Bye Bye 2020

 2020 What I actually read:
(the months for my reading is way off - i just left it as what i wanted to cover.)

January

• Twisted Tales #7: Conceal, Don't Feel by Jen Calonita
  Nice story but it is very similar to the movie not much of a twist. If you think about it even though in the movie Elsa and Anna grew up knowing each other they stopped spending time with each other which is similar to them not knowing each other. Still a good story on sisterhood, love, and family.3 out of 5 stars.
  
  
• Shannara Chronicles: The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
  Started listening to audio book to help move along. Still did not go far.
  

February

• Robison's Dream by Mark Lages
  Started book but did not finish. It was slow paced and mind felt it needed to remember each dream stage so I was reading it way to slowly and carefully. Once I figure out where the book went to I plan on finishing it.
  
  
• Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
  I may have read this or I may not have and wanted to wait till i finish the season. I'll get back to you.
  

March

• The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks  - tbr
  
• Maleficient: Mistress of Evil by Elizabeth Rudnick -  tbr
  

April

• Waterfire Saga 1: Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly
  Loved this so much I went on to read the entire saga.
  I absolutely fell in love with the Waterfire Saga Series. 5 out of 5 stars
  It lends to be perfect for a Disney animated show with multiple seasons developing the characters over time like the books done and even diving deeper into the characters would be great. Disney already holds the rights to Jennifer Donnelly Waterfire Saga books and I beg them to please do this series justice. The world that Donnelly creates deserves to be done by the amazing animators at Disney. Making this series into a film may rush and destroy the amazing word Donnelly created and doing a live action film would frankly cost a lot of money since everything is underwater. Animation is the way to go and if Disney is smart they would create multiple seasons before attempting to release a film.
  
  This series is worth rereading again and again. There’s action, romance, friendship, girl empowerment, and such vivid details. Fans of any age would enjoy this series.
  
  
• The Mind Thieves by Lori Brighton- TBR for 2021
  

In May I finally finished The Inner Circle by Brad Meltzer.
Very good. I Enjoyed the action and historical parts. Great story and worth rereading. moving on to the second book now. It gives you the same feeling as fans of the national treasure movies.

June

• The Traitor Prince by C.J. Redwine - TBR 2021
  

So due to COVID we created a small book club for my 10 yr old niece who is not a fan of reading. We hoped the club could help her identify books she would be interested in. So due to this club i reread the following books:

- A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer 3 out of 5 stars - still makes me cry. I then went on to reread The Lost Boy (3 Stars)

- The Witches by Roald Dahl (4 stars)

- Serafina and the Black Cloak (5 stars) - book 2 is on my TBR for 2021

With my 5 & 6 yr old neices I read them:

- I see a Bear, but... by K.A. Morgan (4 stars) Very cute story

- The Gold Egg by Dan Wyson(5 stars) another cute story

- The Blue-Nosed Witch by Margaret Embry (4 stars)

- The Chocolate Touch by  Patrick Skene Catling (4 stars) still really like this book

- The Emerald Princess Plays a Trick by Jahnna N. Malcom (4 stars)


September

•  The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier - tbr
  

I went into a religious phase and read a little bit of the following books only finishing the first one:

- Nourishing the Essence of Life: The Outer, Inner, and Secret Teachings of Taoism (2 stars)

- Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse - might go back to in the future

- Open Heart Open Mind by Tsoknyi Rinpoche with Eric Swanson - want to go back to in the future.

- Chariot Something  I forgot the name and I do not plan on continuing. It was more for someone who is studying to be a pastor or deacon.

October

• Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings - tbr
  
• Blood Bound 1: What Lies Inside by J. L. Myers - tbr
  

Another great series I read in 2020 was The Giver by Lois Lowry. There are four books (Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, Son) in the series. They were all 5 stars. Great fast paced book that i wish I read when i was younger. I then saw the movie version and that was ok.

December

• The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig - TBR 2021
  

My Christmas book this year was Mr. Dickens and His Carols by Samantha Silva (3 stars)
It was a nice story which reminded me of the movie "The Man who Invented Christmas" - a movie I really liked but i didn't like the writing style of this book. Samantha wrote it as if she was dickens herself. If  you like Charles Dickens old style of writing you would like this book.

Note: So I read a total of 25 books in 2020. A lot were small, rereads, and some incomplete but I'm ok with that.