♡ Books of 2020 ♡

Hello everyone ~ Happy New Year! 

Welcome to 2021! Did you do much to celebrate for New Year's? I'm afraid I didn't, me and my family just watched telly mostly and I played Animal Crossing 💧 This year I'm not really making any resolutions. I've not been very good at sticking to them in the past, and I think especially the way the world is now, putting pressure on yourself too much isn't necessarily the best idea 🤷‍♀️ 

However last year I did try and set myself a goal of reading 50 books over the year! I didn't manage 50 💧 but I did manage 44 which I think is pretty good! I wanted to blog a little about my top 5! Sorry, I know my blogs are not very "gal", but part of starting a blog for me was telling myself I was going to keep it casual and just blog about whatever I wanted lol 💧 

5. The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

This book got some bad reviews 💧 But I really, really enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down, and when I found it that the second book hadn't been published yet (back when I finished this in August) I was DEVASTATED! One of the books I read this year was the Once and Future King, because I felt like King Arthur and his legends are basically what passes for English culture and I wanted to learn more about them. And I was super interested in the idea of a reimagining from Guinevere's perspective! It didn't disappoint, and I hope to read the second book, and Camelot Betrayal, soon ~ 

4. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

This was another one that got bad reviews but that I really enjoyed! It's been described as a "high-fantasy Memoirs of a Geisha" and that's probably why I loved it so much - it took all the parts of that book that I enjoyed and made them better, especially because Rin Chupeco is of Chinese, Malay, Thai, and Filipino descent, and elements of the story are inspired by aspects of Filipino culture. SO much better than a story stolen and re-written by a white dude, basically. I really enjoyed the setting, and that it was sort of spooky but mostly just magical and unique. 

3. Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

I kept seeing so much praise for this book and I wanted to give it a go - and I'm so glad I did! It has some things in common with the Bone Witch, but only on a very surface level. The setting of Ikhara is beautifully created and written, and the way the writer embraces the every aspect of the story - the good and bad - is incredibly clever. Also it spent a long time describing beautiful clothes, and I have all the time in the world for that. 

2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien

Okay, so this isn't one book, but three, but whatever, I wanted to talk about it. You cannot make me shut up about Lord of the Rings! So when I was a child I was given two sets of books - Harry Potter 1 - 4 and Lord of the Rings + the Hobbit. I absolutely devoured Harry Potter, and then turned to the Hobbit, and basically...couldn't read it. I was about I guess 8? And it just seemed to be simultaneously too old and too young for me, so I gave up. Through the years I tried again and again, and I tried to watch the films, but I always got lost somewhere around Rivendell 💧 

I decided I wanted to come out of quarantine (lol) understanding Lord of the Rings. Not even LIKING it necessarily, I just wanted to understand what was going on. So I put the audiobooks on whilst I was at work, and it probably helped that the audiobooks I listened to were incredible - they had sound effects, and music from the movies, and the gentleman narrating does brilliant voices! I'll admit I still had to look up details and re-listen to certain chapters a few times - I was convinced Eowyn and Arwen were the same person for a long time - but by the time I finished the Two Towers I knew I would love Lord of the Rings forever. 

Something about Lord of the Rings just puts me at peace. It did something for my mental health I didn't think possible. I think I have two parts of me - one is a gal bimbo Barbie princess, and the other is a hobbit. I'm okay with that.

Also Samwise Gamgee is everything I want in life. 

1. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The thing about this book is that it's super long, and super worth every page. It took me a little while to get into, but once I did, I was so invested! It's kind of the ultimate fantasy story - queens and dragon and witches and magic - but actually inclusive and very compelling. I would recommend everyone read this book! I don't want to spoil anything, but the romance in it was just perfect. 

And that was 2020 ~ I have a lot of books I want to read in 2021, and I'm so excited! What are your plans for 2021? 

♡ Love Danielle Rianna ♡