Hello again honeybees and a very happy new year! In bookish terms, 2018 was a pretty good year for me. But in all other aspects it wasn’t so great. I hope 2019 treats us all better, whether you had a great year or a horrible one.

Reading

My reading goal in 2018 was 70 books and I met that goal on New Year’s Eve when I finished my reread of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I had a nine month slump that took me into 2018 and I recovered for a few months before another one hit mid-year. Audiobooks saved my reading this past year and I’m thankful for having gotten into them.

I mostly read contemporary and fantasy this year, most notably The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White, Leah On The Offbeat by Becky Albertalli, and Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi.

Middle grade is a new found love of mine, starting with City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab. (I cannot sing enough praise for this one.)

I read Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda three times in 2018 because it’s so beautiful. My absolute worst read of the year, which I DNF’d, was Becoming Belle by Nuala O’Connor.

Blogging

Bookstagram counts right? right. I joined the online bookish community on January 14th. 2018 and it was one of the best decisions I made the whole year. The community is so kind and it’s definitely pushed my creative boundaries. Just as the year came to a close I, along with my dear friend Lydia, decided to start a book club. On the day that I’m writing and posting this (January 1st, 2019) I hit 1.9k followers on bookstagram, which is 1.9k more than I had ever anticipated.

I also started this blog in February of 2018 and while I haven’t been very consistent with posting, it’s been a great experience and I look forward to another year of doing it.

Writing

Hah! What is progress? Just kidding. Kind of. I currently have 8k words in a work in progress that I don’t feel like continuing. But I did post some of my Drarry (Draco Malfoy x Harry Potter) fanfiction online and haven’t taken it down yet, which is an improvement. Not only are people reading my writing but I’ve also gotten a lot of positive feedback, which is more than I could have asked for.

---

I’ve already posted my goals for 2019 and I don’t have too much to add here. It was a so-so year but things will get better.

Burning Questions

How was your year? How many books did you read? Did you accomplish any goals? Tell me everything in the comments!

Bye for now.

Love, Destiny