My Year in Reading
- A 2020 Wrap Up -
I’m one of those special kind of nerds that sets goals about how many books I will read in a year. And when I set my goal on Goodreads back in January at 60 books in 2020, I thought I was being super reasonable. After all, I read 68 books last year, so 60 should be no sweat, right?
Wrong.
As I write this post, the final 55 hours of 2020 are ticking down and I still have to finish two books to meet my “super reasonable” goal. Color me humbled.
(I mean, it is still technically possible. I’m partially done with two short-ish books, so the optimist in me believes it could still happen.)
But whatever. Even if I don’t read another word this year literally no one but me will care. And, more importantly, I enjoyed myself doing all the reading I did manage.
Some of the most fun I had reading this year was with my daughter. Even though she is getting to the age where she can get lost in a book all by herself for hours at a time (so proud!) I still read to her a lot. Highlights from our time reading together this year included favorite series from my own childhood (The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and Ramona Quimby), some classics I had somehow never managed to read before (The Wind in the Willows, Heidi), and some contemporary books I loved myself and wanted to share with her (The Girl Who Drank the Moon).
I also spent more time than usual reading non-fiction this year, mainly books about race, and these were some the most important books I read this year. While not always pleasant to read (well, hello there shame, humility, and regret! Nothing like getting corrected when you think you’re already woke, am I right?), I am infinitely glad I went back to them again and again even when it was uncomfortable. Already there are two I plan to reread next year to continue the work of addressing my own racial biases and behavior, and to help me in raising my kids to do even better.
Ultimately, it was a great year of reading both in terms of enjoyment and enrichment. I read books that made me laugh and made me cry. I read books that made my heart soar and books that cut me more deeply than any before. I have learned a lot both about writing and storytelling, as well as what is means to be human and about the responsibilities I bear as a parent, as a spouse, as an American and as a white lady. In so many ways, 2020 has been a real doozy of a year. But when it comes to the books I’ve read, it was actually pretty great. Here are my favorites I read this year in four of my most-read categories:
My Favorite Books I Read This Year:
Middle Grade: Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
I didn’t know before I started reading it that this book is a mixture of prose and comic/graphic pages. It was a fun surprise! I found it to be charmingly quirky, unexpectedly relatable, and certainly entertaining. I gave it to my (6 yo at the time) daughter to read when I was done with it, and she also pronounced it Very Good.
Young Adult: Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo
Leigh Bardugo always writes such fun stories. I have enjoyed anything I have read by her. Her Grishaverse is so unique and fascinating! But my favorites so far have been the Six of Crows duology. I guess I’m a sucker for an ensemble adventure quest featuring plenty of will they/won’t they tension and a heavy dose of badass, broody antihero. I flew through both (long!) books this summer and loved every page of them. Really fun reads!
Classic: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
East of Eden is hands down one of my all-time favorite books. Now, it was written in the 1950s and as is true for so many classics it is therefore not without its problems (read: notes of racism, sexism, etc.). But the story and the characters get me every time. I have yet to read another novel that captures the beautiful melancholy of the human condition in the way this story does, juxtaposing the glory and the agony we experience in the power of our choices. This isn’t a difficult book to read as far as “classics” go. The writing isn’t so old fashioned as to feel inaccessible. But I wouldn’t call it a beach read, either. It isn’t like junk food that tastes great and goes down easy (though I love that in a book like that every now and again!). This is meat. It’s a fine whiskey. You need to chew it, savor it. I love it every time I read it, and this time was no different. I don’t have any tattoos myself, but I do love the idea of a great literary tattoo, a visual reminder of the deep impression a great story can make on a reader. If I ever were to get one it would say “timshel”.
Non-Fiction: White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
If you are white and you have not read anything this year about racism, I am going to ask you right now to please make that one of your top reading priorities for 2021. And this book is a really good place to start. It was written by a white woman whose life work is as an anti-racist educator and I found it to be eye-opening, humbling, inspiring, and very practical in its advice. I highly recommended it. But be warned: You will need to pick it up with an attitude of humility and a true desire to learn. If you have ever bristled when your beliefs about race have been challenged, then I challenge you to read this book. (Also recommended: How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.)
For further reading about the issue of racism, stay tuned for my full recommended reading list coming soon.