I cannot believe that another year is behind us, and what a year it has been.

This is a post about my reading progress; I entered the Goodreads Reading Challenge for the 3^rd year in a row and my blog primarily included posts about my book reviews in 2020. I set my sights high with my reading goals and continue to reach new milestones: Although I did not quite hit my original number of 30 books read, I completed 4 more books than I had in 2019 with 24 novels both read and reviewed. The Goodreads Challenge pushes me to both read and write, and in a year that was so unprecedented and unpredictable, the constant regimen kept me sane and thriving in many ways.

I noticed a few themes in 2020 that I want to focus on this year:

• I read in waves, binging and then slowing down to avoid review backlog, which did occur quite a few times and stunted my progress. I want to find an easier way to review books so that I don’t feel “stuck” moving onto the next read without a review logged. (Book bloggers- Let me know if you have any tips!)
• Instagram inspired me to read several books that I wouldn’t normally check out, and it was fun to weigh in on the conversations there; I truly enjoy both that community and the one I built at work, the “OSS Book Brigade” that fizzled after the pandemic hit. I would really like to pick those sessions back up in 2021
• I didn’t read any classics, something that I definitely want to prioritize this year
• I should never judge a book by its -front or back- cover: Reads like “The Tea Girl Of Hummingbird Lane” were so far out of my comfort zone, but I loved it, and “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” sounded exquisite, and I had a hard time with it.
• I cancelled my Audible subscription: I learned that I like reading visually best and now that I am not driving in a car to work, I have the time to commit to hardcovers, paperbacks, and my Kindle.

With lessons and learnings realized, I am ready to turn the page to a fresh start, am excited to see what titles lie ahead of me. I added my new goal of 30 to my Goodreads profile (add me if you also subscribe so we can follow each other’s progress!) and am eager to conquer, maybe even surpass, the milestone this time.

Goodreads Name: https://www.goodreads.com/addingpunctuation

If you are looking for some books to jumpstart your reading journey, here were some of my 2020 favorites in order:

1. The Midnight Library, By Matt Haig (My Review)

2. The Simple Wild, By K.A. Tucker (My Review)

3. The Ten Thousand Doors Of January, By Alix E. Harrow (My Review)

4. The Nightingale, By Kristin Hannah (No Review)

5. The Alice Network, By Kate Quinn (My Review)

6. Becoming Mrs. Lewis, By Patti Callahan (My Review)

7. The Tea Girl Of Hummingbird Lane, By Lisa See (My Review)

8. Red, White, & Royal Blue, By Casey McQuiston (My Review)

9. Wild At Heart, By K.A. Tucker (My Review)

10. Dare To Lead, By Brene Brown (No Review)

| Miscellaneous Mentions |

Favorite Romance: The Simple Wild Series, By K.A. Tucker (My Review)

Favorite Historical Fiction: The Nightingale, By Kristin Hannah (No Review)

Favorite Professional Development Book: Dare To Lead, By Brene Brown (No Review)

Favorite Biography: Open Book, By Jessica Simpson (Read This On Audible, Jessica Narrates!) (My Review)

Least Favorite Read: On Earth We Were Briefly Gorgeous, By Ocean Vuong (My Review)

The Book That Got Away From Me: My Unpopular Opinion Book Of 2020: Know My Name, By Chanel Miller (My Review)

Each of these books are linked to my personal reviews, so take a look and let me know if you want more details- I always love a good conversation about all that is literary and lovely.

As always, thank you for following along my reading journey- thank you for perusing these posts, engaging, sending me recommendations of your own- and I look forward to crushing these goals together in 2021!

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