My 2020 Reading Wrap-Up

Over the past couple of years, I have documented every film that I have watched and reviewed them all using Letterboxd. As a way to motivate myself to read more, I thought I would do the same for what books I have been reading, using Goodreads as a way to set myself a reading challenge every year.

I initially set my target as 25 books this year, but a few things happened that meant I reached this goal quite early on. Firstly, I had a baby, so this meant that I was awake at silly hours with plenty of time to read. Then, there was lockdown. Because of lockdown, I decided to join Bookstagram and NetGalley and get more serious about reviewing books. So now, instead of reading two books at most a month, I’ve been reading up to ten.

I upped my goal to 60 around halfway through the year, and still managed to pass that by reaching 74 books. This year has really rekindled my love of books, and I can’t wait to start 2021 with this new passion.

Here’s how my 2020 challenge went:

Book Review: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

“The thing I realize is, that it’s not what you take, it’s what you leave.”

All The Bright Places is a 2015 young adult book by Jennifer Niven about two highschool students – Theodore Finch and Violet Markey – who meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school. At first, it’s unclear who saves whom, but when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

Book v Film: All The Bright Places

“The thing I realize is, that it’s not what you take, it’s what you leave.”

Based on the book of the same name by Jennifer Niven and directed by Brett Haley, All The Bright Places follows two high school students – Theodore Finch (Justice Smith) and Violet Markey (Elle Fanning) – who meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school. At first, it’s unclear who saves whom, but when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

100 Films To Look Forward To In 2020

I always struggle to make it into the new year prepared, but one of the first things that I like to do is to look at what the upcoming year has to look forward to. So, I’ve spent hours scrolling through websites to find the best of what we know so far, with my 100 Films To Look Forward To In 2020.

2020 is undeniably the year for reboots and remakes as well as many sequels and prequels that we never expected. And with Marvel having ended Phase 3 with Endgame last year, there are some original superhero films to look forward to, as well as many more Netflix and Sky Cinemas originals.

To help you trawl through the masses of films listed below, which starts off with January’s biggest award contenders and some more popular picks, we’ll go through the releases in the following groups. If there’s anything in particular that you’re looking for, you can jump to certain pages by clicking these links:

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

My 2016 Reading Wrap-Up

Over the past couple of years, I have documented every film that I have watched and reviewed them all using Letterboxd.

As a way to motivate myself to read more, I thought I would do the same for what books I have been reading, using Goodreads as a way to set myself a reading challenge.

So, this year I set myself a challenge of reading 18 books, and for the first time since doing so, I have managed to exceed my target, hooray!

Here’s how my 2016 challenge went, with a short review and rating for each of the books: