2020 was a huge year for me and my reading goals. I've mentioned in previous posts how I'd put off leisurely reading when I went back for my degree. In 2017 I made a conscious effort to slow my life down and have made slow steps towards that goal year after year. I began reading again in 2019, and read 17 books. Then in 2020 I made a goal with Goodreads (36 books) and was crushing the goal so hard by February that I upped it to 100 books.
So how'd it go? In 2020, I read 102 different books. I read one book twice, and another two books THREE times--is that 107 books? Either way, I regret not keeping up on my quarterly favorite books, because it's so difficult narrowing down my favorite books of the year from such a large pool.
So real quick, some round-up stats for my 2020 books:
I read 42 non-fiction books, 60 fiction.
I read 40 audiobooks and 62 physical/e-books.
I actually read slower during quarantine--31 books in the 2.5 months before quarantine hit and just 71 after.
My favorite book of the year, the one I read three times, was Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Beyond that, it was hard enough narrowing down 10 favorites out of 102 books, so these favorites are listed in order of date read:
1. "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
When my grandma passed away, she was reading this book. I was able to read her copy 3 months later, and I devoured it in under 24 hours. This book has huge buzz and it is totally deserved. This book features a back and forth story line, past and present, but it's not obnoxious. I have been irritated in the past by books with competing storylines that feature an excessive amount of cliffhangers. But this book handled the jumping storylines so well. At the beginning of the book a man is found dead and it follows the life of "marsh girl" Kya, who grows up learning the ins and outs of the marsh and I must say, I never would have believed I'd find learning about life in a marsh so utterly fascinating. However, Delia Owens is a zoologist and her writings about the marsh are so beautiful.
2. "Educated" by Tara Westover
This is another book that generated so much buzz and I was a bit behind on reading it. Guys, I ADORE a memoir, honestly. Tara grew up in Idaho, a family very much like the one that lived at Ruby Ridge. She was kept from traditional education, helping her parents at home, including a dangerous job scrapping with her dad. She grows up a an emotionally explosive dad with undiagnosed mental health problems, and later has an older brother move in who is verbally and physically abusive. Tara defies familial convention, pursued her GED, left home for BYU, and tells the story of learning life in the world outside of her family.
3. "Native" by Kaitlin Curtice
This is one of the books I read three times. I was lucky enough to receive a pre-release kindle copy, which I devoured. I kept telling my husband, "you have to read this", "listen to this part". I purchased a physical copy and received an audiobook copy which my husband and I immediately listened to. Kaitlin is one of the voices I follow on Instagram who helps me decolonize my faith. She has an Indigenous dad and European background mom, while my husband has a European dad and Indigenous mom. He related so much to Kaitlin's story of growing up in the church and only later decolonizing her faith, so much so that he purchased books for his two sisters, and an Afro-Indigenous friend.
4. "We Should All be Feminists" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This is a short, easy to consume story by Adichie based on her TED Talk. I love how this book has such a broad, international scope in the way men and women have different roles and realities around the world. Adichie breaks down her reasoning with easy to understand examples and stories, and shares stories from the US, abroad, and her native Nigeria. My husband really enjoyed this audiobook and I listened to it twice.
5. "Burnout" by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
This book was so different and so. much. better. than I had originally imagined. I assumed this book was about overwork, anxiety, and obviously, burnout. But this book is so much more than that. It deals with patriarchy, gender roles, the bikini industrial complex that makes us feel like shit about our bodies. This book was so good that I purchased my own copy to re-read this year and underline everywhere.
6. "With the Fire on High" by Elizabeth Acevedo
I made a point last year of reading books by and about people from other countries, religions, and racial backgrounds. I read three books by Elizabeth Acevedo, all of which were so wonderful, this one being my favorite. Emoni is the Afro-Latinx teen mom juggling motherhood and high school. She is talented and creative in the kitchen, and is given the opportunity in a school culinary class to go overseas and work in a kitchen. Her teacher and the chef she works with both see her talent and leadership potential, but will Emoni find that strength within herself as well?
7. "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman
Please ignore Reese Witherspoon's pull quote about how funny the book is. It is definitely clever and ironically funny, but this is not a light-hearted comedic book and i think that quote has thrown some people off and made them judge the book inaccurately. Eleanor is a late-20s English girl living in Scotland having grown up there in foster care after a dark past with her mom. Eleanor lives a lonely, predictable life until she is brought into contact with a new coworker after they witness a man collapse on the street. Eleanor has always fancied herself aloof, relationships being unnecessary. Friendship is something she studies until finally realizing that she now has a friend of her own, a friend who will help her through even her lowest, darkest moments.
8. "Know My Name" by Chanel Miller
Chanel Miller was the previously unnamed victim of Stanford r*pist Br*ck T*rner. I read her victim impact statement back when it was anonymously published on Buzzfeed. Her statement went viral and led to the recall of the judge in her case as well as changes in California law. By sharing her name, Chanel Miller wanted to be known as more than just a victim, she wanted to shape her identity. Although heartbreaking and tragic, Chanel is an amazing writer and her story was so beautifully written. It showed so much of how the judicial system and American culture is skewed to favor the suspects and offenders, and how rape culture permeates our conversation around cases like this.
9. "There There" by Tommy Orange
This was an incredibly beautiful book written by Indigenous author Tommy Orange, about the intertwining lives of Natives living in Oakland. This centers around the upcoming Oakland powwow, examining the lives of characters marked by alcoholism, violence, death, Native identity, and more. This was the author's debut book and it is not only heart-breaking and hopeful, but so poetically written as well.
10. "Home Fire" by Kamila Shamsie
This is one of the last books I read in 2020 and the ending of this book was unforgettable. This book was a fascinating look at the intersecting lives of Muslim Brits and the way they adapt to British society. "Home Fire" dealt with extremism, family ties, and sacrifices made in the name of new life and love.
Later on in 2020 I noticed troubling while reading or on the computer at work, and found out I am ever so slightly farsighted, and have some astigmatism in one eye. I now wear various readers on the computer at work and while reading. I also made my 2021 goal lower so I can focus less on ebooks for the sake of my eyes this year. My 2021 reading goal is 65 books. Share your goal if you have one, but most of all, share some of your favs of the year (or all time), so I can pad my “Want to Read” list on Goodreads!
Happy 2021 reading!
