The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor) - Jessica Townsend

Step boldly...

Morrigan is a cursed child and will die on Eventide, the last night of the Age. Unfortunately for her, this Age unexpectedly ends after just 11 years, instead of the usual 12 and before she knows it, the hunt is after her. But instead of dying, she is whisked away to Nevermoor. Here Morrigan thinks she is finally safe, until she finds out about the 4 impossible trials she will need to pass before she can stay.

I loved this book so much and I am so glad I squeezed it in to December's Believe in the Impossible Readathon. This is one of the books which really stuck in my mind. It's also probably the one that everyone was most excited for me to read so I think it deserved it's own post.

The hotel that Morrigan's saviour, Jupiter North takes her to is a mix of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and Wonderland. There is so much wonderful magic in this world! I love the idea of travelling by umbrella, floating down from rooftops and taking the Brolly Rail. I can't wait to read more and I'm really looking forward to the next Nevermoor book, Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow. Book 3 is out August this year too!

To create the Morrigan in Wunderland, I adapted a shot* into a long drink. In a tall glass full of ice, pour in a shot of triple sec and half shot of tequila. Lengthen with lemonade, give it a stir and enjoy!

*Alice in Wonderland

My 2019 Year of Reading

I'm starting the year with a look back at my reading for 2019, which was a great year for me! I managed to read 226 books, beating my Goodreads target of 200 by a very respectable amount. That was nearly 67,000 pages, with Winter (Lunar Chronicles #4) as my longest book at 827 pages! My average rating was 3.8 stars and I rated 46 books as 5 stars.

With so many 5 star books it is incredibly hard to choose but here are just ten of my favourites from last year:

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

Circe by Madeline Miller

Emily Eternal by M.G. Wheaton

Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Sword and Pen by Rachel Caine

The Wicked King by Holly Black

The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell

Book Love by Debbie Tung 

Last year I also took part in a few different challenges and readathons. One of them was Beat the Backlist and part of my personal challenge was for at least 25% of my reading to be from my backlist - books I already had on my shelves and in my TBR. I kind of lost track after a while but I have definitely gone way beyond. I am hoping to do even better this year by committing to clear my TBR shelves (impossible) and resist new books as much as I can (also impossible).

Getting involved in readathons and challenges is a great motivation to read more so I'm looking out for any new ones this year. Two that caught my eye so far are the A to Z challenge and Retellings challenge. I love having prompts to encourage me to go through my current books.

How many books did you read last year and which was your favourite? Let me know if you have any bookish commitments and aspirations you already know you won't keep.