What I Read: 2020

 If I could identify a small handful of personal heroes to the 2020 Dumpster Fire, my local library would be near the top of the list. When there was talk of a two week quarantine (ha!) I rushed to our tiny little branch and stocked up on kid books and a few new releases. Then when they suspended all due dates and late fees and started allowing for curbside pick up, all hell broke loose. I outgrew my library book shelf. My holds that I'd been waiting forever for came flooding in. I literally couldn't keep up. Besotted with a guilty conscience, I returned several books that I just didn't get to, but what a lovely problem to have. Too many fun books to choose from. Interestingly, and probably related, I didn't have a lot of DNF's this year. If it didn't grab me from the start I had so many others to pick from. My goal this year was 60 books. As I'm writing this, with two days left in 2020, I'm sitting at 62 with another started. Not too shabby! I think the pandemic balanced out the work hours to let me keep my pace. 

So without further ado: 

Books I read out loud to the girls: For as much as I love reading, I suck at reading to my kids. I do okay when they’re little and we’re reading picture books, but I’ve never been great at reading chapter books together. I hate the slow pace and we inevitably lose steam. BUT, this year we did better! I found that it was a really nice wind-down for all three of us (and sometimes Eli) to settle in at the end of the day and read a chapter (or three) together. We started with Harry Potter and read books 1-3. Book 4 got a little dark for Averson, so Syd picked up there on her own. Others that we liked were The Family Under the Bridge (so dated but so sweet and a quick read) and we're working on The Lottery's Plus One. It's a great story but a little difficult as a read aloud because there are a TON of characters to keep track of. Next year I really want to read Anne of Green Gables. I'm also tempted to do Little House, but I recall reading these as an adult and being really disappointed that they didn't hold up. We'll see. 

Weird Mind-Fuck books: Obviously a favorite genre of mine. Wonderland. OMG. This was so weird and scary. I still think about it a lot. The author didn't hold back at all. Definitely read it. Mexican Gothic. Totally lived up to the hype. I want to reinterpret it as a dollhouse. Bunny. This one was a WTF all the way through and I felt a little dirty when I finished. 

Fun books that were easy to read: Nothing to See Here. I liked that this one had a weird element that was just accepted as a quirk. I kept waiting for a grand reveal or plot twist and it never really happened, but I liked it nonetheless. Mostly Dead Things. I LOVED the main character in this book about a lesbian taxidermist in a small town. Read this. It's totally worth it. Oona Out of Order. Okay. This one could have been a Mind-Fuck book too, but it was sweet and not as disturbing as the others. Kitchens of the Great Midwest. I loved this story and it was on my list of books that I gave out for Christmas. 

M'eh. These are books that I wanted to love, but just came up a little short. I'd still recommend them, but they weren't my favorites. Olive Kitteridge. People love this one but for me it was kind of boring and slow. But maybe that's the point? Normal People. One of the rare books that I think will make a better movie. 

Books about families: I definitely had a couple themes this year and read several books about families and family dynamics. These were ones that I really liked: The Jetsetters. I loved every single person in this book, and a scene at the end made me laugh out loud. The Most Fun We Ever Had. So sweet. All the way through this was sweet and lovely and you were rooting for everyone, even when they were terrible. 

Read these as soon as you can: American Dirt. This book kept me up at night. It is so heart-wrenchingly good. The Book of Longings. Biblical historical fiction has a special spot in my heart. I loved this story, told from a unique perspective. If It Bleeds. This was basically a compilation of all of my favorite recent Stephen King characters in a series of short stories. Dear Edward. Oh, this one broke my heart in the best way possible. Edward is the sole survivor of a plane crash and this is the story of his life. I loved it a lot. 

If you want to see my previous wrap-ups, you can find them here, here, and here. I'm thinking that I'll stick with the 60-65 goal as that seems to be the sweet spot. What were your favorites this year? I'd love to get recommendations. My hold list at the library is getting thin!

What I Read: 2019

I set a goal of 75 books last year, but then I went and got a real job with a heinous commute, which seriously impacted my reading time. But still, I finished the year at a respectable 51 55 (just checked my library history, turns out I went on a reading spree early in the year and didn't log any?). Once again I had several DNF's, but I didn't keep track of them. I think I need a tracking system for those next year. I also didn't count books I listened to on my commute (though one is described below because it's not worth your time.) This has been an ongoing conversation in my house. Should audiobooks count in the final tally? Maybe for next year I'll keep two lists. We'll see...

Books that everyone else loved so I finished them even though I didn't want to
Women Talking. I felt like the entire book was a lead up to a plot line that never happened. I legit looked to see if I was missing pages. My Sister, the Serial Killer. I don't know why I didn't like this one. The premise was so good but I struggled through it. I think maybe because the main character was kind of annoying. The Mars Room. Okay, so this one probably deserves it's own post. On one hand it was great. However, as someone who has spent 10 years working in California prisons, it was frustratingly obvious that the author's background research was one sided and I had a hard time getting past it. If you read or have read this one, please know that some of her "facts" about prison are either grossly outdated or untrue.

These are books that I read that I wish I hadn't wasted my time on
Firefly Lane. Kristin Hannah was one of my top picks last year so I was bummed that this one was so unremarkable. On the other hand, I really hate a "plain friend/gorgeous friend" trope so...  The Girl Behind the Red Rope. Ugh. Basically it's a remake of an M. Night Shyamalan movie that ends with a big dose of proselytizing. I often enjoy Christian literature but this one read like propaganda. I would've quit but it was near the end of the year and I needed a finish. A Spark of Light. I like Jodi Picoult and typically find her to be a good palate cleanser but this one felt gratuitous. I listened to this on my drive and the repeated, graphic descriptions of various abortions got to be a bit obnoxious. And the end was predictable and kind of dumb.

Books that messed with my head
You know I love a good, weird book. These were my favorite "WTF is going on?" books.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I liked this book as much for an appreciation of how hard it must have been to write as for the story itself. If you're reading it and want to give up, I encourage you to stick with it. It stays weird clear through the end. The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna. The characters in this one will break your heart. I read these two nearly back-to-back so the differences were striking. Also a bit confusing because the titles were so similar. And finally, A Guide for Murdered Children. Goodreads tells me that less than 700 people read this one last year. If you're looking to break out a bit I really recommend it. It's weird and sweet at the same time.

Definitely read these
Becoming. Seriously, I don't need to say anything more. If you haven't read it yet you should make that the first book of 2020.And then if you're lucky you should go see her speak with a really amazing friend. Just sayin'. City of Girls. OMG. I loved this book so much. It's an awesome book about sisterhood and feminism without being preachy or ignoring the humanity of the characters. I gave this one to my sister for Christmas even though it's still in hardcover. I loved it that much.

Books I read and then recommended to my kids
Short. So, so sweet. Syd loved this one more than I did but it was fun to hear her thoughts. On The Come Up. Eli liked this one better than The Hate U Give.

And finally, these are the books I recommend to everyone. They're basically the scented candles and fuzzy blankets of my book stash. Nine Perfect Strangers. Such a fun premise. I run a bit hot/cold with this author but I really liked this one. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. Sweet and fun. Not a ton of controversy.

I've set a goal of 60 for next year. That seemed just ambitious enough when I thought I'd read 51, but now that I know there were more it feels like maybe it might be a gimmee. We'll see though. Two weeks in I've only finished one book. I find that I am much quicker to put a boring book down lately. I also have been on a spree of hitting the library buffet-style and ending up with more books than I could feasibly finish. So we'll see. After reviewing my library history I think I'm going to try to track how much I spend in fines this year. That might be a fun stat to look at year-end too.

If you're interested in my previous wrap-ups you can find them here, here

I'm still building my list for 2020. What were your favorite books of the year? What are your thoughts on audio books? And should we do an over/under for how much I spend in fines?

Nerds

I had to take Syd to the main library last week so she could do some research for her local history project. That part isn’t pictured because it was v serious and quiet. Also because we were raging hard against the patriarchy since Syd had to research her subject’s husband to finally get any substantive information. BUT then we took a detour to the kids area where Syd found herself pictured in hipster board book and Averson spontaneously drew herself a venn diagram.