Hi guys! I knwo we are now into August but I thought what better way to bring back Paper Portals, than to take a look at the goals I set at the beginning of 2020… and watch as I freak out at how far I have to go in five months. Enjoy!

My 2020 Reading Goal.

Let’s start this post off with the reading goal I set for myself in January. In my Reading Goals For 2020 & Plans For This Blog post, I said I wanted to read at least 52 books in 2020, which I would increase to 70 if I surpassed my initial target. I’m not doing too bad with that 52 book target, so far I have read 28 books, which puts me two books behind schedule, according to Goodreads. I think I will be able to make that 52 book target by 31st December 2020, but I think that 70 book target is a little too ambitious now, especially as I ‘m reading book with 500+ pages.

New Year’s Resolution Book Tag.

I also took part in the New Year’s Resolution Book Tag in January, so let’s take a look at how many of those goals I’ve achieved!

  • An author you’d like to read, that you’ve never read before. For this I said wanted to read Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time. Yeah… I haven’t read it yet.
  • A book you’d like to read. I did this one! I saidI wanted to read The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang, which I absolutely loved. I certiainly can’t wait to see where the next installment in the series takes Rin.
  • A classic you’d like to read. OK, I’m on a roll now! For this goal, I wanted to read I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. I’ll be honest, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. I thought the blend of post-apocalypse with a vampiric virus would be right my street but iunfortunately I struggled with this collection of short stories.
  • A book you’d like to re-read. I re-read Bram Stoker’s Dracula way back at the end of January and it still remains one of my favourite classics.
  • A book you’ve had for ages and want to read. I said I wanted to The Black Prism by Brent Weeks, as it has been sitting on my bookshelf for ten years… and it is still sitting on my bookshelf. There are a couple of books I want to read first but I will be getting around to reading it in the next couple of months.
  • A big book you’d like to read. Another goal I’ve yet to complete. I said I wanted to read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Since I want to space out my big reads, I’m looking to read The Historian in September.
  • An author you’ve previously read and want to read more of. OK, I feel really bad about this one, as I said I wanted to read more of Brandon Sanderson’s novels. I still have a few months, so watch this space for The Stormlight Archive!
  • A book you got for Christmas and would like to read. This another one I feel bad about, as the book was a Christmas present, but I will read Power Rangers: The Ultimate Visual History, vefore the end of the year!
  • A series you want to read from start to finish. I’m 66% of the way there with this goal. I’ve read the first two books in The Strain trilogy – The Strain and The Fall. Unfortuantely, The Night Eternal was out of stock on Amazon and the other sites I use; then I got distracted by other books. However I did enjoy the first two books, so I will definately be finsihing this trilogy.
  • A series you want to finish that you’ve already started. Well, I finally finished Outlander! It was a pretty slow read for me and I’m just about ready to pick up the next book in the series, Dragonfly in Amber; but this is the goal I’m not sure I will complete by the end of 2020, as it took me a while to finish the first book.

So, what have I read in 2020?

Image source: Goodreads.

I finished off the His Dark Materials trilogy with The Amber Spyglass. I feel like I had a greater appreciation for this book reading it as an adult. I remember as a teenager getting a little bored with it and feeling like some of the chapters were too long. However, in my recent re-read, I found that some of the chapters that were previously ‘boring’, I found quite emotional and thought provoking. I’ve also continued reading A Series of Unfortunate Events by finishing the ninth book in the series- The Carniverous Carnival. I love this series as it is really quirky and definately a unique addition to children’s literature.

The next two books I read were similar in theme- Dracula and Anne Rice’s An Interview With A Vampire. As mentioned before, I love Dracula and is a classic that I ghly recommend people read at least once. An Interview With A Vampire was a pleasant surprise. I was concerned that the book wouldn’t live up to the hype but I actually enjoyed my time reading it.

Image source: Goodreads.

The next two books also lived up to the hype surrounding them. The first is Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, an interesting addition to the fantasy genre, which despite what some Goodread users think is absolutely not young adult fiction. I fyou enjoyed Brent Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy, then Nevernight would be worth a read. The Song of Achilles, is the second book that lived up to the hype. I read Madeline Miller’s Circe a couple of years ago and loved it; she is definitely an author I would recommend if you are looking for retellings of ancient Greek mythology.

I’ve read a couple of manga/graphic novel volumes: volume three and four of Final Fantasy Lost Stranger; Final Fantasy Type-0 and volume one of American Vampire. If you enjoy Final Fantasy or Sword Art Online, then I recommend giving Lost Starnger ago. there are only four volumes released in the english, so far, so there isn’t much catching up to do. I also loved the premise of American Vampire and would recommend it to vampire fans.

Image source: Goodreads.

I also read Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House, which I really loved. Whilst I enjoyed her Shadow and Bone trilogy, I have to say I enjoyed Ninth House a lot more. I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series once its published.

There have been quite a few re-reads this year: Ready Player One, A Court of Thorns and Roses; A Court of Mist and Fury; The Blade Itself; Before They Are Hanged and The Last Argument of Kings. Aside from the two Court books, I loved re-reading thses books, go so far as picking up two of Joe Ambercombie’s stand alone novels- Best Served Coldand The Heroes. As for Sarah J. Maas’ Court books, I found that I didn’t enjoy them as much as I did the first time, in fact I got a little bored when reading them. I think its safe to say I won’t be picking uo the third book anytime soon.

Apart from the books I mentioned in the New Year Tag section, there are only a few more books to mention. I read the first book in J. R.Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Dark Lover, which wasn’t the best book I’ve read in 2020 but it does suggest that the series has potential, so I may pick up the second book at some point. I also read Dan Simmons’ Children of the Night, which I have to say did not turn out to be my favourite Dan Simmons novel, that is still a tie between the two Hyperion novels and The Terror. In a way, I felt that Children of the Night should have been split into two books, which would have allowed for some scenes to be expanded andgiven more attention. Still, the book is an interesting addition to the vampire genre and is worth a read.

What am I reading now?

At the moment, I just finished The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie and I’m looking to take a break from his First Lawworld, so I don’t get burnt out by it. The book I am aboutto start to read is The Empire of Gold by S. A. Chakraborty, which is the final book in the Daevabad trilogy.I loved the previous two books, so fingers crossed that this one will be just as amazing. I’m also (slowly) reading through Blood, Sweat and Pixels by Jason Schreier which takes a look at various stages of video game developement.

So, that is my (very late) mid-year reading goal review! I’ll be honest, I haven’t done as badly as Ithought, but I still have a little way to go. How has your reading been going in this crazy year? Let meknow in the comments below and I’ll talk to you soon!