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End of Year Book Tag

Rachel24 Comments

This has been going around WordPress and booktube, so let’s just jump straight into it.

I. Is there a book that you started that you still need to finish by the end of the year?

These books have been haunting me for months.  It’s not even that I’m disliking any of them (well, I am disliking one) – it’s that this is a very bad combination of books to be reading together, apparently.  But I will finish them all by 2020 for the sake of my sanity.

II. Do you have an autumnal book to transition to the end of the year?

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Since I’m doing this tag late, I’ll choose a book that I think could work for fall or winter.  Though Winter is in the title, I read this in September and I thought it was the perfect fall read.

III. Is there a release you are still waiting for? 

There are plenty of anticipated 2019 reads that I haven’t had the chance to pick up yet, but I’m not waiting on anything else to be published before the end of the year, I don’t think.

IV. Name three books you want to read by the end of the year.

I’m doing a commissioned review for On Swift Horses so I know I’ll read that one, I have a group buddy read planned for The Tiger’s Wife, and I’m lucky enough to have an ARC of Daughter from the Dark, which isn’t out until February, but I’d love to read it before the end of the year as I read Vita Nostra last December, and for reasons I can’t quite explain I’d just like to keep up with reading the Dyachenkos in December.

V. Is there a book that can still shock you and become your favourite of the year?

My favorite book of the year has been locked down since February so I will be incredibly surprised if that happens.

VI. Have you already started making reading plans for 2020?

My 2019 goals went to shit pretty quickly, so I may need to just accept that I’m not a reading goals person, but who knows.  Right now these are the only concrete plans on my horizon:

  • Read the Women’s Prize 2020 longlist
  • Participate in Reading Ireland Month in March
  • Participate in Women in Translation Month in August
  • Hopefully have a better reading year than 2019

Tagging whoever wants to do this!

24 thoughts on “End of Year Book Tag”

  1. Yes The Tiger’s Wife! I’d love to re-read this but am parted from my copy at the moment, so not sure when I’ll get round to it.

    I hope it’s not Villette you’re disliking…

    I’ll definitely be reading (most of) the next Women’s Prize longlist as well.

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    • I’m glad you liked The Tiger’s Wife, that bodes well!

      Nooo not at all – Villette is lovely, just denser than anything I’m in the mood for currently. Hoping to return to that one in full force over the holiday break.

      Ooh yay!!! Excited to compare notes. (I mean, if I hate the look of the longlist I’ll skip it because I’m certainly not in this to torture myself, but here’s hoping it’s an intriguing enough selection.)

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      • Hooray re Villette – I was worried that our parallel reading tastes might have come to an end! Totally agree that you have to be in the right headspace for it though.

        I always reserve the right to skip at least two or three of the longlisted Women’s Prize novels if I know I won’t like them. So far the ones I’ve skipped have never made the shortlist so the strategy has been quite successful 🙂

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      • I keep gravitating toward short books and mindless thrillers at the moment, so, probably not the best time to have started a 600 page Victorian classic, but I’m hoping to have a bit more energy over the holiday break!

        I need to learn how your strategy works – of the 5 or 6 Booker novels I’ve read this year, NONE OF THEM made the shortlist. Oh well. That shortlist just looked atrocious to me so there was no way I was ever going to read that. But fingers crossed that I’m a bit more inspired by the WP. I’m a completionist at heart so I’d love to read the whole thing if the thought of doing so doesn’t make me miserable.

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      • Ah, I can never predict who will get onto the Booker shortlist, I have more sense of the Women’s Prize after shadowing it for so many years. & to be fair, I usually read 13-14 of the 16 Women’s Prize longlistees so the odds are in my favour!

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      • That’s fair, the WP does tend to be a bit steadier! The 2019 shortlist though, I’m still not over that travesty. Are you planning on reading Ducks if it’s longlisted?

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  2. “My 2019 goals went to shit pretty quickly, so I may need to just accept that I’m not a reading goals person…” – Okay, I did not expect to be attacked like this.

    I really want to commit to the WP longlist again next year, but then I consider the inevitability of Ducks being on it and feel faint.

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  3. Ah, I love this tag, but I think I’m too far behind with posts to realistically get to it in time this year. It looks like you still have a good month of reading ahead before the end of the year, but I agree completely with simply wanting a better reading year in 2020!

    And I’ll be interested in your thoughts on Villette, which is on my TBR, and I just picked up a library copy of The Tiger’s Wife, so I’m looking forward to that one!

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    • Villette is very good so far!! It’s denser than anything I’ve been in the mood for recently, hence me putting it aside, but I think it’s very clever and I find the protagonist’s passivity intriguing.

      I’m excited for our buddy read of The Tiger’s Wife!!

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      • Ah, that’s very fair, dense books definitely require a certain mindset. I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying it so far though! Looking forward to the rest of your thoughts, of course, when you get to it!

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    • The Dream Thieves lol. I remember thinking about TRB ‘I don’t love this but I think I have the potential to love this once the characters are better developed’ but I’m at a point where I just do not give a shit about anyone or anything that is happening.

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      • lmao yeah I keep wanting to finish up the series but I also find myself just…not really drawn to it in any way. I remember I did love the writing so maybe I’ll give it another go just for that but I just don’t know if I have it in me to force myself to read through when there’s so many other things I could be reading.

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