Top Ten Tuesdays #315: Thanksgiving Freebie

Posted November 24, 2020 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 5 Comments

Thanksgiving Freebie:
Books I’m Thankful For in the Shitty Year of 2020

Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review.

My 2020 has been quite garbage like most people, with the notable exception of acquiring the cutest puppy in the world. My reading has even been garbage. I’ve never reduced my reading challenge before but I’m down to 100 instead of 120. Quite a change for me! And even then, I’m still around 10 books behind. Every time I read a book I straight-up couldn’t put down OR reignited my love for reading (even for a brief moment!), I was extremely grateful and made sure to yell about that fact in my review. Here are ten books I’m grateful for this year – either because I cranked through them and they really helped me, or because they became new favorites.

Quick Reads

Date Me, Bryson Keller: “Oh man, this book was EXACTLY what I needed. I’d been struggling with reading during quarantine (and honestly was behind on my challenge BEFORE too) so Chris suggested I take a break from the book that was taking me forever and putting me in a slump, and read something quick and fun. I was able to sit down and read DATE ME, BRYSON KELLER in one sitting on a Monday night and it was exactly the kick in the pants I needed to read more and finish April stronger.”

In Five Years: “It was genuinely exactly what I needed at the time; there’s something to be said for reading based on your mood instead of living and dying by the TBR. I was struggling in February to read all the things I needed to read, so when I finally took a moment to read something I WANTED to read, I blazed through this in basically two sittings. It was refreshing, surprising, and wonderful. I can’t wait to continue to read books by Rebecca Serle.”

The Mall: “This was so good and exactly what I needed, yet again. My reading mojo was really off for a few months in the beginning of the year, so I decided to read what was calling to me: THE MALL. I enjoyed the Jessica Darling series enough and was so curious to read more by Megan McCafferty. This book was exactly what I wanted it to be; it felt like all the best parts of the JD books.”

Recommended For You: “What a freakin pleasant surprise this was! …could not put it down and basically read it all in one sitting. The shorter size definitely helped, but it was such a FUN story to dive into. I’m so happy I picked this up!”

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: “I was completely addicted to this book, which was a welcome change in my reading habits. I wanted to finish two books during vacation and that definitely didn’t happen… but I managed to finish a couple right after! I read it in a few sittings over the course of one day and another morning.”

New Favorites

Girls with Razor Hearts: “Yup, this was just about as wild and powerful as expected, and the perfect way to kickoff my reading year. I chose it as my first book of 2020 because I love starting things off on a perfect note, or at least with a book I can safely assume will be in the 4.5-5 star range!”

Paradise Cove: “I absolutely loved the first book in this companion series so I had pretty high hopes for book two… and I loved it even more! I need to get moving on Holiday’s other books because damn. She knows how to write a low-drama romance!”

Beach Read: “I definitely managed to laugh out loud AND tear up multiple times throughout the book, so you could call that a success. No doubt this will be in my top few books of the year, which makes me incredibly happy. This was exactly the book I needed when a pandemic was causing stress and my reading was down in the dumps.”

Tweet Cute: “I was so excited when I was asked to join the TWEET CUTE blog tour! I’ve been looking forward to this book ever since it was first announced, and the early glowing reviews from friends only furthered my interest. Needless to say, I had high hopes and expectations… so luckily this book delivered.”

Today Tonight Tomorrow: “I’m pretty sure I smiled the entire time I was reading this. I took my dog out at 2am and couldn’t sleep, so I picked up the book, only to spend the next hour and a half completely blazing through it. I wish I could adequately form words for how much I loved this one but please take my word for it – READ IT!”