It is indeed March and I am just getting around to posting my own Quarterly Reading Round-Up for the final part of 2020. This blog has well and truly been left behind this year.
October
The Green Ember by S.D. Smith
⭐️⭐️
I don't know if it was more so the narrator of this, or the story itself, but I just didn't enjoy listening to this audiobook. I had this and others from the same series in my book buying wishlist as I liked the sound of the description, so I'm hoping it was just the strange way the American narrator chose to bring the story to life and that I can give reading it a go in the future.
The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Not starting out October brilliantly, this one fell slightly short for me. It was a good idea and I enjoyed it overall but I think my expectations were too high with it being based in a place I am familiar with.
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We're steadily increasing the star ratings haha! I happened upon this book while looking for things to read for Halloween and bought it from eBay. It wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be from the synopsis but the 'moral' of it and stuff was pretty cool - I enjoyed it!
Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved the first one and loved the second one just as much. I look forward to reading the next also.
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I first came across this book in my recommended section on Amazon and stuck it on my wishlist. This is another I bought specifically to read in October and I'm so glad I did - a wonderful story and so uplifting to read something from another culture. Another I am eager to read the sequel.
Disneyland Paris Phantom Manor: Decrypted by Jérémie Noyer and Mathias Dugouyon
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It's not often I pick up a non-fiction book, but when I do you can almost always guarantee it's Disney related.
Pirates of the Caribbean - Un trésor d'attraction by Jérémie Noyer and Mathias Dugoujon
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As above!
November
The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Anything with 'Magic', 'Witch' or 'Wizard in the title automatically has my interest.
It was good, I enjoyed it but purely comparing to some of the other things I've read lately it didn't quite make it to the 4-star mark.
The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry
⭐️⭐️
Not what I expected and I guess another thing that was a little 'too adult' for me. It's no new news that I am not a fan of adult themes and the portrayal of the friend of the lead character was something I didn't find necessary or enjoyable. If all that teenage, hormonal, adult-y stuff was left out I'd have given the storyline a much higher rating.
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I bought this book eons ago when doing a blog post about Disney movies that were based on books, however it has sat on my shelf until now. I'd seen the movie previous and I'm glad I got around to this because I enjoyed it much more than the movie.
December
The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I'm still just sticking in with these because I want to finish the series. As I've said in previous talks about The Series of Unfortunate Events, I like the main plot etc. The writing style on the other hand is a little annoying.
The Umbrella Mouse by Anna Fargher
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One of the best books I've read in a long time! I loved this so much. SO much in fact I immediately went online to order the sequel upon finishing this.
Frostheart by Jamie Littler
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This had already been at home in our collection for a little while when I saw a couple of people I know raving about it. I picked it up and the next availability and can see why others loved it. I look forward to reading the sequel.
Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So considering I hate and don't celebrate Christmas, I have a huge interest in Father Christmas and his origins story. I read The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum back in 2017 and adored it so when Mr H got Letters from Father Christmas as part of his ever-growing Tolkien collection I had to give it a read. Beautiful book, beautiful images by a beautiful person. Super special!
The Tale Of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Being such Disney and animal fans in this house, we of course love stories about little mice. This was nice, but knowing it has been made into a movie, it was not as amazing as I'd built it up to be.
Umbrella Mouse To The Rescue by Anna Fargher
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See above. The sequel was equally as wonderful. I cried a lot and fell in love with the story behind the story.
Treasured Tales from Beatrix Potter by Beatrix Potter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My childhood!! I still have my copies of these books at my parents house from when I was tiny and picked up this mini anthology from a charity shop a while ago. I was lovely to end the year with such nostalgia.
A nice stack of reads to finish up last year and with some great star ratings too. I would even go as far as to say that a couple of the books mentioned in this post are favourites of 2020, if not all-time favourite reads.
17 in total took my annual total to 62, 26 more than my goal - woohoo!
Hopefully, I'll be able to get around to writing up my Year in Books. Until then you could always check out my
Goodreads Year in Books 2019!
Until next time...
