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Posted in Reading, Review, Updates

What I Read in 2020

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I’m still working on a post about my favourite books of 2020, so here I am instead to write a recap of the year! I haven’t done one of these end-of-year posts in a while, but Goodreads has shown me all of my reading statistics for the year, and I am still a number nerd.

Reading wise, this year has been exciting. It’s been my most ambitious reading year to date, I’ve fallen in love with the works of many new authors, and I’ve been making the most of my local library’s app for eBooks. This year has also been pretty tough. My mental health has been at it’s worst and I’ve fallen a bit out of love with writing, the one thing I’ve loved for a huge proportion of my life. And Covid. We won’t forget about that.

But this blog isn’t going to focus on that: it’s going to focus on all the good books I’ve read this year and how I suddenly need to buy a new bookshelf because I’ve filled my third one.

This post might be long. Let’s begin!

Continue reading “What I Read in 2020” →
Posted in Maggie Stiefvater, Review

Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater [REVIEW]

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

This book was once of my most anticipated books of 2019 and it has been a full twelve months since release date, so this review is a bit overdue.

Ronan was always my favourite Raven Boy, so this is the trilogy I’ve been waiting for since I finished reading the original series, even though I wasn’t sure what it could be about as I felt everything between the brothers had already been said.

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Posted in Reading, Review, Tags

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag 2020

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

We’re already halfway through the year and I’m slightly behind on my reading challenge, but my TBR pile has also doubled in size. I’ve discovered the joy of Maggie Stiefvater’s audiobooks on Spotify, and some incredible Kindle books for under £1. I’ve also been borrowing eBooks from my local library, and I’m looking forward to a time in the future when it’s safe for me to visit in person. Until then, my TBR will continue to grow and grow and grow.

Today, I’m doing the Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag, which is great because I’m currently looking at my reading challenge to remind myself what I’ve read, and I have no memory of reading any of them.

Let’s begin!

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Posted in Melinda Salisbury, Review

Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury [REVIEW]

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I got this book because the eBook was 83p on Amazon and it has a pretty cover. I went into it blind, also because the blurb does not tell you anything about the story. It turned out to be my favourite book of the year so far, and in my top favourite books of all time. I read it in one day, and it’s been a week or two now, but I still can’t wrap my head around it, or even get it out of my head.

 

‘Hold Back the Tide’ is an incredibly intense novel. It’s my first Salisbury book so I have no previous knowledge of her work to compare it to, but if they’re all this high quality, I’m about to become her biggest supporter. She knows how to craft an atmosphere that grips you by the throat from the first sentence and doesn’t let go until the last word. The narrative itself is quite simple but quick and exciting, basically a perfect YA novel for you to sink your teeth into.

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Posted in Neil Gaiman, Review

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman [REVIEW]

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I’m going to start of by saying that everything Neil Gaiman writes is madness and I love it. But with this book… I was so confused. But I loved it. But I wasn’t sure what was happening? I was scared at some points. This isn’t exactly a horror, but I wouldn’t say that it isn’t one either. It’s about magic and monsters and childhood and nightmares and it hurt my heart in an oddly nostalgic way. The first and final chapters show the narrator as an adult, and everything in between is him looking back on an event from his childhood, so it’s hard to decide whether this is a book for children or adults. I saw someone in another review recommend it for people who’ve started forgetting what it was like to be a kid, and I think that’s perfect.

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Posted in Hazel Hayes, Review

Out of Love by Hazel Hayes [REVIEW]

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

Hazel Hayes is someone I’ve followed online for years and is someone who I love and support with my entire heart. She’s an experienced and incredibly gifted storyteller. When she announced she was publishing a book, I thought I’d buy it so show some support, probably read a few pages, then move on. But I bought it, read a few pages, then suddenly it was many hours later and I was a chapter from the end with it clutched against my chest and a few tears on my cheeks.

 

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Posted in Rainbow Rowell, Review

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell [REVIEW]

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I’ve been anticipating this book since I first finished reading ‘Carry On’ years ago, and I’ve been so anxious about reading it since I got a copy that I’ve been trying to delay the inevitable. Then I gave in and read it. This is exactly what I wanted and more from a sequel about the aftermath of being the Chosen One.

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Posted in Review

Nineteen by Mackenzie Campbell [ARC REVIEW]

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I was given an eARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

This book is a collection of prose and poetry, titled after the age at which Campbell wrote it, and it’s the first of her collections that I’ve read. Given her age, the writing is done well. However, for me, it lacked the emotion that I rely on when it comes to enjoying poetry. Most of the subject matter didn’t appeal to me: I’m not overly interested in poems centred around love and heartache, but I do like nostalgia and life lessons, and these are the ones that stood out to me in this book.

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Posted in Reading, Review

The Worst Books I Read In 2019

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I’m so used to seeing lists of the best books people read in the previous year, but isla @ A Whisper Of Ink posted a blog about the worst books she read, and now I’m stealing that idea for myself.

I was originally going to do a longer list of books that I disliked, but I decided to keep it short and put the only books that I gave two-star ratings to this year.

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Posted in Writing

What I Learned From Writing Fanfiction

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I feel like you should know that this blog has come into existence because I watched the film ‘After’ (you know, the movie based on a hugely popular Harry Styles fanfic-turned-book) and now I can’t stop thinking about the days when I wrote One Direction fanfiction on Quotev and Wattpad.

And I can’t stop thinking about how fanfiction is still treated like an inferior form of writing, so here’s a full blog post to argue otherwise.

 

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