Jess’s 40/50 in 2020

[Jess]

My target is currently 40 but thinking of increasing to 50

[Jess]

(I’m going to do one big comment with all my books read so far just to catch this up)

1. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

2. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

3. The Uses And Abuses of History by Margaret MacMillan (unrated as read for school)

4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

5. Women Have Always Worked: An Historical Overview by Alice Kessler-Harris (school)

6. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

7. Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

[Jess]

8. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

9. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

10. Tokyo Ueno Station by Yū Miri (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

11. Atonement by Ian McEwan (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

12. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

13. A Court of Thorns and Roses (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

14. The Secret History by Donna Tartt (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

15. American War by Omar El Akkad (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

16. Maurice by E. M. Forster (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

[Jess]

17. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

18. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

19. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

20. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

21. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

22. Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

23. Autoboyography by Christina Lauren (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

[Jess]

(and she's on her laptop so she can't do the stars properly... we'll make it work)

24. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (*****)

25. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (*****)

26. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (****)

27. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (***)

28. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (****)

[Jess]

Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan

I’m still very torn on this one... feel like I would recommend ready A Room With A View (which this is based on) first - you don’t have to, but feel like it helps. Kind of mediocre, nowhere as good as Crazy Rich Asians which was a little disappointing.

[Jess]

Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday (school)

I gave this four stars. Again this is a mixed feelings one - having read some reviews, I would perhaps rate it 3 from a more ~academic~ perspective but as an isolated read, it was outstanding. I don’t normally rate “school” books but I thought about it a lot with this one. Definitely one to do some research on before/after reading.

[Jess]

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Totally subverted the expectations that I had going into this which was such a pleasant surprise! Made me cry and made me smile which are always two indicators of a great book. Defo a five star read.

[Jess]

The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich (school)

This is sort of the second time I have read this book but the first time I have completed it. I listened to this with the audiobook sped up which was a very strange way of doing it! The whole idea of history by emotions and feelings fascinates me and is really what attracts me to the study of history in the first place so I really loved this.

[Jess]

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

This made me so happy. It literally cannot get anything other than five stars. Why do I not have a Jem? Failing that, a Will.

[Jess]

Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century by Mark Mazower (school)

This was a combination of the most draining book I have ever read and the most fascinating. It is long and my level of knowledge is definitely lower than his target audience lol, but it has made me entirely reexamine my perspective of democracy's place in Europe.