Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week’s theme is:
January 14: Bookish Discoveries I Made In 2019
I found out quite a few new things about my reading tastes in 2019, but I also discovered new apps and ways of reading, so I’m sharing a coupe of these today.
Audiobooks
This was probably my biggest discovery of 2019. And it’s low-key revolutionised my reading life.
I read my first audiobook in January 2019 and I’ve never looked back. I listen to them while cleaning, making dinner, and sometimes even while running.
Now that I’m driving to and from work, they’re particularly useful for me to still get plenty of reading done, even though I can’t read paperbacks/hardbacks/ebooks on my commute any more.
Scribd
After discovering audiobooks through my library app, I started using Scribd, which is an audiobook subscription service.
It lets you read unlimited audiobooks (apparently there is a limit, but I’ve not found it yet) and also offers e-books, podcasts, newspaper articles, and even sheet music.
The only drawback is that Scribd doesn’t have as much choice as Audible, but I’ve found a long list of books I want to read on there, including recent and popular releases such as Sick Kids in Love, Call Down the Hawk, and The Guinevere Deception. The also add new books all the time, which really appeals to me.
If you want to try a free Scribd trial for 60 days (instead of 30) check out my code:
Requesting books from my library
Last year, I discovered that my local library can order in books if I request them. I requested about nine books and they managed to get eight of them (the other one wasn’t available).
This was definitely one of my favourite discoveries of last year, because it meant that I was supporting my local library, while expanding their YA section, and supporting the authors whose books were ordered in. I’m so excited that books like Red, White & Royal Blue will be there for others to read (and hopefully love).
Bookly
This is an app that I started using in 2019. It tracks your reading progress and gives you stats on how many pages/hours you read in a day, how fast you read, and tracks your reading goals. The free version does limit how many books you can add (10), but it’s still a fun way of getting some reading stats.
NYA Lit fest
I’m so glad I discovered this festival in 2019 because I had a wonderful time and I’m going again in this year.
NYA Lit Fest is a YA book festival that takes place in the north-west of England, with author panels, stalls, signings, giveaways and more.
This year will be its third year running, and I’m looking forward to hanging out with friends, meeting authors, and picking up some books.
ARCs for trade
Although sometimes a controversial part of Book Twitter (mainly due to unicorn requests), I discovered the #ARCsfortrade hashtag on Twitter last year and used it to trade a few proofs that I was finished with. I had overwhelmingly good experience with the people I traded with, and ended up being able to pass on books to a new home while also gaining some I was excited about.
Discord
I’d never used Discord until last year, but one of my friends invited me to join a group chat and I’m so glad I did. Discord is brilliant for talking with larger numbers of friends, and we have different threads for different topics.
It’s a great medium for daily chit chat, sharing posts, discussing book news and so much more. I’m now part of four groups and I love spending time on the app, talking to people who I can’t see in person every day (because they live elsewhere).
New readathons
Last year I took part in Indian Lit readathon and End of Yearathon, two readathons I hadn’t known about or been part of before. Both ended up being a lot of fun because I read books I’d been meaning to get to for ages and completed some of the set challenges.
I really like discovering new readathons, because it usually means I read more books than I otherwise would have done and it’s a fun way to compare who’s reading what at the same time.
Web comics
I didn’t discover WebToon for the first time in 2019, but 2019 was the year that I really started using it fully.
I started about six or seven web comics last year and I now read more on the site than I do on any other online outlet (except maybe fanfiction.net).
YA contemporaries
Fantasy has always been my favourite genre (and probably always will be), but last year I read some amazing contemporaries that led me to rediscover my enjoyment for the genre.
Books like Tash Hearts Tolstoy, Summer Bird Blue, and Red, White & Royal Blue became new favourites and motivated me to continue to read more contemporaries.
What were some of your book-related discoveries in 2019? Do you use any of the apps/reading mediums on this list?
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Great list! I feel like 2019 was a great audiobook year for me, too – although I’m now listening to them less as I’m no longer driving to work, so I can read on the bus. I want to use my library more this year, too; I really want to support my library more, but my only issue is each inter-library loan costs £4 so I can’t really request books my library doesn’t have which is a bummer.
NYA Lit Fest sounds great! I went to uni in the north west and still have friends there, so I need to check that out. 🙂
Oooh all these sound amazing! I think I’m going to start audiobooks too. Also, web comics sound amazing, I might just check that out 😀
I really like your take on this week’s topic. I was struggling to come up with 10 bookish discoveries, but you’ve got a really nice mix here. I’m so with you on better utilizing apps/libraries to help out with reading and participating in various readathons to boost — and diversify — my reading! Nice post!
Like I said, I wasn’t feeling this week’s topic so I did my own thing lol. Feel free to check it out here: https://bit.ly/30mKDGx
You made some great discoveries last year!
This is the first I’ve heard about NYA Lit Fest, so I will definitely have to look into it some more! I live in the northeast so going west isn’t the biggest trek for me 🙂
It’s such a fun event, I’d definitely recommend checking out the Saturday! I’ll be going again this year 😀
I discovered audiobooks last year too! I’m glad you also discovered that your library can request books for you as well.
Ah, wonderful! Which app do you use to listen to audiobooks? Scribd has been working pretty well for me! Yeah, it so good that they’ll order in, it means I can ask for new books that others can then read after me 🙂
I use Borrowbox which is a free app my library offers 😃
Ooh that’s great! 😀 I’ve heard of it but my library doesn’t offer it, they use Libby instead!
AHHHH I cannot wait to see you at NYA !! This is such a good post as well for finding new ways to enjoy books.
YES! I can’t wait to see you tomorrow and then again at NYA! Both are going to be such fun days ❤ Aww thanks Lily-Beth!
this is such a great over view of discoveries i’ve known about discord for a longtime but only got into audiobooks last year as well 🙂 im now blitzing through so many great books 🙂
Aww thank you so much! Yeah, audiobooks are a game changer; it’s so great to be able to listen while driving or doing chores!
What a great list! I’m so fussy when it comes to audiobooks, some narrators voices just grate on me but I do love my Audible subscription!
I’m actually off to NYA Lit Fest for the first time this year, only decided this week when Holly Jackson was announced but I’m so looking forward to it!