2020 Wrap Up

 Happy Sunday!  

We have a few days left of 2020! Raise your hand if you're so ready to walk into 2021 and leave 2020 behind! *raises hand enthusiastically* In all seriousness though, I don't think 2020 was a bad year. It was a hard year. An unexpected year. A tiring year. But a lot of good things came out of it for me too. 

But before I get into that, I gotta list off my top books of this year cus books must always come first. ;) 

Come Matter Here by Hannah Brencher 

I started the year off with this book and I'm so glad I did. I recommend this book to literally anyone and everyone. It was so good, so full of wisdom and encouragement and really touched my heart and changed the way I view being where my feet are. I can't wait for her next book Fighting Forward to come out in January! 

The Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater 

There is something about this series that I fell in love with instantly. Maybe it was the werewolves or the simple elegance of the plot. I honestly don't know why I devoured this series. There were no huge explosions, no giant revelations. But it was so completely character driven. You fell absolutely in love with each and every character, felt so connected to them, got to know them on such a personal level and I think that's what really got to me. 

To Best the Boys by Mary Weber 

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. I thought it would be all about girl power and feminism and it ended up really surprising me. Like I genuinely enjoyed this book 100%. 

Rook Di Goo by Jenni Sauer 

Uph, I loved reading this book so much!! It's the first indie book I've ever bought as a paperback and have on my shelf, which makes it special in and of itself. I loved El and her journey and there was so much heart and soul behind every word Jenni poured into her story. 

The Damned by Renee Ahdieh 

I wasn't sure whether I should put it in this post or not because honestly, it wasn't my favorite. I loved the first book, but this one just didn't live up the expectations of book 1. However, I did love the beginning. The first few chapters started off really strong and I love the world Ahdieh created. 

The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne 

The only scifi book I read this year and it was so good!! Much better than her first book. I devoured this book from beginning to end and highly recommend it. Plus, the romance? A++

Unlocked by Shannon Messenger 

The book that shattered my heart into a million billion pieces this year. I am still not recovered. I don't think I will be able to fully recover until I have book 9 in my hands. Gosh... that novella just was something else. It absolutely exceeded all my expectations. I adored it... but it was still so hard to read!! Why does Shannon have to be so mean to my Keefe?? And why can't I have book 9 right now?? 

Dust by Kara Swanson 

This one was so good!! I had wanted to read it all year, but for some reason just didn't get around to it. I absolutely loved it though. Claire and Peter were so amazing and the Neverland world she created? Not even lying, her version of Neverland and how it intersects with our world is probably my favorite of all Peter Pan retellings. It was just so good and I can't wait for book 2! 

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black 

This one snuck up on me. I totally forgot it was coming out and then the week it did come out I found myself at Barnes and Nobles and was like it's too beautiful not to buy! Those illustrations deserve all the heart eyes and it was the best getting to see Cardan and Jude again and getting to have a bunch of little stories in Cardan's POV. 

The one book I regret not reading this year is The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi. I loved The Gilded Wolves so much last year and when The Silvered Serpents came out this year, it just sort of got away from me. I got it on my library's app and tried getting into it... I just don't think I'm in the right headspace for it right now. I also got through the beginning of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, but didn't finish it - yet. It was just too introspective and existential crisis-y for me at the moment. I'm excited to read it next year though. 

Top TV shows/movies of 2020: 

I didn't get to get out and see a whole lot of movies this year. Most of us didn't haha But I still have some TV shows and movies I need to shout about on here that I watched this year (that I can remember, honestly, I can't remember if these are all the ones I watched this year or if there was more haha)

To All the Boys P.S. I Still Love You 

This one was so cute and so perfect to come out in February. I can't wait for the third movie! 

The Kissing Booth 2 

I would say this one was just as good as the first movie which is impressive. So was To All the Boys 2 though. Both of these teen romances really hit the mark and lived up to their first movies. 

Outer Banks 

Oh my goodness! I fell in love with this show and can not wait for season 2!! It was so good and I highly recommend to anyone and everyone who loves a good treasure hunt. And that twist at the end?? Was not expecting that at all! I must know what happens to John B and Sarah!! 

Locke and Key 

This show was a real trip. I'm not sure if I knew exactly what was going on the whole time and by the end it took on a rather sinister tone that surprised me. I loved the magical element to it though and can't wait for season 2. It really keeps you on your toes and the cast is so good! (So is the cast of Outer Banks by the way haha) 

The 100 Season 7 

Was disappointed and not impressed and I have decided that this season never happened. Just... no. I recommend the rest of the series. It is so good. But do not recommend season 7 at all. 

Enola Holmes 

This was so good! I knew I would like it from the moment it came on Netflix and I watched the trailer, but I was surprised by how good it was. I expected a lot of annoying feminism when the movie started, but I actually really enjoyed how they handled that. I thought it was really well done and Millie Bobby Brown did an A++ job as always. 

Haven 

This is an older show back in the early 2000's. I've watched it before, but never finished the series. I'm finishing up this month actually. 

And saving the absolute 100% best for last is New Mutants. 

Guys... I know this movie got a lot of bad reviews. I know they marketed it wrong. It has a bad rap. But oh my goodness... I can't gush enough about this movie. It was the best movie I've seen all year. One of the best movies I've ever watched. It wasn't as scary as the trailers made it out to be and definitely was not a horror. It was more of a suspense/thriller than anything else. There were a few creepy parts and I hate creepy movies, I hate scary movies. But I didn't care with this one. The few creepy parts was worth it for the rest of the movie. The portrayal of the characters and the casting was so well done. I couldn't have cast it better, couldn't have wished for better actors and portrayals of my favorite X-Men team, the New Mutants. It had a Native American lead, the two guys Sam and Roberto actually got important character development and screen time platonically. Usually now adays if there are girls in a team in a movie, they get all the attention and if guys get time alone to talk and be vulnerable with each other it usually means they're gay and romantic with each other. But nope. This movie gave Sam and Roberto actual scenes together as guy friends who were vulnerable with each other. The message and themes of the movie was so, so good and so important. They touched on so many different things from Rahne holding to her Catholic faith despite having bad experiences from the church, touching on child abuse and mental illness through Illyena, Sam discovering self-forgiveness, Roberto learning to be open and vulnerable, and Dani literally facing her fear head on and winning. It was so good... They did some of my favorite X-Men characters justice in this movie. 

2020 Writing: 

It's been a busy year for writing! I've written... three full books and two novellas this year. I was telling how good it feels that there are so many tangible good things that came out of this year. I can look back on 2020 and point to Cursed and Unearthed, Defiant and Operation Revelry and say good, productive things did come out of that year. 

I edited Golden Touch, I wrote Emerald Phantom and Scarlet Phoenix this year. I'm working on book 4 of the series now too. It's crazy to think that this time last year, I was working on Golden Touch, the very first book in The Archive Series. I had no idea what would come of this series, what would become of these characters and now here I am on book 4, having come so far with these characters and this story. 

I also published Cursed and Unearthed this year. I published an entire trilogy! Not to mention a novella between the two and a novella I've wanted to write for years set after Project Hellion. It feels so amazing to have written and published an entire trilogy and to have The Archive Series to move forward with. 

Goals for 2020 that I had in January that I Completed: 

• Published 3-4 books. If novellas count, then I technically did publish 4 books this year! :o 
• Get to 1,000 followers on Instagram. I'm at 1,055 right now! This was a goal I didn't actually think I'd get to. Social media has never been my strong point, so I'm surprised I actually hit 1K this year haha
• Lean on God. Whether I wanted to or not, I did. 2020 made sure that I leaned heavily on God. 

Life Stuff: 

So... a lot of life happened this year. A lot of unexpected life happened this year. I was thinking about last December and this past January and how different everything was for me - for everyone. We were all just living our lives, doing our things. No idea of what this year would bring. And then March happened and a pandemic happened and the year just kept throwing more and more curveballs at us. It changed so many things for me and caused a ripple effect of a lot of other hard things to happen in my personal life, some of which I'm thankful happened even if they were hard and others that I just wish hadn't happened at all. 

I'm trying to find the right words to wrap up life stuff that has happened this year, but I don't think I really have any. I think the best words I have are the ones I wrote in my blog post The Best Year. That sums up my thoughts and feelings on 2020 pretty perfectly. 

I want to list off all the hard or bad things that happened this year so badly and ignore all the good stuff, but I've decided that isn't how I want to finish off this year. It's important to acknowledge the hard or sad parts, but it's equally, if not more so, important to list off the good parts too. I lost my babysitting job in March. It was small, but it was something and I had the best time doing it, so it was hard to not be able to go back to that. I didn't get my driver's license this year. It's taken me a good full year to really get the hang of driving and to have my anxiety start to ease even a little bit behind the wheel. I didn't get to hang out with friends as much as I would have liked to this year. No going to see any movies in the movie theaters, I'm pretty sure all the ones I was looking forward to got pushed back to 2021 anyways. No concerts this year. We were supposed to go to my aunt's and I was going to ride one of her horses and we were going to go to one of my favorite malls of all time this year. That didn't happen. Easter was pretty much cancelled. We didn't get to see family on Easter like, I know, many others didn't as well. I was going to do an author thing at the local library way back in like April or May I think and that got cancelled. Was going to go to our local Comic Con this year with a friend and that got cancelled too... Suffice to say lots and lots of fun things got cancelled this year. Almost all of my plans had lines drawn through them. It's sad and important to grieve those things, even if they seem small or inconsequential because they were important to you and things you had really wanted to do. Everyone is in masks now and will be for the foreseeable future. 

But there were good things that came out of this year too. I published the final two books in my trilogy. I published two novellas. God has grown me and refined me in so many ways this year. He's answered prayers and helped me through some of the roughest times of 2020. He led me to up my blog game, inspired me and grew me through writing more consistently on this blog. I've always wanted to do faith based blog posts and writings, but it had never felt like the right time. I was never struck with the right inspiration and maybe my relationship with Him just wasn't in that right place yet, but by the time August rolled around this year my relationship with Him had strengthened. I was hit with inspiration and started doing something I had always wanted to do: writing about God and writing encouraging words for others. It's a dream come true to get to have been writing these blog posts since August and to have God use me and speak through me in that way. I'm excited to see where He takes me with this writing in the coming year. Other good things that happened this year... We got to stay at my favorite hotel near my grandma's twice this year. Both times were really amazing and relaxing. It felt like a mini vacation, ones we really needed. I got through my college classes during a pandemic and some of the most stressful times of my life so far. All the college students out there who have been working hard every semester throughout this year, that's something to be proud of. You showed up and you figured it out and put in the work even amongst all this uncertainty and stress. 

Oh and something pretty big happened. We moved! We still in live in the same area, literally like ten minutes away from our old house, but we were blessed to be able to move to a bigger house that better fits our family. It has been life changing and something we truly needed. God was a part of every step of that process and He knew exactly what we needed and when we needed it. Moving had not been on our radar at all at the start of this year. At least not on mine. I never thought in a million years going into 2020 that we would be moving and that we would be having our first Christmas in a new house. 

We got to celebrate Thanksgiving with my grandparents, cousins and aunt and uncle, something we didn't get to do for Easter, so I'm very thankful for that. I also did my very first Author Visit this month actually! I got to visit at my friend's online high school and talk about my writing journey and self-publishing and answer their questions. It was such a unique and amazing experience and I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to do that. We also started going to a new church this year and I got to join a small group. It was a big step for me to leave behind my old church small group and to step out in faith and hope God would lead me to a better one. He didn't fail me on that. This new one is such a better fit for me and I'm so thankful for all the steps it took to get me there. 

I also had a huge break through with my anxiety. Over the past two months or so, I've been feeling better and have had more control over my anxiety. I've had less of it and if I'm feeling more of it, I have ways to keep myself going and to get through it and do the things I need to do despite it. It's felt like a triumph for me because it's taken a lot of work and a lot of trying different things and a lot of things not working before I've been able to get to this place to finding things that do work for me. I'm so completely thankful for that. 

So yeah... A lot of hard stuff happened this year, but a lot of good stuff came out of this year too. I'm ready for 2021 and I know whatever happens I will be able to get through it.

How was your 2020? What was your favorite read of the year? Favorite movie/TV show??