I’m sure there are new year tags floating around the blogosphere, but I wanted to try creating my own — coming up with a few original tags is one of my 2020 blogging goals, after all, and what better time to do it than the present? (ie, before my New Year’s motivation wore off 😅)

Please feel free to consider yourself tagged if you want to be, and don’t forget to link back to this post so I can find and read all your answers!

Auld Lang Syne: A Childhood Favorite that You Want to Reread

Last year I actually started a Goodreads shelf to keep track of these, and oh boy are there a lot of them.

For this prompt I’ll go with Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. I honestly don’t remember a ton about it except that I really liked it in elementary or maybe middle school? And something about making yarn dolls; the process is described in the book and I made a bunch of them.

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In With the New: The Most Recent Addition to Your TBR

That would be Through the Water Curtain and Other Tales From Around the World, edited by Cornelia Funke, which I just had to add after I saw Haley’s Goodreads review.

Funke’s novels are some of my favorites — I remember devouring as many of them as were available through my school library — and I adore fairy tales and folklore.

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Countdown: An Upcoming Release You’re Excited About

If memory serves, Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner was supposed to be released last year but got postponed to this August, so I have been waiting a very long time for the conclusion to the Queen’s Thief series. Though I suppose the silver lining is that I now have time to reread at least The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia, which are my two favorite installments in the series.

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Champagne: A Bubbly, Light Read

Little Moments of Love and Snug by Catana Chetwynd, aka Catana Comics, epitomize this category of books. The art and concepts are adorable and endearingly relatable, and (I think) enjoyable even if you aren’t/haven’t been in a romantic relationship.

But if you’re looking for a novel, might I suggest Good Riddance by Elinor Lipman? (Throwing it all the way back to one of my very first ARC approvals!)

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Sparklers: A Literary Couple with Bright, Hot Chemistry

Mia and Jake from Fake It Till You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen are my current favorite fake-dating frenemies-to-lovers romcom couple. Their banter, their over-the-top PDA, all the little details they learned growing up together … and I believe my review makes mention of some (PG-13) scenes where sparks totally fly between them.

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Noisemaker: An Attention-Catching Cover Design

I may or may not have had An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green already in mind when I wrote this prompt.

But to be fair, the covers are thematically appropriate for the contents; also, the first book is incredible and I am very excited for the sequel. July can’t arrive soon enough.

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Hangover: A Trope that You Can’t Seem to Avoid

Love triangles. (Need I say more?)

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First: A Book You Love But None of Your Friends Have Read (Yet)

… I don’t know if I can continue to be friends with people who are still sleeping on Catherynne M. Valente’s Fairyland books.

Okay, I’m mostly kidding, but it is a fantastic series and everyone should give it at least a chance. Scrappy characters, whimsical fantasy lands, and literary allusions galore — what’s not to like?

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Resolutions: Your Bookish Goals for the New Year

I have a 2020 reading challenges post scheduled, but here’s a summary:

• Read 150 books (Goodreads challenge)
• Read 100 backlist books (Beat the Backlist)
• Read 10 books/month from my owned TBR (#StartOnYourShelfathon)
• Read 31 books by Asian authors (#YARC2020)
• Finish the Books and Tea reading challenge
• Finish as many previously-started book series as possible

Listed out like this, it looks like more than it is! A lot of books will count for multiple challenges/goals, and based on my reading progress last year this is totally doable.

I tag:
Meeghan • Clo • Soph • Kal • Haley • Ruby • Kristina • Ren
and, as always, anyone else who wants to participate!

Don’t forget to link back to this post so I can find and read all your answers!

The New Year Book Tag – Prompts

• Auld Lang Syne: A Childhood Favorite You Want to Reread
• In With the New: The Most Recent Addition to Your TBR
• Countdown: An Upcoming Release You’re Excited About
• Champagne: A Bubbly, Light Read
• Sparklers: A Literary Couple With Bright, Hot Chemistry
• Noisemaker: An Attention-Catching Cover Design
• Hangover: A Trope You Can’t Seem to Avoid
• First: A Book You Love But None of Your Friends Have Read (Yet)
• Resolutions: Your Bookish Goals for the New Year