Wow, didn’t realize that I hadn’t blogged at all in 2021. But it was a good year, btw. Moving on I suppose.
Today I found the “JAN-uary Book Tag” on YouTube, created by Jan Agaton. I thought I’d try it because I liked the questions and January is my birthday month (I turned 30 😬)
1. What was the first and last book you read last year?
Good place to start at because I didn’t talk about any books I read last year on this blog 😅🤣 So I started the year with Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue which was a great start to the year; I gave the book 5 stars. The last book I read was a graphic novel called Fence, Vol. 4: Rivals by C.S. Pacat. I really enjoy this series, it’s so good!
2. What is your first read this year?
I finished one book so far this year which is alright and I’m not surprised by because my goal is 11 books this year. I didn’t complete my reading goal last year, I fell, like, 7 books behind schedule, so I want to take it easy on my reading goal but I do plan on reading more than 11 books. But the one book I finished so far this year was Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage and this was a little bit of a surprise. My expectations were low because I’ve mostly heard not so great reviews but I actually ended up enjoying this. I could not and did not want to put it down, it gripped me and had my attention from the start so it was a good way to start the new reading year.
3. Share 3 of your reading goals this year.
Goal 1: To reread tonsss of books in March. March is the month that I reread books but I haven’t done this since 2019, I believe, so this year is the year to do the most and reread some books that I haven’t read since 9th grade 😳
Goal 2: I work in a bookstore now (ayyee!) and I’m surrounded by all these good books day and night but the ones that catch my attention most are the nonfiction ones, especially the personal growth section. I really like nonfiction but I don’t read enough of it. I want to get back into reading nonfiction and to read quite a bit of it.
Goal 3: Not entirely sure but we’re going to go with this: read and finish the A Song of Ice and Fire series (or the Game of Thrones series). I read the first book years ago and gave it 5 stars (of course) and haven’t finished the second book or completed the series yet. I want to do this in April since I plan to reread A Game of Thrones in March. It’s all going to come together nicely *insert Patrick rubbing his starfish hands together*.
4. Share 3 of your most anticipated titles.
I’m going to be honest and say that I don’t like questions like these because I don’t keep up or look out for upcoming books or new releases so excuse me while I search the internet for the answer to this question…. Okay I’m back so first would be To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara (I haven’t even read A Little Life yet). I read the synopsis of this book at work one day and it sounded pretty darn good, I have faith in this author though I have yet to read anything by her. And… that’s it. Yeah, I don’t think I’ve found anything else this year so far that I’m on the look for. Sryyy.
5. Which goals did you reach/not reach last year?
Well for starters, I didn’t complete my reading goal which always sucks. I also didn’t complete my short story or upload some stories on my WattPad like I wanted to. I was going to work on that but it’s such a huge and daunting project that I just haven’t gotten around to completing. A goal that I reached was finally working in a bookstore 😁
6. Are there new releases this year you’ve heard of that you have no desire to read?
Yeah… of course… plenty. Most of the ones that people talk about don’t interest me. So far from the ones I’ve heard of only To Paradise really interests me.
7. What are some reading habits you want to change this year?
I want to make more time to finishing books. I seem to spend forever on one book. I just want to read one book in under a week or so. I’m tired of books being 300 pages taking me 3 months to read 🙄
8. Are there any adaptations you’re excited about?
Ooooh, I don’t know… actually yes! Death on the Nile comes out in theaters soon and I can’t wait to go see it. I haven’t read the book and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to read it before the movie comes out because I’m currently on hold through the library but still excited about this.
9. Favorite bookish memory of last year?
I moved to Florida from New York back in July and it was the best time, definitely the biggest highlight of 2021. During the time I was reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and holy hell was that something. I still think about this book to this day… it has stayed with me. It is the best book I read last year, it’s an impressive work that I think should be required reading. The story spans 300 years but the book is 300 pages! 🙌🏾 It’s also a heavy read but damn is it beautiful and good. I was reading that book and listening to the audiobook first thing in the morning, out in the summer sun, sitting on my balcony while drinking water to get my body ready for the day. It was awesome.
10. Carryovers from last year that you still plan on finishing?
Not all from last year cause some of these books are from previous years that I’m still reading but they are Liar’s Game by Eric Jerome Dickey (I’m enjoying the writing but I really can’t get into the story. I don’t plan on DNFing but I need to make time to finish this.), The Secret History by Donna Tartt (This book is already sitting at 5 stars for me but I can’t get this book to become available at my library 😩 I’m just about to end up buying it in a minute and I, like, never buy books 😅) and The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis (Started this late last year and did not want to put it down, it had me right from the start. But it has hit a dry patch… still plan on finishing it cause I’m still interested but this needs to get finished as well.)
And that will do it. Thanks for reading.
Type soon 😏
