TOP TEN TUESDAYS | Bookish Discoveries of 2019

Remember how I used to do this like clockwork? Well, let’s do it again!

(I know it’s not a Tuesday today but I was honestly busy at work yesterday for a change lmao. And yes, I still blog at work.)

I have quite a few things that I realized in 2019 but I don’t think I can make it to ten. In fact, not all of these might be bookish exactly. 2019 was a rollercoaster year and I admit that reading took a backseat from it all. However, it was a year of trying new things and that definitely included my reading habits.

• I can stick to and finish yearly challenges! I was able to finish the Big Bad Shhlut 2019 Reading Challenge. It took almost the whole year but I did it. I didn’t win the giveaway in the end but I read a book each to satisfy the challenge (pun lol). I’m not doing it again for this year though.
• Mystery Thriller is still one of my favorite genres. Looking through my read category on GoodReads, I haven’t been reading that many mystery thriller books. That changed towards the end of last year and I flew through two good ones. I didn’t want to read mysteries back-to-back because these books tend to get formulaic and I don’t want to burn myself out. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them. Definitely reading more of that in 2020.
• True Crime books are awesome on audio. Thanks to the podcast, My Favorite Murder, I found some amazing true crime books on audio. It’s like listening to another podcast or a news report. I enjoyed The Real Lolita by Sarah Weinman so much. It was very well narrated and it hooked me from the start.
• I can’t read while on vacation. Not totally. I mean, I was able to read Kokoro by Natsume Soseki when I was en route to Tokyo last May 2019… because I kind of had to. I was scheduled to watch a reading drama of that piece the night of my arrival. But once I got to Tokyo, I didn’t touch my ereader anymore. This past December, I read a good chunk of Beyond Scandal and Desire by Lorraine Heath at the airport because I had literally eight hours to kill. So I can read while on vacation but I don’t choose to read if I’m not at home.
• My favorite romance trope is age gap. Especially forbidden age gaps. Older man / younger woman. I tend to read through them faster than cutesy contemporary romances.
• I love me some motorcycle romances. And yes, bonus if it includes an age gap. I like that they’re kind of dark and all those tattooed men goodness, oooh! My current picks are from Carian Cole and TM Frazier. What I could give for signed books from them!

(Referring to the 5th item… do you have age gap romance recommendations? I have quite a bit on my TBR but I’m open to more suggestions. If that’s not your thing, that’s totally fine too.)