2020. The year none of us where expecting to go quite the way it did. I think calling it a strange year would be an understatement. While 2020 has mainly been very negative and scary, a positive thing to come out for me is more reading time. When I had to move home in March, I began reading a lot more. This got me thinking lately about how the pandemic and COVID-19 has impacted on my reading tastes. I've done a very similar blog post about how lockdown helped my reading, which you can read here.
Falling Out of Love with YA
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| The Confession by Jessie Burton is an example of adult/modern literature |
Something that I've spotted over lockdown and 2020 is that I am beginning to move away from YA books. I'm now in my twenties, and with the average age of protagonists being 14-19, it just doesn't connect with me anymore. I've enjoyed more of the adult/modern literature I've read than the YA books I've read. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy YA. There are some YA books I've loved such as You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson. The issues covered are still important, there just not the issues that affect me as much anymore. It's been four years since I was in school. I'm about to graduate and start looking for full time employment. School issues aren't something I can relate to anymore.
Reading and Finishing More Series
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| I binge read the Legend series by Marie Lu in June |
A goal of mine for the year was to tackle more of my series on my TBR. This year I either finished or read completely four series. I don't remember the last time I read that many series in a year. I've also started a lot of series this year, with sequels I either don't own or coming out. While I enjoy a good binge read of a series, I think I am moving more towards stand alone novels. A series has to really capture me in order to want to keep on reading. A general comment for the year would be that I've not been as hooked by many books as I normally am. 2020 has obviously been a difficult year, which would explain why my reading habits have changed.
Fantasy Has Been My Main Genre
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| Crescent City by Sarah J Maas is a fantasy I enjoyed |
This is unsurprising as it's the genre I own the most books for. I'm not a big sci-fi/dystopian reader and I'm moving away from contemporary at the moment. The books I'd consider my most enjoyed of the year all have some kind of fantastical element to them. I read fantasy for the magical quality, whereas I read contemporary usually for the issue tackled or the characters. I think I'll always gravitate towards fantasy, but like to spread it out by reading other genres.
Tackling My TBR
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| The Travelling Cat Chronicles was on my TBR and I enjoyed it |
My main goal for 2020 has been to tackle my TBR. This year I have read twenty books of my TBR, which I am insanely proud of. The rest have been either new releases, rereads or books I've decided to pick up on a whim. As I've cut down my TBR and my book collection, it has allowed me to really focus on what I love in books. I intend to continue tackling my TBR in 2021 and maybe even start 2022 with no books on my TBR.
Low Book Ratings
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| A five star read for me |
I have only given three books, excluding all the rereads, five stars this year. My average has been either four or three stars. It has been very hard to impress me this year. I think this stems from me studying Creative Writing at university. My standards for a good book have become incredibly high. Unlike previous years, I wouldn't say I've read a book that I thought "wow I can't stop thinking about it". Some have come close, such as The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue and The Once and Future Witches, but nothing has made me want to reread it and think about it over and over. As I've already mentioned, 2020 has really taken a toll on my reading and I think I haven't enjoyed books as much as I've done in the past.
That concludes what I've learnt from 2020 and my reading habits.
Carenza :) x
