2019 is definitely the year when I read the fewest amount of books since I started reading – I only managed to get through 12 books last year, and even that’s loose as one was only a short story! Although I am pleased that I finally, finally, FINALLY got Jane Eyre read! Such a good book and I’m glad I read it, after wanting to since about 2010!
The twelve I read were as follows:
Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? – Holly Bourne (2018)
The Tunnel Under The World – Frederick Pohl (1955)
The Plague – Albert Camus (1947)
Dragon Games – Jan-Philipp Sendker (2016)
Ubik – Philip K Dick (1969)
Divergent – Veronica Roth (2011)
Insurgent – Veronica Roth (2012)
Allegiant – Veronica Roth (2013)
Four – Veronica Roth (2014)
The House At The End Of The Street – Lily Blake (2012)
They Both Die At The End – Adam Silvera (2017)
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte (1847)
As for my 2019 reading challenge, I actually managed to achieve most of these.
1 ~ A book with a one-word title
Ubik
2 ~ A book with more than 600 pages
x (the longest books were Jane Eyre and Allegiant, both over 500 pages but just short of 600)
3 ~ A book with a time of day in the title
x (possibly could have got away with ‘end’, but didn’t really think that counted!)
4 ~ A book set in a country not in Europe or North America
Dragon Games (set across China and Hong Kong)
5 ~ A book set in a post-apocalyptic world
The Divergent series
6 ~ A book that you find intimidating
Jane Eyre (loosely, but this is a book I’d been meaning to read since about 2010)
7 ~ A book based on, or incorporating fairy tales, myths and legends
x (none directly incorporated fairy tales, myths or legends from my memory)
8 ~ A book involving time travel
Ubik (the story centres on time regression)
9 ~ A book by an author you like that you’ve never read
Are We All Lemmings And Snowflakes? or The Plague
10 ~ A book about a villain or antihero
x
11 ~ A book by an author with the same first or last name as you
They Both Die At The End (author is Adam Silvera, same first name!)
12 ~ A debut novel
Divergent or Jane Eyre
A few stats & facts:
12 books:
- 6 of these I own.
- 2 were borrowed from my brother.
- 3 were borrowed from the library.
- 1 (The Tunnel Under The World) I accessed online – technically my first ever e-book!
- 8 were published in the 2010s – of the other four, 3 were published in the 20th century and 1 (Jane Eyre) was published in the 19th century.
- Earliest publication was Jane Eyre in 1847 and the most recent was Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? in 2018.
- All 12 books were new to me and all are fictional.
9 authors:
- 4 female authors and 5 male authors
- The majority were either British or American. The two exceptions are Sendker (German) and Camus (French Algerian).
- 4 of these authors are dead: Pohl, Dick, Camus and Bronte.
- I have previously read works by 3 of the authors: Bourne, Bronte and Camus.
Hopefully, I will be able to read a LOT more in 2020: we’re already off to a better start!
Now, to turn to my film challenges. I actually managed to watch 43 films last year – nearly 1 a week!
The challenge results:
1 ~ Watch all of the films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe
I watched 4 – Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: End Game and Guardians of the Galaxy.
2 ~ Watch at least 3 of the films nominated for Best Picture at the 2019 Oscars
I watched 1 – A Star Is Born
3 ~ Watch The Lord of The Rings Trilogy
X
4 ~ Watch all the theatrical Disney animated films I haven’t already seen, or at least don’t think I’ve seen (Fun and Fancy Free, The Rescuers, Fantasia 2000 and Ralph Breaks The Internet)
X – BUT weirdly enough I’ve already watched 2 of these in 2020 (thank you Disney+!)
5 ~ Watch all of the Studio Ghibli films
X (but I feel I may achieve this in 2020, thanks to Netflix)
6 ~ Watch a Christmas film before Christmas Day
We watched Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas on Christmas Eve!
Some facts and stats:
- 32 of these films were live action (a lot for me!) and only 9 were animated
- 27 of these films I’d never seen before, so 16 were re-watches (quick maths!)
- I went to watch 5 films in the cinema: Dumbo, Pet Sematary, Avengers Endgame, IT Chapter 2 and Joker.
- I didn’t watch any film more than once.
2020 Film & Book Challenges
I’m not going to set any specific challenges for 2020 as we are already in month 4! My overall goal is to just read more than last year & hopefully finally get those Studio Ghibli films watched!
My music choice has to be from Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa. I’ve decided to go with Break My Heart – because I love the music video! Enjoy 🙂
Adam's Random Ramblings 