As we all know, 2020 has been quite the year. And for some reason I really struggled to pick up a book between July and September. It took buying the first book in this blog post to spur me on. And by then I felt like I hadn't read enough to keep my Goodreads Reading Challenge going. But thankfully I'd already made a big dent in my aim to read twenty eight books this year during the first half of 2020.
If you didn't see what I read in January-March and April-June, you can click through to see the twenty books that I'd read up until this point in the year.
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But here is everything that I read between July and September this year, in chronological order;
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Twenty-five years ago, a five year old Maggie and her parents, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal her father later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.
Having loved Riley Sager's previous books (Lock Every Door might just be the best book that I've read in years!), I knew that I simply had to read his latest release; Home Before Dark. And this is such a brilliant take on the haunted house story. It had so many different layers to it and both Maggie and her father's chapters were as immersive as each other. It's hard to know what is real and whether what her father wrote was really true, right up until the end. Which is why I cannot recommend Home Before Dark highly enough, even if there were a few things that felt unresolved to me.
4.5 out of 5 stars · Buy it now
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
A group of thirty-something friends meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands - the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves. They arrive on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world. Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead. And another of them did it.
Having really enjoyed The Guest List by the same author, I was keen to see how this compared. And I have to say, this was definitely an enjoyable read and I couldn't wait to read more. It has a similar narrative style to The Guest List, with the narration alternating with each chapter. I was also left guessing right up until the very end as to who the killer and the person who had been killed were, which is always a good sign, when it comes to these type of books. If you enjoyed Sleep by C.L. Taylor or The Turn Of The Key by Ruth Ware, The Hunting Party is almost an amalgamation of the two, in a good way.
4 out of 5 stars · Buy it now
American Royals 2: Majesty by Katharine McGee
Is America ready for its first queen? As America adjusts to the idea of a queen on the throne, Beatrice grapples with everything she lost when she gained the ultimate crown. Samantha is busy living up to her "party princess" persona. And maybe adding a party prince by her side. Nina is trying to avoid the palace - and Prince Jefferson - at all costs. And a dangerous secret threatens to undo all of Daphne's carefully laid "marry Prince Jefferson" plans.
I read the first American Royals book last year and it was pretty average. But I was still intrigued to see what they would do in the sequel, given the way the first one had ended. And I'm so glad that I read this one. If you were a Gossip Girl fan, I've got a feeling you will really enjoy this book. The character development of Sam, Beatrice and Daphne, along with the relationship drama, is much better than in the first. And the events of the sequel made for a significantly better read. Even though it's not been confirmed, I would love to see a third book in this series, I was that invested in it by the end of book two.
4 out of 5 stars · Buy it now
This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
When Minnie meets Quinn at a NYE party, it’s clear that they’ve got nothing in common - except for the strange fact of their being born in the same place at the same time on New Year’s Eve. He is a privileged party boy who believes the world is his for the taking. She is a hard-working realist, whose lack of confidence tends to hold her back. The clock strikes midnight, their moment passes, and another year begins. But if Quinn and Minnie are from different worlds, why do they keep bumping into each other?
This is easily one of the best books that I've read this year! And it immediately lends itself to being made into a movie, it's that good. The way in which Minnie and Quinn are brought together time and time again, along with the flashbacks where they didn't even realise how close they had been to meeting one another, added so much to the story for me. And it made it one of the most original takes on the serendipitous story idea.
It isn't just your typical romance book where everything revolves around two people falling in or out of love either. There's family, work and friendship dynamics too and I found myself really caring about all of the characters in it, which can't always be said for books in this genre.
5 out of 5 stars · Buy it now
So that's me read 24 books as of the end of September. Which means, to complete my 2020 Goodreads challenge, I only have four more to read.
Have you read any of the books featured in today's post? What have you been reading recently? And do you think I'll complete my 2020 reading challenge?
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