Lost in a Good Book

New Year’s Eve, the day I never thought would arrive. Not that I am trying to wish my time away, nor am I unaware that the world won’t magically reset tomorrow, but there is something about escaping from a year and starting fresh that has been the building block of every idea of New Year’s for the past however long and it’s one I am hoping to take advantage of.

Looking at previous end of year posts it is an interesting comparison: some were optimistic, some were reminders of the horrors the year held and the fear I was trying to contain. They are also full of the goals I aimed for, both succeeded and didn’t. It’s a great trip down the past of my wrap ups and I loved doing it again now but for different reasons. As I wisely said last year, and it weirdly still rings true this year, “While the world has been falling apart around us this year with incompetent governments and a wide variety of imbeciles ruining the planet with their greed, it has been a wonderful escape to lose yourself in books.” This year also included a pandemic and never leaving the house so there has been ample time to lose oneself in a book. Personally I had a pretty terrible year, but book wise I’ve had a brilliant year so don’t let anyone tell you books are not a great escape.

This year I participated in the Australian Women Writers Challenge again which was a lot of fun and I also did my bingo card where I discovered some wonderful new books and got to read some books long neglected on my TBR pile.
It’s a strange balance this year, my reading excelled – I read over 200 books this year which is absolutely mind boggling, but I didn’t get a chance to review a lot of them which means I have a handy back catalogue to work from next year.

In this dumpster fire year there are things I am going to cling to though. I am incredibly proud of myself for reading so much, even if my reviews were lacking at times, but at the same time knowing how difficult this year has been for me I am so proud of getting the reviews out that I did. I am proud I read so many new things and took chances on books I may not have, and overall I am proud to have tried my best when the universe decided I needed a challenge or two (or seven).

So as 2020 comes to a close I say to it thanks, goodbye, don’t ever come back.