having a book of their own and I would love to get to know their story better.

2020 Reading: Audiobooks

So, as I was listening to the third audiobook of the year, I thought of the fact that I haven't listened to an audiobook in a long time. I did the whole podcast thing for such a long time and then I ran out and was completely miserable. I have a lot of time to listen to stuff in front of the computer at work so it is in the perfect time to listen to an audiobook. 

So, here are the ones that I listened to this year:

2020 Reading Challenge List

#1 A book that's published in 2020 : The Conference of the Birds
#2 A book by a trans or non-binary author : If I Was Your Girl
#3 A book with a great first line : Catch-22
#4 A book about a book club : Honey, Baby, Sweetheart
#5 A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics : Jack the Ripper
#6 A bildungsroman : Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey
#7 The first book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed : Invisible
#8 A book with an upside-down image on the cover : Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down
#9 A book with a map : Devil in the White City
#10 A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club : My Sweet Audrina
#11 An anthology : Night Shift
#12 A book that passes the Bechdel test : The Handmaid's Tale
#13 A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but it unrelated to it : Lost
#14 A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name : Princess Diarist
#15 A book published the month of your birthday : Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History
#16 A book about or by a woman in STEM : Girling Up
#17 A book that won an award in 2019 : Trust Exercise
#18 A book on a subject you know nothing about : Raising Dairy Goats
#19 A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics : On the Shortness of Life
#20 A book with a pun in the title : Love in Vein II
#21 A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins : Butter
#22 A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character : Machines Like Me
#23 A book with a bird on the cover : Jailbird
#24 A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader : Cartoons of World War II
#25 A book with "gold," "silver," or "bronze" in the title : I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
#26 A book by a WOC : I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
#27 A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads : The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems
#28 A book you meant to read in 2019 : Calling Maggie May
#29 A book about or involving social media : Free to Fall
#30 A book that has a book on the cover : Fahrenheit 451
#31 A medical thriller : The Silent Patient
#32 A book with a made-up language : Desperation
#33 A book set in a country beginning with "C" : Anne of Green Gables
#34 A book you picked because the title caught your attention : Choke
#35 A book with a three-word title : As You Wish
#36 A book with a pink cover : Workin' It!
#37 A western : Brokeback Mountain
#38 A book by or about a journalist : Sharp Objects
#39 Read a banned book during Banned Books Week (Sept 27- Oct 3) : Two Boys Kissing
#40 Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge : Stay Awake
#41 A book written by an author in their 20s : One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
#42 A book with "20" or "twenty" in the title : Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
#43 A book with a character with a vision impairment or enhancement (a nod to 20/20 vision) : Seeing Red
#44 A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Olympics : Colour Me In
#45 A book set in the 1920s : Cocaine Blues
#46 A book by an author who has written more than 20 books : Artists in Crime
#47 A book with more than 20 letters in its title : No One Here Gets Out Alive
#48 A book published in the 20th century : Death in a White Tie
#49 A book from a series with more than 20 books : Overture to Death
#50 A book with a main characters in their 20s : Persuasion

Date Started: January 1, 2020
Date completed: December 31, 2020
Books finished in challenge: 50 of 50
Books finished in total for year: 83

2020 Reading: Honey, Baby, Sweetheart

#4 A book about a book club

Went into this book with no idea what to expect. Thought it might turn out to be another one of those meet-cute summer romance books you usually find. Was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not. It's sort of refreshing to find a book where the girl, while she does fall for the "bad boy" type, she gets herself out of it with the help of friends and family (in this case, her book club) and soul searching and self-discovery happens in the process. It’s got funny bits, and sad bits, and bits where you want to punch people... It’s got it all.

2021 Reading: Loki

This book was so cute. I like how they just disregard everything in both the movies and the comics just to make it cutesy for tiny children. I knew this had to be my first book of the year. Just something to make me smile.

2020 Reading: Trust Exercise

#17 A book that won an award in 2019

This book turned me in all kinds of directions. First you think it's one thing, then it's another, then it's another. One thing is for sure, you cannot trust this book. All the characters seem flighty, like they have no idea what they want or where they are at any given moment. And I know that for the first part they are young teenagers, but even when they are grown, that feeling does not get any better. There is not one character that has it all together and I think that is the point of the book. Another point is the issue of trust. Because there is none. And given the characters and the way that they act, not only to other people but to themselves, there should be none. I would not trust a single character, teen or grown up in this entire book.

2020 Reading: As You Wish

#35 A book with a three-word title

This movie remains, to this day, one of my favorites of all time. I can quote the whole thing at the drop of a hat and I think I have seen it maybe a thousand times. It's amazing. The actors, the sets, the story, the music... Just everything is perfection. And this book with little inside stories and peeks into the making of the script and the movie magic, backstage gossip just makes the movie all the more special to the inner child in me that still loves this movie with all my heart. I love that so many people put their thoughts and words to this books, not just Cary. It's clear that everyone involved really loved this project and I think that really shows.

2020 Reading: Love in Vein II

#20 A book with a pun in the title

Of course I had to put something by Poppy on here. I can't go very long without reading one of his books. Plus the pun in the title just makes it so much better. I know the stories aren't really by him, but there are some good ones in here, including the story by Neil Gaiman that I read the graphic novel for last year about Snow White being a vampire. Good story.

2020 Reading: Long Story Short

Okay, this book was hilarious. It was kind of like that book I read a while ago that boiled down books into tweets and texts but even funnier because these are visual and just so spot on about this classic books. The one for Dracula had me laughing so loud that my coworkers had to come over and see what I was doing. I think the whole book only took me about 8 minutes to read during my lunch break and it was so worth it.

2020 Reading: Jack the Ripper The Casebook

#5 A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics

What better book to read about London than a book about Jack the Ripper, huh?! This book didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know (because look who you're talking to here) but it was fun to look at all the memorabilia that they added in to make it interesting. They had little newspaper clippings and police reports, that I mostly could NOT read because the hand-writing was terrible and tiny.. they even threw in some of the notes that the police received during the murders that they believed came from the killer. Quite the little treasure trove for a little murderino like me. I like little things like that. I have one for Jim Morrison and one for Salvador Dali as well.

2020 Reading: Choke

#34 A book you picked because the title caught your attention

I suppose it was the title added with the cover that really caught my attention, but that's not the point. I pretty much new exactly what this was about before I even read the description or opened the book. I think there is something like this in every school all over the country (at least there was in my school and those in the counties around ours when I was growing up) and you would hear stuff about it all the time on the news. While I never really participated in this particular type of paraphilia, I know that it exists and that it can be dangerous. This book just further proves that point. I hope that more people read this, especially younger people, and learn the dangers. God, that makes me sound old, but I just want people to kink responsibly.

2020 Reading: The Conference of the Birds

#1 A book that's published in 2020

Just when I think that this might be the last of this series of books, they have to end on another cliffhanger like that. I honestly don't know where the story could go from here, but I'm kind of excited to see. There are some aspects of the story that I saw coming (not going to spoil anything, but they deal with certain relationships) but then there were others that I did not. I some times put my thoughts in the place of the children and think if I would like to be where they are and stay young forever and I would just hate the idea. Never growing up and being treated as children even if you were nearing a hundred years old. No thank you. But if that was all they knew... I don't know. I haven't heard much of another book, but if there is one, I hope I don't have to wait too long for it.

2020 Reading: Free to Fall

#29 A book about or involving social media

This book surprised me greatly. I really had no idea what it was about when I picked it. I admit that I looked on an online list when choosing for this category (I though it was fitting given the prompt) and this just happened to be a book that our library was getting rid of so I snagged it before it was thrown away and decided to use it as my choice. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it very much. It struck on points of a future that could very well happen where people are too reliant on social media and technology in general and fail to actually look around them and use their instincts. I'm hesitant to use the phrase "it really makes you think" because that sounds cliche but it does bring some things to light about our own lives as they are now.

2020 Reading: A Map of Days

This book was sort of a middle ground because I needed to read the book that came after it for the challenge this year, not to mention I was supposed to read the one before this last year... It just needed to be read. I don't know what it is about this series exactly, but I really enjoy reading it. Maybe it's the coming-of-age aspect or even the feeling different aspect of the characters that's mingled into it, but it definitely makes the story unique makes you want to keep going on the to the next and the next every time a new one comes out.