alivemagdolene: (Books are Magic)
imgur

Picture by Lona A on Flickr


It's a brand new year! With last year's successful (in that it was instituted at all, which for 2020 is a big deal) challenge done, it's time to start a new one.

My usual rules apply: I don't count books I've read before, and I don't count books I don't finish.

If last year has taught us anything, it's that despite our best goals, life can take you by surprise. I hope to at least beat last year's amount of books read and reviewed, but anything that gets published obviously is going to be a source of pride.

WELCOME TO THE NEW FIFTY BOOKS CHALLENGE! WATCH THIS SPACE!

DON'T FORGET I'M ON BLOGSPOT NOW!
alivemagdolene: (Books are Magic)
imgur

Picture by joeshlabotnik on Flickr


2020 is finally over, but we've still got a couple loose ends. And I KNOW you want to hear my thoughts!

No? Well, come for the snark then.

At any rate, like most carbon-based life forms, 2020 caught me by surprise. I knew going into this challenge that I might not make fifty given how my schedule has changed since I used to do the challenge, but I wasn't expecting the level of comfort food rereads I was going to need, or the way that doomscrolling and other 2020 interruptions would interfere with my plans.
Still, we've got a solid 14 books reviewed, and I'm going to talk about them! I actually have finished three more, but didn't get the reviews written in the holiday chaos. I debated what to do, and decided to put them with 2021's books, both for clarity's sake and for the fact at least one of the 2020 reviews I started in 2019, so it all comes out in the end.

I MAKE THE RULES OF THE CHALLENGE, MIND!

I liked the old "year in review" categories I used when I wrote about this before, so I'm going to keep them, but I'm adding a new one. Watch 'til the end for a special shoutout!


Favorite Books:

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Yellow Wallpaper

Lilac Girls

Sisters First

IT

Licey's Story

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions



Least Favorite Books:


Chasing Hillary

Lacks Self-Control

The Egg and I



Books That Made Me Want to Smack the Author(s):


Chasing Hillary

Lacks Self-Control

The Egg and I

IT



Books That Felt Like a Sisyphean Ordeal:

Chasing Hillary

My Life in France

Lacks Self-Control

The Egg and I

Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood

IT

Licey's Story



Books That Helped Me Look at the World in a New Way:


Chasing Hillary

My Life in France

Lilac Girls

The Egg and I

Sisters First

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions


Books I've Already Recommended to People:


My Life in France

The Yellow Wallpaper

Sisters First

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions



Most Disappointing Books:


Chasing Hillary

The Egg and I

Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood

Licey's Story



Most Depressing (as in Sadness-Inducing) Books:


Lilac Girls

IT

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions



Most Uplifting Books:


Lilac Girls



Books I Feel Like It's Important or Culturally Significant for You to Read at Least Once:


To Kill a Mockingbird

The Yellow Wallpaper

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions



Finally, none of this challenge would have been possible without the help of one of my best friends, the amazing, talented, and beautiful poet/writer/photographer/translator/renaissance woman, my cool-ass friend Martyna. She not only read and encouraged these reviews back when I first used to write them, she suggested books!

When I mentioned I was toying with the idea of restarting this challenge a year and a half ago, she encouraged me wholeheartedly and I freely admit I was oddly terrified at the idea of this kind of writing again and not sure I could do it. I definitely wouldn't have been able to do it without her encouragement! When I finally did get off my ass and actually did write these, SHE READ AND COMMENTED ON EVERY GODDAMN REVIEW, whether it was a book she was interested in or not! Not only that, but she promoted this blog to her many Instagram followers!

I write these reviews because it's genuinely fun and it's a place to talk about books I read. Whether or not people actually read them is pretty much secondary, although it's fun when people have read it too and chime in to discuss it. That said, it meant and means THE WORLD to me to know that at least one person was reading, and that person was my brilliant and wonderful friend and I'm forever grateful! ♡


...And if you're annoyed I'm back writing these again, you know who to blame. HA! (But seriously, she deserves at the very least a tasteful monument somewhere.)

DON'T FORGET I'M ON BLOGSPOT NOW!
alivemagdolene: (Books are Magic)
You didn't think you'd seen the last of this, did you!

After a delay due to, well, you know, world events, we're back and back on schedule!

The all new 50 Books Challenge!



Read More... )

DON'T FORGET I'M ON BLOGSPOT NOW!
alivemagdolene: (Books are Magic)
imgur


Okay, so remember when I used to review books? I got sidetracked the last year I did it, and never finished, and I never picked it back up again.

UNTIL NOW.

My leisure time is different now. A good portion of the reading I currently do isn't for a book I can review on this platform. I don't know for sure if I'll make it to fifty, or have time to document all of them. But it's a goal and I'm going to try.

I made a new Blogspot blog just for this project, since let's be honest, this is pretty quiet these days.

Why am I doing this? Because I absolutely loved doing it, I miss doing it, and it's a great way to talk about books I've read.

So welcome to the new Fifty Books Challenge!

I'm holding my old rules: I don't count books I've read before, and I don't count books I don't finish. I can't promise any kind of regularity, but I can promise that I'll do my best to stick with it.

WATCH THIS SPACE.

About the Authoress

alivemagdolene: (Default)
Madame Mxgdxlxnx Lxvxs, esq™

May 2025

S M T W T F S
     123
45678910
11121314 151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Tags I Use A Lot

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 11th, 2025 03:15 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios