My year in books!

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! :)

Instead of looking back on 2020 and relive all the things that have happened, I am going to talk about my 2020 in books.

Enjoy!

Books

100 books. Can you imagine?! (All Bookstagrammers are like: "Lol, that's nothing." But it's A LOT.)

Some books feel like a lifetime ago, like Lucky Man (Michael J. Fox) or the Outlander books, though it has only been one year!

My favourites were Stephanie Storey's Raphael book (obviously, it's my favourite! I finally got myself a physical copy and it's signed and everything!!), Queen's Peril (E.K. Johnston) & Force Collector (Kevin Shinick), As Bright As Heaven (Susan Meissner) and Charles Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol.

You can often tell what I've been watching by looking at what I've been reading. So, let's play a little game! Count all books that are based on a movie/TV series or have a movie/TV series adaptation. I will do the same, but I might make a mistake, so tell me at the end how many you've counted (by commenting here or on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/whatever floats your boat) and tell me if I am right or wrong :) GO!

January & February

Movies: 1 Harry Potter: 1 I guess Carrie Fisher's book doesn't count as Star Wars, right?

TV Series: 4

Outlander: 1 Supernatural: 2 Anne With An E: 1

March & April

Movies: 2

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 1 TV Series: 5

Supernatural: 1

Movies: 6 Star Wars: 4 TV Series: 7

Supernatural: 1 Outlander: 1

I remember listening to the audiobook of Raphael while gardening like it was yesterday.

Same goes for Force Collector. Both books were amazing!

May & June

Movies: 9 Star Wars: 3

TV Series: 9

Supernatural: 1 Anne With An E: 1

July & August

Movies: 12 Oliver Twist: 1 Dracula: 1 (I know there is also a series, but that one is so weird. It's up to you, but I go for the movie.) Peter Pan: 1

TV Series: 11

Supernatural: 1 Pretty Little Liars: 1

Movies: 14 Nicholas Nickleby: 1 (I LOVE THAT MOVIE) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children:1

TV Series: 11

-

Movies: 14 -

TV Series: 12

Supernatural: 1

September & October

Movies: 16 Lord of the Rings: 1 Star Wars: 1

TV Series: 13

Supernatural: 1

Movies: 19 Star Wars: 3

TV Series: 13

-

November & December

Movies: 20 A Christmas Carol: 1

TV Series: 13

-

FINAL RESULT

20 movies (11x Star Wars)

13 Series (8x Supernatural)

This post was complete nonsense, but I hope you've enjoyed it!

To end it a bit more serious (or perhaps not) I will share another one of my poems. I wanted to share the second poem of my non-existent bundle, but it's kind of dark, and that's not how I want to end the last post of this year, so I'll pick a different one.

I will try to give you a little bit of context without spoiling too much. I honestly don't remember how much I have already told you about my book (or how much you remember), so I will start by giving you a short (and when I say short, I mean a very long and detailed) description.

The story is set on a fictional planet (that is yet to be named). There are a lot of different countries, but the most prominent one is Ailene, with its capital that is also called Ailene. In this city, everything comes together. Based there are 1. one of the most important headquarters of the Organisation of World Security (OWS) and 2. the Council of Ailene, which consists of ambassadors from all countries that discuss the planet's biggest issues and make the most important decisions.

When the story begins, several terrorist attacks have taken place all over the planet and the OWS is trying to find out who they are to stop them. They think there is someone at the Council who is a terrorist sympathiser, but they don't know who it is.

As you may already know by now, Hayden and Lowell are the main characters of my story. They are best friends, but they have grown up together, so they are a lot like brothers. Amazed by the world's magic, Lowell's heart is filled with a deep longing for adventure. Even though he's easily scared, he always finds the courage to start another journey. Aware of the true dangers of this world, Hayden has only one concern: protecting the people that he loves. Spending most of his time making sure Lowell stays out of trouble, Hayden follows him on his adventures, all the while struggling with this ever-growing darkness that lives inside of him, the feeling that he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and trying to figure out how his special abilities work. (Yes, some people have special abilities, like mindreading or echolocation. Pretty cool, right?)

All their lives they have lived in the Wastelands, until Hayden's parents, who by the way are OWS agents, ask their son to go undercover as an intern for the Council of Ailene to figure out who the sympathiser is. To keep their son safe, Lowell's parents give Hayden permission to bring him along.

There, Lowell befriends one of the council's assistants, who has her own suspicions about certain council members, and together they do their own detective work to find out what's going on.

Hayden, on the other hand, is mostly distracted by his work as an intern, his dark thoughts and the feelings he is quickly developing for one of the council members, who makes his heart skip a beat every time he sees him.

A lot of things (that I am not going to spoil) happen, but at some point when Lowell and Hayden are at their lowest, Lowell reminds his best friend that no matter what happens and no matter how many mistakes they make, their relationship will always stay the same.

We’re Still Us

Hayden Navarro & Lowell Santi

Both of us have changed

Our lives rearranged

Darkness embraced

Relationships estranged

We lost our spark

let in the dark

Cheeks stained with tears

realising our biggest fears.

But you are my brother,

you are my kin.

We’ll always find a way

to relight the fire within.

So, call me deranged

when I state this claim:

that you and I,

even after everything,

are still the same.

We’re still us.

I want to wish you a wonderful and a very happy & healthy new year!

Be kind & do good.

Love,

Annabel