We’re halfway through the year, and although I’ve already done the Mid-Year Freak Out Tag, I still wanted to do somewhat of a wrap up post on the past 6 months. I want to start off with my top 11(because I'm indecisive) books I’ve read so far in 2019, and continue with a bit of a life-update/what’s to come for the upcoming months, for those who are interested. I have a feeling this might be a long one, so without further ado, let’s get started.
Best of 2019 (January-June) These are in order in which I read them, not in order of preference.
Life Update + What’s coming I’ve had quite the eventful year so far, which had its repercussions on my reading as well. Without going in too much detail, I’ve had some bad luck with my health (again) at the start of the year. In no shape or form do I want to complain, because I’m well aware that I got quite lucky, and things could have ended very differently. That being said, I would be lying if I told you it didn’t affect me. Around that same time, I finished my research internship and returned to my full time clinical rotations (for those who don’t know: medical school), which tends to be quite intense as well. Throughout all of that, I felt like I often wanted a shoulder to lean on, or just a little bit of escape when I got home. As usual for me, books footed that bill, hence the large amount I still managed to read during these busy times. Regardless I hesitate to call it a “good reading year”. I read quite a lot of 4- to 5-star books, yet only 2 out of the 60+ books managed to make it to my all-time favourite list, as I was just missing the emotional connection to the rest. Additionally, I’m not 100% happy about my consistency in reviewing or posting on this blog. My backlist of “reviews to come” has been growing and growing, and I have decided not to accept or request any ARCs at this point, because I simply cannot guarantee to review them before release. I have a long list of posts, discussions and more in depth booktalks I wanted to publish, but unfortunately I just haven’t found the time or energy consistently to do so. I do apologize for that and hope you’re willing to bear with me for the time being.
To end this update, I wanted to give you guys a sneak peak of the things that are in the pipeline at the moment and (hopefully) will follow shortly.
More reviews of (underrated) 2019 releases! I’m currently giving priority to them, especially the ones that haven’t been covered by millions of other reviewers. The same goes for backlist books that I loved, and feel have not gotten the attention that they deserve yet.
Continuation of my Books in Pairs recommendations series I have so many ideas left, including some non-bookish pairs. For example: book recommendations based on your favorite films, videogame or even travel destination.
Grief-recommendations To those of you who requested this; I’ve heard you! The same goes for the recommendations of books about cancer and/or chronic illness. I really want to do these, but am currently still compiling a list, as I don’t feel I have enough good ones to recommend just yet.
Overly Specific Book recommendations I completely stole this idea from one of my favourite booktubers Kayla at Booksandlala, so please make sure to check out her videos and give her the credits she deserves. I adored this idea and I’ve loved every video she has done so far in her series, and it completely inspired me to some of my own “overly specific recommendations” to come soon.
I have more things planned down the line, but these are the ones I hope to give priority to for the next upcoming months. Of course, let me know if there’s anything else you’d love to see from me: you can message me via my blog or via Goodreads, and I’ll make sure to respond to you.
Again: thank you for having patients with me as I try to sort stuff out. I’m not only ridiculously thankful to the books that give me comfort and distractions, but also for the bookish community for doing the exact same thing.
I hope to see you back soon, and until then: happy reading!
Love Renée
