2020 Reading Wrap Up!

 2020 Reading Stats

Number of Books I Read: 167

1) Best Books I Read in 2020?

2) Book I Was Excited About and Thought I Was Going to Love More, But Didn't?

 

3) Most Surprising (In a Good Way) Book I Read?

4) Best Series I Started in 2020?

 

5) Best Book From a Genre I Don't Typically Read/Was Outside My Comfort Zone?

6) Most Thought-Provoking/Life Changing Book of 2020?

7) Book I Can't Believe I Waited Until 2020 to Finally Read?

8) Book That Shocked Me the Most?

9) My OTP (One True Pairing) of the Year?

Pip/Ravi

(Honorable Mentions: Simon/Bram (Love, Creekwood); Sinclair/Mitchel, Benjamin/Nathan, Rudy/Samuel (They Bite series); Luc/Oliver (Boyfriend Material); Stevie/David (The Hand on the Wall); Monty/Percy (The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue) )

10) My Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of the Year?

Sloan & Garrett

(Honorable Mentions: The Creekwood Gang (Love, Creekwood); Myrtle/Ada (Premeditated Myrtle) )

Here's to more great reading in 2021!

Book: In the Shadow of the Mic: Three Decades of Slam Poetry in Pittsburgh

 

Just a note to open here, that I am in fact very proudly related to the fantastic editors of this book!

I have been involved in slam poetry in my hometown in the past, whether as a spectator or an occasional volunteer, so I knew a little bit about the workings behind the slam going into this book. But I truly had no concept of just how much goes into not just hosting a poetry slam, but into creating a safe space and true community.

This book is a community in and of itself, not only expertly explaining how slam poetry truly came about in Pittsburgh, but also containing interviews with important members of the community, as well as many writers opening themselves up through their poetry. This book is a beautifully unique look from the inside into a beautifully unique community.

Two Very Different Christmas Mysteries: The Christmas Killer, and Owl Be Home for Christmas

 

DI James Walker and his wife Annie have moved away from London and to a small English village, in an attempt to get away from a terrible criminal who still haunts them. But murder finds them anyway, when Walker starts receiving The Twelve Days of Christmas cards promising that twelve villagers will die in the next twelve days.

Pine does a good job of building suspense. The setting is a perfect choice, with the village becoming completely isolated by a massive snowstorm. And in a small village everyone thinks they know everything about everyone else, but the murderer knows a lot of secret sins that they are using to determine who dies.

Annie's character was not my favorite. I didn't feel she added a lot to the book, and even became a little irritating to me at times. I also didn't feel the first person chapters that came whenever someone was about to be murdered were necessary. But the ending was a great twist, and very scary and suspenseful. I'm curious to see where this series goes, as this is the first entry.

Another entry in this really fun cozy mystery series, this book finds Meg Lanslow and her family helping run a conference on owls. But there is a lot of in-fighting and backstabbing among the scientist attendees, and with the inn snowed in, everyone is stuck together. When a murder occurs, Meg must help solve the mystery before another crime occurs.

This is just an enjoyable series that always makes me smile. The family characters are all a lot of fun and bring a lot of humor to the story, and the scientist characters in this story were all unique and interesting. The snowed-in atmosphere added a lot of tension, and the ending was a real surprise.

Note: I received ARCs of these two books from the publishers in exchange for honest reviews. This did not affect my opinions of the books or my reviews themselves.

ARC Review: Little Cruelties

 

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

One of the things Liz Nugent is absolutely brilliant at is creating these highly unlikeable, irreedeemable characters that should put her readers off immediately-and yet, it's impossible to stop turning pages.

 She did this in Unraveling Oliver, and she does it again here, this time with three brothers who treat each other and everyone else around them terribly. No one comes out unscatched, but what readers do know from the start is that one of the brothers ends up dead. We don't know which one, and Nugent is excellent at making it seem that at any point it could be any one of them.

Do not be turned off by how much you will detest every character in the book. That is the point. Nugent is not afraid to show how a legacy of selfishness and hatred can be passed from parent to child, shared from brother to brother, continuing through generations. This is a true psychological thriller, because you really don't know which character was pushed that last final inch over the line, and how and why it happened. It could be any combination of characters, because Nugent has shown that every single one of them has that ability inside of them.

I definitely recommend this book, and when you're done, grab a copy of Unraveling Oliver. You will fly through both of them.

ARC Review: His Holiday Crush

 

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

This is exactly the holiday read I needed during what is a strange and sometimes very difficult holiday season. 

This book truly has every ingredient needed for a heartwarming holiday m/m romance: one man (Max) who only thinks about work and has to be forced to take a vacation back to his hometown for Christmas, his best friend (Hal) with two adorable children who are all struggling after Hal's wife left them, the small town cop (Dominic, aka Nicky) who is Hal's brother and who also happens to have had a crush on Max since they were in high school. Cue Max crashing his car in a snowstorm, which leads to being rescued by Nicky and having to stay in his hometown far longer than expected.

Every character is fantastic, and I was rooting so hard for all of them. Dominic and Max are such a cute couple who bring out the best in each other and help each other grow. Max's relationship with Hal and his daughters, Hal and Nicky's brotherly bond, and Nicky as uncle to Hal's two daughters, are the sweetest. Even when there are some difficulties in the characters' lives (an intense argument, Max having to decide between a big city job and love in a small town, Nicky's PTSD, the wife and mother who left, Max's alcoholic father), these all lead to loving moments and important plot development.

If you need a lift this season, this is definitely a great book to lose yourself in.

ARC Review: Trial by Fire

 

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

James has clearly done his research for this devastating and incredibly well-written non-fiction read. At the center of this book is The Station Fire, a horrific fire at a nightclub during a rock concert in which 100 people died. So many factors caused this immense tragedy, and James explores them all, from flammable soundproofing foam, to the availability of exits, to panic causing terrifying pileups of people, to the choice of the band  playing that night to use fireworks in their show. He also explores the after effects on those who survived and the families of those who didn't.

The fire's terrible consequences didn't end there, as lawsuits, blame, grief, and politics all collided. False news was reported in newspapers as fact, important papers were supressed, and no one was satisfied with the supposed justice that resulted. I felt like I walked away from reading this book going from knowing absolutely nothing about this tragedy to being able to write a full paper on it, that's how much research James did and how much he made every detail matter. James makes readers care so much that this book will absolutely stay with you when you finish. 

ARC Review: Start to Finish

 

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

A poet, artist, and art professor, Ian Start is struggling after suffering a horrific infection in his leg, one that left massive physical and emotional scars. Unable to find the poetry inside himself ever since, Ian has thrown himself into teaching and painting, and accepting that he will always be alone. Then one of his students is murdered, and the crime brings Ian's ex, Jake, now a police officer, back into the picture.

First, my advice is to push past the first chapter or so. I honestly almost closed the book within the first chapter, because I was really struggling to like Ian. He came across as very prententious, and all his thoughts felt like a lecture on art. But something told me to keep going, and I'm definitely glad I did.

Once readers were allowed to see the real Ian, his struggles, the emotional walls he put up after his tragic illness, his character began to really resonate and feel like a human being I was rooting for. When Jake and Ian first reconnect, I became even more invested, as their chemistry was apparent from the start. The mystery is a good one too, with a very surprising and dramatic ending. 

I'm interested to see where this series goes next. Now that I'm invested in the characters and relationships, I suspect I will like the next book even more.