THE BIRTHDAY BOOK TAG

My birthday was this week, so I thought I'd answer this tag even though last week I also posted one. But hey, my birthday!

1 – BIRTHDAY CAKE – a book with a plot that seems cliche but you adore it anyway

The Selection: The one series that honestly isn't that good, but I still enjoy rereading

2 – PARTY GUESTS – your most anticipated book release this year

My Calamity Jane: And side note, also super excited about the "Mary" series the authors are also going to start doing!

3 – BIRTHDAY PRESENTS – a book that surprised you with how much you loved it

A Natural History of Dragons: Something about it intrigued me, even though overall it didn't exactly feel like a book for me, but I am so happy I ended up reading

4 – THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG – a book that certainly deserved all the hype it got

Harry Potter: I don't think I need to explain myself further

5 – HAPPY MUSIC – a book with some very beautiful and truly memorable quotes

Divergent: This was a hard question, and I'm not exactly sure about my answer either

6 – GETTING OLDER – a book that you read a long time ago, but you think that you would appreciate it more if you read it as a more mature reader

Classics: There are some books that I used to love and think that if I read them now I'd really dislike, but this one I think I'd appreciate more classics now

7 – SWEET BIRTHDAY MEMORIES – a book that kept you incredibly happy during a sad or demanding period of your life

Harry Potter: I feel like this is the only answer I could give, since jumping into that world is just nostalgic and can take me back and away

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And just as an added fun fact, I make my own cake every year. And pretty much every year it's something different. This year I went with red velvet.

Read on lovelies,

S

History of My Bookshelf TAG

History of My Bookshelf TAG

For this tag I went with books I own, most as physical books and some as ebooks. For questions 2-8 the first one title is a book I read which was published that particular year, and the second a book I read that year, but wasn't published that year.

1. The oldest book on your shelf Owned the longest: Elli

2. A book you read in 2013 United We Spy, Graceling

3. A book you read in 2014 Isla and the Happily Ever After, Emma

4. A book you read in 2015 The Fill-In Boyfriend, Assassin's Curse

5. A book you read in 2016 The Rose and the Dagger, Cinder and Ella

6. A book you read in 2017 Geekerella, My Lady Jane

7. A book you read in 2018 The Kiss Quotient, Renegades

8. A book you read in 2019 Humble Pi, A Natural History of Dragons

9. A book you’ve read more than once Babe

10. A book you waited over a year to be published My Plain Jane (and I'm eagerly waiting for the next one!)

11. A book you read on vacation/away from home Crazy Rich Asians

12. A book you got from someplace special (anything that’s not your local bookstore/online retailer) Torch Against the Night (signed copy from a store in the US)

13. A book you that made you cry If I Stay

14. A book you read in one sitting Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

15. A book that was a gift Andersen Classic Fairy Tales collection

16. A book you read before owning (library, borrowed from a friend)
If I Stay

17. A book you lent to someone else
Snow Like Ashes

18. A book that has been damaged Dear John

19. A book you got on sale/discounted Illustrated Harry Potter

20. A book you read with someone else (buddy read/read with a book club) Some John Green books for the #TurtlesAlltheWayCountDown by Penguin Random House, though I never ended up reading Turtles All the Way Down...

21. A book you associate with a song The Hunger Games

22. A book you associate with a food This was the hardest one! Heartless would be a good one with all it's baking creations, but I don't own that anymore. Something else would be Harry Potter with it's magical treats, or maybe the first Gallagher Girls book and tea?

23. A book you got years ago that you probably wouldn’t buy now The Assassin's Blade

24. A book you associate with a specific time in your life The Infernal Devices

25. A book you used to like, but don’t anymore I make it a point to not own them!

26. The newest book on your shelf
A Natural History of Dragons, but I also have the fourth illustrated Harry Potter on its way

Read on lovelies,

S

2020 Anticipated Reads, New Releases and Goals

2020 Anticipated Reads, New Releases and Goals

Anticipated reads (already out):
> Soul of Stars, Poston
> The Beautiful, Ahdieh

New releases:
> Inheritance Games, Barnes

> Come Tumbling Down, McGuire

> Hearts, Heroes, and Heath Hall, West

> Winterborne Academy for Home for Vengeance and Valor, Carter

> My Calamity Jane, Lady Janies

> Once Upon a Con #3, Poston

Goals:

> Read more classics than I have been (ideally maybe 5 in 2020)

> Another goal is to expand what I read

> Finish series and not push the last book back

Read on lovelies,

S

TBR 2020

TBR 2020

Last updated: December 28th -20, for newer information check my TBR 2021 post

Like the one for last year (link), these are books I own but haven't read yet.

Start of the year: 1 + 2 classics

           Gotten 2019 (the ones I'll try to get to zero by the end of the year)
           ARCs and books sent for review

TBR:

         1. Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

               .2 Soul of Stars ebook

               .3 The Beautiful ebook

               4. Hawk (pub. Jul. 6th)

 .             .5 Cinders ebook

               .6 Sea Witch Rising ebook

               .7 Slayer ebook

               .8 The Guest List (pub. May 15th/orig. Mar. 19th) ebook

               .9 Burn (pub. May 2nd) ebook

               .10 How to Drag a Body and Other Safety Tips (pub. May 19th) ebook

               .11 Recipe for Persuasion (pub. May 26th) ebook

               .12 Sisters of Sword and Song (pub. Jun. 23rd) ebook

               .13 Faith: Taking Flight (pub. Jul. 7th) ebook

               .14 Unspeakable Acts (pub. Jul. 28th) ebook

   .15 The Cruel Prince ebook

   .16 Of Curses and Kisses ebook

   .17 River at Night ebook

   .18 Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors ebook

   .19 My Calamity Jane ebook

   .20 One By One ebook

   .21 Bookish and the Beast ebook

   .22 Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valour ebook

   .23 The Inheritance Games ebook

CLASSICS:

>1. Andersen 15/99

>2. Aesop's Fables 63/384
+ Jane Austen x2 (Persuasion, Lady Susan, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park)
+ Christie x5 (Crooked House, Curtain, Peril at End House, Endless Night, Death in the Clouds)
+ Other x4 (Animal Farm, Great Gatsby, Jungle Book, Treasure Island, Robin Hood)

*For stars and more info check my Goodreads: link*

Read on lovelies,

S

2020 TBR Book Challenge

2020 TBR Book Challenge

Last updated: December 28th -20, for newer information check my TBR 2021 post

For the past five years I've done a challenge to get my TBR list down.

Although I've gotten a grip on my TBR, I still continue with this to expand what I read.

This is very close to last years one, with a few modifications.

1. Start a series & complete a series (can be separate series)

Faith: Taking Flight

My Calamity Jane

2. A book from the GoodReads Choice Awards (2019 link)

Book Love

3. A book you meant to read in 2019

Persuasion

4. Someone else's recommendation

Myyttihovi

5. Released as a movie/TV show

Kuolema niilillä (Death on the Nile, in the makes)

6. Award winner

Animal Farm

7. A book in Finnish

Paddingtonista 16.50 (16:50 From Paddington)

8.  A really long book (500+ pages)

Solutions and Other Problems

9. A book by an author you haven't read before
The Guest List

10. Choose by cover

Serenity and Firefly

11. A book where one of the main characters is royalty

The Ickabog

12. A book you choose randomly

Dear Girls

13. A book published in 2020

Hawk, Come Tumbling Down

14. A Standalone

Burn

15. Genre you don't read enough

How to Drag a Body and Other Safety Tips

16. A collection (e.g. essays, short stories, poetry, plays)

Mermaid's voice returns in this one

17. Non-fiction

Unspeakable Acts

18. A book with a chilling atmosphere (scary, unsettling, cold)

Lukitut ovet (Turn of The Key)

19. Classic
Lady Susan

> 20. Science

The Happy Brain

> Bonus: Reread a book

The Book of Ivy

Completed: 19+/20

Read on lovelies,

S

Read This Month: November & December

Read This Month:

November & December

1. Humble Pi Non-fiction audiobook ✦✦✦✦.5

2. The Bride Test audiobook ✦✦✦✦.5
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3. How To Non-fiction ✦✦✦✦✧

4. Supernova (Series Finisher) ✦✦✦✦.5

Data:

Male/Female author:

         50% female,

         50% male

Genre:

         50% non-fiction,

         25% romance,

         25% fantasy

Pages:

       1 479 p

Format:

         50 % audio books,

         50  % physical books

Average:

         4.375

*For more info check my Goodreads: link*

Read on lovelies,

S

2019: Statistics and Achievments

Yearly Statistics & Achievements

2018 version: link

2017 version: link
2016 version: link

First of all I finished the 2019 TBR challenge (link)

I also finished 6 out of 10 of my Anticipated reads of 2019 (link)

            > Out of the 4 left: 2 have yet to be released (Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor, An Ember in the Ashes #4), 1 I no longer am interested in reading (Her Royal Highness) and only 1 book I just didn't get to (Soul of Stars)

My TBR (link) is down to 1 book (Sorcery & Cecilia: or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot)

            > It has been zero for most of the year and I've been really happy with that!

& when it comes to classics, well I didn't read that many.

><><><

Total books read: 44 (Compared to 2018: 42 and 2017: 34)

            10+3+1+8+1+3+9+5+0+0+2+2

           > Interestingly enough September and October were 0 months also last year, but not the years before

Month read most: January: 10

    least: September & October: 0

Pages ~ 11 980 (2018: 15 211 & 2017: 10 542)

    Average length 272 pages (2018: 362 & 2017: 310)

Format: ebook: 12 (2018: 6), audio: 26 (2018: 13), physical 6 (2018: 23)

Arc/sent: 14 (2018: 13)

Reviewed: 18 (2018: 13)

In Finnish: 3 (2018: 2)

Most popular (according to Goodreads): To All The Boys I've Loved Before

     Least popular Magical Experiments

Length: longest  549 (Supernova)

               shortest 18 (Paw Prints)

Publication oldest: 1885 - Työmiehen vaimo

        books I read published this year: 22

Stars: in order of least: 2,3,4 ("1" means any rating starting with a 1. Meaning 1 and 1.5 are both included in "1")

       average being ~3.81 this year & over all in all the years ~3.26

       Highest rating being 4.5, given to 12 books

       Lowest rating 2.5, given to 1 book

><><><

Series Finished:

Daughter of the Pirate King (duology)

Cinder and Ella (duology)
Renegades (trilogy)

2019 goals, TBR etc. all coming in the next few weeks.

Read on lovelies,

S