The first quarter of 2020 was a trial in my reading life, personal life, and working life. I feel exhausted by it. Reading-wise, it wasn’t bad. I read some good books but didn’t read as much as I would have liked because I suffered from a reading slump. I’m hoping the second quarter will be much better in all areas of life. Well, here are my stats.
Books | Audio Books | Comics
Books by month
January
The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe ★★★☆☆ ½
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Robert Langdon, book 2) ★★★☆☆
February
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, book 3; Witches, book 1) ★★★★☆ [reread]
The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher ★★★☆☆
Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner ★★★★☆
March
The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince by Robin Hobb (Realm of the Elderlings, book 0) ★★★★★
Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy, illus. by George Ermos (Brightstorm, book 1) ★★★☆☆
The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time, book 2) ★★★★☆ [reread]
Audio books by month
January
Blue Monday by Nicci French, narr. by Beth Chalmers (Frieda Klein, book 1) ★★★☆☆
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance (narr.) ★★★☆☆ ½
February
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb, narr. by Paul Boehmer (Farseer, book 1) ★★★★★ [reread]
March
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb, narr. by Paul Boehmer (Farseer, book 2) ★★★★★ [reread]
Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb, narr. by Paul Boehmer (Farseer, book 3) ★★★★★ [reread]
Comics & graphic novels by month
January
February
March
** Rereads aren’t considered for most categories below.**
Favorite of the bunch
The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince
Least liked
The Twisted Ones
Did Not Finish
The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber (Rose Harbor, book 1)
Best stories
The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince
Unnatural Magic
Best writing
The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince
The Way I Heard It
Unnatural Magic
Best narration (audio books)
Assassin’s Apprentice
Royal Assassin
Assassin’s Quest
Best illustrations (illustrated books & comics/graphic novels)
none
Most amazing character(s) people
Mamaw from Hillbilly Elegy
Hedy Lamarr and Elijah McCoy from The Way I Heard It
Most fitting book title
Hillbilly Elegy
Most unique/impactful story
none
Cover love
Reading challenges hits ‘n’ misses
Goodreads Challenge
books read = 13/50
Books I must read this year
books read = 0 | total so far = 0/8
Read some comics/graphic novels
comics read = 0 | total so far = 0/10
Read some classics
books read = 0 | total so far = 0/2
Read some horror
books read = 1 | total so far = 1/4
The Twisted Ones
Turtle Recall
books read = 1 | total so far = 1/5
Equal Rites
#StartOnYourShelfathon
books read = 2 | total so far = 2/20
Unnatural Magic
The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince
Reading stats
Longest book
Assassin’s Quest
Shortest book
The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince
Format
Physical = 6
Audio = 5
E-book = 2
Genre
Fantasy = 8
Mystery = 2
Nonfiction = 2
Horror = 1
Age group
Adult = 12
MG = 1
Protagonist gender
Male = 6
Female = 4
Ensemble = 3
Author gender
Female = 7
Male = 5
Both = 1
Ownership
Mine (bought before January 6, 2020) = 6
New (bought on/after January 6, 2020) = 3
Free = 0
Library = 3
ARC = 1
Currently reading
Zezee with Books 
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I hope that things start looking up soon! I know what you mean though, I feel exhausted by the first few months of this year too, it’s just been a very odd year so far and I think I’m pretty much ready to move on lol.
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Same here: ready to move on! 🙂
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Good job reading so many of your own books! Hope your slump is busted in April!
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Thanks! It feels like it’s fading away already.
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I hope your slump ends soon. Have a good April!
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Thanks! I think it’s almost gone now. I read some Poe short stories last night that got me invigorated about reading again.
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“Turtle Recall” is a great phrase I hadn’t come across before. A very comprehensive post here, thanks for sharing!
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Thanks! I can’t take credit for “Turtle Recall” though. It’s a readathon based on Terry Pratchet’s Discworld novels hosted here https://adancewithbooks.wordpress.com
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Reading slumps suck…but I think you had a great first quarter regardless. And plenty of time to check off all your challenges and rack up those reading numbers 😀
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Yep 🙂 Am hoping this second quarter will be better.
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Aaah, ‘The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince’ is the only Hobb I didn’t read yet!! I’m glad you liked it so much. Maybe I gotta get to it now too!
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It’s worth checking out. It’s short, yet the story is filled with so much drama. Was really good.
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Looks like it is going well 🙂
I just finished my reread for Assassin’s apprentice, and I enjoyed it so much more the second time around!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Ikr! It’s so good a second time through, esp when you pick up on early clues of things to come.
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