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Let’s Talk Bookish – Reflecting on 2021

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

DECEMBER 31: REFLECTING ON YOUR 2021 READING/BLOGGING YEAR (Rukky @ Eternity Books)

What did you accomplish reading and blogging wise in 2021? What are you most proud of? What are you most disappointed by? If there’s something new you tried in 2021 with your reading or blogging, what was it and how did that turn out? How do you think you’ve grown as a reader/blogger? What would you advise yourself as we look to 2022?

The year 2021 is where we really tried to post content constantly here on DTRH, and adhere to a schedule and try and get into a habit of things. And overall, I really do think that we accomplished this and I’m definitely proud of us for coming this far. It’s not easy to just add commitments to your schedule and actually stick to it for a whole year, and I am so glad we had the chance to do that this year in 2021.

One of the things I am proud of was being able to read so many books this year. I only set a goal of about 50 books, but I managed to surpass this in the end. Normally I don’t keep track of how many books I read, but I’m glad that I committed to reading a certain number of books and executed on it. The best part was that it didn’t even feel like a chore, and I genuinely enjoyed reading all these books. Hopefully I will continue to have time for this hobby in the upcoming year(s) as well.

I was definitely disappointed in some books that I randomly picked, but I suppose that’s the danger of random picking in the first place. I may, in the future, want to look into a book more before just reading it. While I have found some great treasures this year just picking one off the shelf, there were probably more times where I was underwhelmed and expecting much more.

As stated earlier, I’d say the commitment to posting as often as we can and trying to engage with the community was really something we worked on this year and really hope turned out well. We have both definitely grown here at DTRH this last year, and not only purely because of reading and blogging as well. It has been a hard year for most, but struggle really does invite growth.

Our post yesterday gives some insight into what we looked back on in 2021 and how it feels looking forward. For 2022, I hope we can continue to enjoy reading and blogging, and continue to grow with the community. Of course, we will also make new goals to try and reach next year, so stay tuned for those.

Happy New Year, everyone!

recommendations, Uncategorized

Hit or Miss Reads of 2021

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

I know a lot of posts like to focus on the BEST of the best reads we’ve had in the year as a way of reflection, but I don’t want to only focus on that. Don’t worry, I will do one of those posts soon, but for this one at least, I want to look back at books I unexpectedly LOVED and those I also unexpectedly didn’t.

The “hit” books may not have fallen into the BEST books I read, but they definitely were memorable and deservedly gets the attention. Likewise, the “miss” books I don’t quite hate, but these may be an unpopular opinion or worthy of discussion.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (review)

I’m sure this one is by no means a surprise, but I rather enjoyed this Romeo & Juliet retelling with an Asian spin. The characters were delightfully complex and the mysterious ailment impacting the city of Shanghai in the early 1900s surely drove me straight through the book as fast as I could get through it.

Continue reading “Hit or Miss Reads of 2021” →
3 star, Uncategorized

Review: They’ll Never Catch Us by Jessica Goodman

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

A thriller about two sisters vying for the top spot on their cross-country team–the only way out of their stifling small town. But their dreams are suddenly thrown into peril when a new girl threatens to take away everything they’ve worked for… until she disappears.

Stella and Ellie Steckler are only a year apart, but their different personalities make their relationship complicated. Stella is single-minded, driven, and keeps to herself. Cross-country running is her life, and she won’t let anything get in the way of being the best. Her sister Ellie is a talented runner too, but she also lets herself have fun. She has friends. She goes to parties. She has a life off the course.

The sisters do have one thing in common, though: the new girl, Mila Keene. Both Stecklers’ lives are upended when Mila comes to town. Mila was the top runner on her team back home and at first, Ellie and Stella view her as a threat. But soon Ellie can’t help but be drawn to her warm, charming personality. After her best friend moved away and her first boyfriend betrayed her, Ellie’s been looking for a friend. In a moment of weakness, she even shares her darkest secret with Mila. For her part, Stella finds herself noticing the ways she and Mila are similar. Mila is smart and strong–she’s someone Stella can finally connect with. As the two get closer, Stella becomes something she vowed she’d never be: distracted.

With regionals approaching and college scouts taking notice, the pressure is on. Each girl has their future on the line and they won’t let friendships get in their way. But then, suddenly, Mila goes out on a training run and never returns. No one knows what happened, but all eyes are on the Steckler sisters.

I love a good story about family, and They’ll Never Catch Us definitely hits this one home. With (mostly) alternating POV chapters between the two Steckler sisters, the groundwork of the story is laid out as we learn about their passion for cross country running and the infamous history of their town: murdered female runners all killed in the same fashion.

As the plot summary shows, someone new in town comes in and threatens the girls’ chances of impressing the scouts at their meets. And they must impress them, for a scholarship is their only way out of this town and its history still hanging over them occasionally like a rain cloud forming at any moment.

Continue reading “Review: They’ll Never Catch Us by Jessica Goodman” →