Happy New Year('s Eve)!

Hello my fellow bookworms, 

(c) Once Upon A Book Blog(ger) 2023

Wishing you a safe and happy New Year's Eve! May your year ahead be filled with many good books!

What are your book resolutions this year? This past year I read 48 books, for a total of 11,750 pages read. For 2024, I am going to keep my "Read 25 Books" resolution. I am going to aim to read a difficult book and a classic book. By the end of this year, I hope to be able to go back to reading in full force! :)

 

Here are my top 5 books from this year (in no particular order - this was a hard list for me this year!):

• An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good by Helene Tursten
• Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik
• These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan
• Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
• Give Me A Sign by Anna Sortino
  

Here are 5 books I look forward to in 2024 (also in no particular order):

• A Touch of Chaos by Scarlett St. Clair
• Bride by Ali Hazelwood
• How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
• A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur
• The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
  

Here is some good book news for your new year:

• If you read my blog post from last month, Goodreads has announced their Goodreads Choice Awards for 2023! Did any of the books you voted for make the final cut?
  

• Cardinal Rule Press is looking for new realistic fiction books aimed at children, ages 4-11, that are representative, inclusive, and meaningful to publish! Picture book manuscripts can be up to 1,000 words and must be submitted as a PDF. Click here for more information.
  

• Book Riot has a reading log for their Read Harder Challenge that you can download and use to track your reading this year!
• If you want the actual list of challenges for 2024, check out the Read Harder Challenge here!
  

• There is a new bill introduced called the "Books Save Lives Act," that aims to counteract the book bans across the nation by classifying such bans as a federal civil rights violation. Check out the news article from HuffPost for more information.
  

• A nice act of kindness from James Patterson this winter, Mr. Patterson provided bonuses to 600 booksellers!

One more thing before the new year - did you know I have a Facebook page set up so you can now receive Facebook notifications when I post a new blog post? Check it out (and subscribe)!

Until next time - Happy Reading! Happy New Year! :)

Happy New Year Bookworms!

Happy New Year my fellow bookworms!

Photo by Djordje Vezilic from Pexels

This year has been a busy one for me, has it been for you? I had many personal goals set up for myself and completed two big ones, including starting school again next year! 

For my book goals this year, I read quite a bit, but not as much as I would have liked to. With school next year, my next book goal will be 25 books instead of 50, since I have already started to read up on my books for class. I hope to include a couple of book blog reviews, but  I may instead share what I am learning in class (since it will be book related!).

That said, here are my top 7 books (not including reviewed books) that I read this year (in no particular order):

1. A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong
2. Dearest Josephine by Caroline George
3. Ophie's Ghosts by Justina Ireland
4. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
   
5. A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
6. Alone by Megan E. Freeman 
7. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

Thanks to Goodreads' Year in Review, I found out that my longest book read was A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas at 757 and my shortest was Hilda and The Mountain King by Luke Pearson at 80 pages. My average book length for the year was 245 pages. The most popular book read was one I read for a class (and didn't like, so this was kind of funny). My average book rating was 4.4 stars. My first review was Fingerprints and Phantoms by Paul Rimmasach, and my last review was Hope City by Neil Perry Gordon.

It is funny, since the pandemic hit, it has been harder for me to fall back on reading, but once I open a book and start reading, I keep going until I finish. It has been hard with graphic novels, comics, or series that are not finished. I have a tendency to binge read and like to read a series in one go. Then look to see if there is more, such as movies, shows, or even fan fiction or photos. The fandom is real! 

Photo by Malte Luk from Pexels

What are your goals for this year, whether it be book or personal goals? You can always try your hand at Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge 2022 (which includes a downloadable and editable version this year)! 

I wish you all a very Happy New Year! I hope you stay safe, have a restful holiday, and wish you happy reading!