Well it’s a week or so later than I originally planned, but finally it’s here. My wrap up of 2020. Life wise all has been well here, where I live we have managed to avoid, for now, Covid affecting our lives too much. The kids had a couple of weeks off school and a lot of business was closed for a while. I was off work for six months, but a lot of other people were affected way more than us. My daughter and I have started volunteering at a wildlife hospital, my son has taken up a new sport and I’m looking forward to trying new things in 2021 (Well maybe saying that I’m looking forward to new things is a bit strong lol). I also fell in love with reading middle grade books and they kept me reading while I was teetering on the verge of a massive slump.
Bookish round-up of 2020
Favourite middle grade – Without a doubt The Ship Of Shadows by Maria Kuzniar. I read this one for a book tour with The Write Reads Tours and it was easily the best of all the tours I did. I had so much fun.
Gorgeous settings, plenty of action and kickass characters, The Ship of Shadows is a wonderful, fun, enchanting read. Whether Aleja is at home in her fathers tavern, exploring a magic ship or riding a camel through the desert, Kuzniar’s rich descriptive writing pulls you into the story and brings this world and time to life. I absolutely loved it all.
You can see my full review HERE.
Favourite sci-fi – This is another that requires zero pondering. The Rush’s Edge by Ginger Smith. Everything about this book made me happy, so much so I did my first ever giveaway during sci-fi month as it is a book I want to shove in peoples faces. The connections between characters in this book made it shine.
Found family, adventures, battles, shitty governments, engineered soldiers, slow burn romance…
You can find my full review HERE.
Favourite fantasy – This was a hard one. While I read a lot of great books, not many made it to the 5 star level. In the end I’ve gone with The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley. It was actually my first read of 2020.
I love Hurley’s storytelling, I love her worlds, I love her characters, I love how far she pushes her characters. I love that she writes HER story and trusts the reader to get it.
You can find my full review HERE.
Favourite romance – I absolutely adore a little bit of romance. Knock Out by Willow James was a fun, cheeky little novella, that came along at exactly the right time.
This book mainlines you all the good stuff, no waste, lots of sexy fun. Entertaining and endearing.
You can see my full review HERE.
Favourite horror – I don’t read a lot of horror. In the past I have straight up avoided the genre, but in 2020 I dipped my toes in to the dark and I found the best book.
The Roo by Alan Baxter. Think pissed off kangaroo on steroids… And then add on another 50 levels of mayhem, gore and carnage. You will never look at a kangaroo the same way again. Alan Baxter has the ability to weave humour throughout the darkest moments and I guarantee you will laugh out loud while simultaneously cringing away from the gore. But best of all he tells a very human story, he covers very real, relevant topics and he does it with respect, intelligence and passion.
Favourite new to me author – This is tough. I have come across some absolute crackers. I’m cheating and choosing two. I love that these are both women, and both sci-fi writers. Ginger Smith, author of The Rush’s Edge and also Essa Hansen, the author of Nophek Gloss. I just realised I haven’t written a review for this one. Just read it. It’s a brilliant, character driven tale.
Favourite cover – Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick by David Wong. An absolutely brilliant, unforgettable book with a standout cover. The colours, the font, the actual title. I love it all.
Favourite surprise – This was originally going to be about a book and then I remembered an event that blew my mind. It was the day I discovered that I had been quoted by Rob J. Hayes on the The Lessons Never Learned Amazon Page, actually it’s on all the War Eternal books pages.
“A fully fleshed out beast of a story about a girl who refused to be broken, who refused to lose hope of vengeance and those who got swept up into her vortex along the way.” – Maxine’s Obsession
I almost fell out of my chair when I came across that and then proceeded to show everyone who would look. You can see my full review HERE. This is what I consider my best ever review and favourite post of 2020.
Favourite blogging event – I love self published fantasy month, but I wasn’t as organised as I would have liked to of been, so I have to give this to Sci-fi month hosted by Imryl and Lisa. I had an absolute ball diving in and pushing myself a little outside my comfort zone. I’m really looking forward to 2021’s event.
Goals – I realised in 2020 if I set myself large goals, I wouldn’t keep up and I would lose my love of reading, so I actually read a lot less than in previous years, but was well over my 52 book goal. I think my favourite part of this year was discovering just how much I love middle age fantasy reads. They make my heart warm and reading them has helped me get through a very slumpy, up and down year.
This was a long winded post… Distance high five if you made it to the end.
Maxine's Obsessions 