My favourite books of the year (so far!)

Helloo and welcome to my blog :)))

I usually sit here and prattle for a paragraph or two but I’m getting straight to the point today because I actually wanna go curl up in bed and read.

Before that though I am going to be talking about my favourite books of the year so far.

In the completely crazy year that is 2020 I have so far read 48 books which is wayyyy more than I thought I’d read all year let alone only up to now and yet my favourites really weren’t hard to pick out.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House was the first book that I completed this year and so because of that I keep forgetting I read it in 2020.

I feel like it’s hard to give an accurate description of this book but basically it follows Galaxy “Alex” Stern who has lived a hard life to the point that, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. She is offered a full ride to Yale in exchange for monitoring the schools secrete society.

This book was something completely new to me. It was dark, daring, it made me uncomfortable so many times to the point I was reading through my fingers and yet I couldn’t put it down.

It’s also not for the faint of hearted as there are a lot of trigger warnings: addiction, abuse, assault, graphic details and descriptions of blood and injuries, to name but a few.

I believe the sequel is set for 2021 which is kind of sad because I was hoping it’d be released this year but also kinda of good because then I won’t feel bad going and re-reading this. Full Review Here. 

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More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn

If you’re a regular here on this humble lil blog of mine then I would like to apologise because I have not shut up about this book since reading it back in April.

In my defence I read this just over a week before initial publication as I was lucky enough to receive an ARC and be invited onto the Blog Tour but then due to circumstances out of anybodys control the publication was moved to July and I was left with so many feelings about this book and nowhere to direct them besides my blog.

More Than Maybe is a mutual pining romance between Vada, an aspiring music journalist, and Luke whose punk rocker dad doesn’t understand why he hides his talent out of the spotlight writing and composing as opposed to been up on stage.

I loved the romance, I loved the music aspects of this, you can really tell how much Erin Hahn loves music with how she uses it and speaks about it in her stories, and I loved all the Teen Wolf refrences. I can’t wait for this to be released!!

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Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Jenn Bennett has officially gone and cemented herself as one of, if not my most, favourite contemporary authors/authors in general.

I finally picked up a couple of her books last year, loved them, and I’m so happy to say this trend is continuing on into 2020.

Alex, Approximately follows classic movie buff Bailey as she moves across the country to live with her dad in a small surfing town where coincidently her online pen-pal and fellow movie fanatic Alex also lives. Before telling Alex she’s in town she decides to scope him out herself to avoid any awkwardness that might surface from meeting in real life. Outside of her Alex-Investigation she also gets a summer job working at a tourist museum where she meets Porter and sparks fly.

This book made me so happy to read. The overall plot is kind of predictable but it’s the journey and the unravelling of it all that was so much fun. All of that plus the romance had me grinning from ear to ear.

I’d say there are one or two topics in that need trigger warnings for gun violence.

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Chain of Gold by Cassandra Claire

I loved this book a whole hell of a lot which is funny to say considering I was never even planning on reading it back when it was first announced or even more recently then that.

But then a series of events happened including: re-reading The Infernal Devices, seeing rave reviews, being in lockdown and this book being on sale for €8 and ultimately I read it in 2 days and became obsessed.

Chain of Gold is both a prequel series and a sequel series all in one. This new trilogy follows the children of our Infernal Devices faves as they do what all the most interesting shadowhunters do: say “fuck you” to the Clave, brood, save the world from demons and make Magnus Bane regret every choice he’s ever made.

This book is set in Edwardian England and deals with a demonic plague/illness which, to me, made it feel like it had more “horror” like themes that I loved!

It’s ironic that I read this during lockdown when it was literally illegal here in Spain to leave your house because the characters in this book are also facing a quarantine situation.

Overall I’m really glad I picked this book up as it was a lot of fun. I loved the characters even if for the first quarter of the book I had to have a family tree diagram next to me to keep track. I especially loved Cordelia Carstairs more then I expected too and I can’t wait for Chain of Iron. Full Review Here. 

So those were my favourite books of the year so far. I could probably sit and talk about these books all day and all night if you left me but alas I have things to do and books to read.

I’d love to know what your favourite books of the year have been so far and if you’ve read any of these I’d love to know what you thought 🙂 Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Elli xx