Quarantine Reads 2020: Week 1

QUARANTINE READS 2020: WEEK 1

      As I'm sure all of you are vastly aware of, we are in strange times. COVID-19 has altered our current lifestyles and really just fucked shit up to say the least. Personally, COVID-19 hasn't had an extreme impact on my life. I'm not personally quarantined as I have a healthcare job, so I'm still going to work (almost) everyday. I'm not happy that I'm still going out, but such is the life of those in healthcare. That being said, I've had a hell of a lot more time to read, not just at home but also at work. I work at a cancer company, and even though it's a healthcare company, we've had a significant decline in workload because people are focusing on coronavirus as opposed to cancer (which makes complete sense). So half the time at work I do actual work, and the other half I have to myself, so like the bookworm I am, I've been reading. 

      As weird as it is to admit, this time has been doing wonders for my reading goals. I didn't read a single book at all in February and only read one in January. So far during this quarantine, I've read three books and am working on the fourth. I thought I would do little weekly wrap-ups of the books I read during this time since I'm reading a lot more than usual. Although I've technically been under quarentine since mid-March, I didn't really get into the reading mood until the last week of March/first week of April, so that's where this is starting.

  

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston: This was a re-read for me. I read it for the first time last August and really enjoyed it. I decided to reread this book because I wanted some cute, fluffy, queer literature in my life. For those of you who have been around for a while, you'll know that I tend to have the habit of falling back to rereading books I've enjoyed as a way to get back into the swing of reading. That's exactly why I picked up this book. 

Stolen by Lucy Christopher: Another re-read on the list- no surprise. I first read Stolen way back in August of 2014, aka my senior year of high school. I remember enjoying this book a lot in high school but putting off re-reading it as I was afraid I would realize the book wasn't actually any good, such was the case when I reread Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I bit the bullet, and luckily I still enjoy this book- probably not as much as high school me as there was definitely some problematic shit, but that was to be expected with the subject matter of the book. The second half the book could use some reworking as some things went from zero to 100 without much connection or build-up, but I digress.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones: This is the first book so far that wasn't a reread. I received The Bone Houses in an OwlCrate a few months ago. I tried to read it in January, but I just wasn't in the right headspace to give it a fair shot a shelved it. On a whim, I picked it up again yesterday and I finished the book in less than a day. I don't think you guys know how long it's been since I've consumed a book in such a short amount of time. I liked the book quite a bit. It's by no means a favorite or exceptional, but it was a nice read. I could visualize everything in my head as I was reading it and for some reason it was giving me Chronicles of Narnia movie vibes in the way it was projected in my mind. I think this book would translate really well to the big-screen and I think Disney could do a good job with it if they gave it the same treatment as Chronicles of Narnia visually.

      So that's what I've read so far in this strange pandemic. I'm in a reading kick so I'm sure I'll have plenty of more books to share with you guys. 

      What have you guys been reading during this time? Have you read the books I mentioned, and if so, what did you think? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below.