my reading plans for the rest of 2020 (aka the end of year book tag)

Hi everyone! You’re probably all very bored by me saying that I’ve been trying to get back in touch with the book community after I kind of abandoned it because of mental health reasons, but that’s one of the reasons why I’m doing this tag so you’re hearing about it again. Sorry. (The other reason is because my friend Romie informed me that my end of year book tag of 2019 was the first one that showed up when you search for it on Google so, uh, thank you? But also, why?)

Anyway, after seeing a few bookstubers doing this tag I thought it might be fun for me to do a 2020 edition of this tag too. Which might be a little bit late because we only have one month left, but hey, apparently people do this anywhere from September to maybe the last week of December so it’s fine. We’re fine.

Also, this tag was first created by Ariel Bisset over on Youtube! Here’s her 2020 edition of the tag, which I really enjoyed watching. Now, let me get to the questions.

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

I made a whole blogpost on that a bit ago and since then I have a few more books to add to that list; That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert, Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers, The Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar, Fly on the Wall by Remy Lai and The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard.

But as much as I’d like to finish all the books I’m currently reading and start 2021 with a clean reading slate, I don’t think that’s going to happen. And I’m going to try to not stress out about it too much. At this point it’s more important to me that I’m actually reading (because I’ve been sucking at doing so lately) and if that means I’ll start more new books than I’ll finish then I’m going to try to be fine with that.

I’m also aware that Fadwa gave me a TBR of books to read this year but… with the way this year has gone and with how little I’ve read overall I won’t be able to get to these. And I feel really bad about this, but I’m definitely still planning on getting to them someday.

Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

I feel like I gave some pretty good suggestions the last time I did this tag (which you can find here) so let me try to think of a book that I didn’t mention last time… I think Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan would fit for autumnal. Maybe it’s just because of the way the cover looks, with all these colors that remind me of autumn and trees that look like they’re going through a transformation, or maybe it’s because folktales and fairytales always feel perfect for autumn for me, and this book has a real folktale feel to it. Either way, I adore this book and I’d love for more people to pick it up.

Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?

This is a great illustration for how in touch with the community I’ve been this year (aka not) (aka I hate OCD) but… not really, and that’s mostly because I have absolutely no idea what books are still going to come out. There might be books that I’m anticipating but completely forgot about.

The last book of the year that I was still highly anticipating and was very aware of was These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong and, since that’s coming out tomorrow (when I’m writing this) and I already got my hands on a copy I don’t feel like that answer really counts, but it’s the only one I have, so. These Violent Delights. Chloe Gong. Read it

What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

Again, I’m going to be lucky if I read anything at all, but there’s quite a few books that I’d love to get to. The first one is Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters because I started a Percy Jackson reread and I’ve been waiting for this one to become available at the library for what feels like forever and Percy Jackson just sparks so much joy.

The second one is Network Effect by Martha Wells because I love the Murderbot series and was so incredibly excited about the fact that this series was going to get a full novel and then I just… didn’t read it. I’m still incredibly excited about it, but also a little scared that I might have to reread the full Murderbot series to refresh my memory and I don’t have time for that.

And the third book is The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo. I’ve heard quite a few people rave about how incredible this one is, and since this one is quite a short read I feel like I’m actually able to get to this one.

(Some honorary mentions: Seven of Infinities by Aliette de Bodard, The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh, You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson, Court of Lions by Somaiya Daud and Damaged Goods by Talia Hibbert.)

Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favourite book of the year?

Compared to the not-very-big number of books I’ve read this year, and the incredibly small number of books I’ve read this year that I fell head over heels in love with, I’d say that the bar for “favorite book of the year” is very low this year. So yes, yes it’s definitely possible that basically any book could become my favorite book of the year.

Have you already started making reading plans for 2021?

No concrete plans. There’s a few books I want to get to and a few books releasing that I’d love to read, but I’ve never been much of a planner when it comes to reading. I just read what I want to read when I want to read it, and that’s it. I’m not really planning on changing that this upcoming year because it’s worked quite well for me so far.

Honestly, now that I’m finishing up this blogpost and it’s already December this post is starting to feel a little useless because I truly wonder how much reading I’ll be able to get done in this short month. But who knows, maybe I’ll suddenly start feeling super motivated to read and I’ll end up reading 20 more books this month. I’m not sure how realistic that is, but I’d love to get a bit more reading done, at least.

Anyway, I hope everyone’s reading was really good this year and that you’ll be able to read some more amazing books before the end of the year! Also, you can find the questions below in case you want to answer them too.

Questions:

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?
Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?
Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?
What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?
Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favourite book of the year?
Have you already started making reading plans for 2021?