Hey there,

my name is Arden and today I’m going to explain why my reading list for 2020 is not working out for me.

Let me first explain how things started:

Since 2018, I was slowly getting tired of my constantly-growing book collection of unread books. My physical TBR had tripled since 2014 and I hadn’t done that much to keep up. It would be safe to say that my sister and I own over 550 books in total and I’ve only read about 200 of those.

[image error]there are two bookshelves missing in this picture

So in December of 2019, I had this idea to put out a poll on my Instagram and let people vote for their favorite books which also happened to be books I’ve had on my TBR for literal years, thinking it would be a great opportunity to tackle my TBR and get some enjoyable reads out of it.

The books would later be sorted into a list, ranging from the ones with most votes to the ones with least. The list contained 30 books but I’ll only be naming the first 12. I’ll explain later why. This is the order:

Six of Crows by Leigh BardugoThe Scorch Trials by James DashnerBloodlines by Richelle MeadMiss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom RiggsAsh Princess by Laura SebastianAfter by Anna ToddIlluminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay KristoffStarcrossed by Josephine AngeliniDaughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini TaylorAn Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa TahirQueen of the Tearling by Erika JohansenThe Young Elites by Marie Lu

I took that list of 12 books and decided to read one book per month, in this exact same order. Since it’s April, that would mean that I finished reading the first four books.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – 3 STARSThe Scorch Trials by James Dashner – 2 STARSBloodlines by Richelle Mead – 5 STARSMiss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – 2 STARS

Now that is not the only reading list I had for 2020. I was also fed up with constantly collecting published Wattpad books but always prioritizing other books over them. It was starting to drive me insane. So I made a list of all the Wattpad books I owned at the time and decided that I would not read them in the order that they were written (that list almost doubled since then which is another reason for my quitting this reading list):

Chasing Red by Isabelle RoninThe QB Bad Boy & Me by Tay MarleyCupid’s Match by Lauren PalphreymanThe Heartbreakers by Ali NovakPaper Hearts by Ali NovakFollow Me Back by A. V. GeigerArrowheart by Rebecca SkyClique Bait by Ann Vallett (pre-ordered)

Note: I owned another book at the time but it was a sequel and I hadn’t yet ordered the first book so I decided to cut that one out of this list.

And out of these, I’ve read:

Cupid’s Match by Lauren Palphreyman – 5 STARSThe QB Bad Boy & Me by Tay Marley – 5 STARSArrowheart by Rebecca Sky – 5 STARSChasing Red by Isabelle Ronin – 5 STARS

Note: I usually rate Wattpad books higher to support my writer friends and Wattpad family. However, this doesn’t mean that they’re bad.

Here’s what happened:

Almost every month, I struggled through that first list of books that when I picked up Wattpad books, it was like a breath of fresh air. I needed something light to save me from entering a book slump after not enjoying myself. The only book from the first list I absolutely loved was Bloodlines by Richelle Mead.

But there’s more…

I went a step further and made a third list where I wrote down the months, insert the books from those two lists into each month and then went ahead to sort out all the books I really wanted to read this year. This is what I ended up with:

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Note: Underlined (or in September’s case in bold) books are either Wattpad books or books from those two lists. Confessions About Colton and In 27 Days are also Wattpad books which I ended up buying this year and adding to the list just the same.

Where have things gone wrong?

First off, I didn’t anticipate the new releases and making one of the largest book hauls in the past few years.

Reading all of these books according to the list eventually became less fun and more like a burden. I didn’t look forward to reading anymore. I was struggling to get through some books just so that I could read the ones I really am in the mood for.

I have therefore intentionally put myself in a reading slump by following these pre-made lists rather than reading what I really want to read. I’ve come to the realization that planning for a whole year in advance is a bit of a stretch, as fun as it was at the time. I can just never foresee how my month is going to go and how motivated I’m going to be.

The cons are that I already know what I’m going to read in advance, making myself dread certain months. I know I have to get rid of my physical TBR but not at the risk of getting myself into a slump.

There’s no spontaneity anymore or surprises in store. Also, if I wanted to film secret videos for BookTube where I read the entirety of Narnia, I would have to work around this massive list or at least try to find a good month for binge-reading.

There is also no room left for mood reading.

Any of these lists are just not something I want to do anymore.

The pros are that you don’t have to worry about books you’re going to read each month. You don’t have to stare at your bookshelf for a good portion of an hour, trying to decide on which one has suffered enough and needs some love. You can follow this list if you’re uninspired and need a new challenge – which is the exact same reason why I started this!

I was in a weird phase of reading where I really struggled picking up books. This list helped me find my love for reading again and now it’s time to finally let it go.

I’ll also be letting go of my blog post called 2020 Reading List which you can still check out here.

Thank you for following along on this journey and I can’t wait to see where this decision takes me.

Maybe I’ll do this every year where I make a list of books and read them from January – April as a 4-month yabookprincess reading challenge