I've been looking forward to this post for at least a month, but couldn't get it done earlier because I was reading until the last minute to reach a goal I hadn't even imagined for myself. This year I read 100 books. It's probably more books than I've read the last 5 years combined. It was awesome. I loved every minute. I love being a reader.
First off, some stats:
At the end of the year, I went through all of the books that I read and checked how many books I read that I already owned (or bought) vs. books from the library. My goal is to finish reading the books that I own, so I wanted to see if I at least moved the needle because towards the end of the year I had a library problem.
Of my 100 books, 42% were books that I owned. Sooo not moving the needle as much as I could that's for sure. However, I think the library was one of the reasons I read so much because I was excited about every book that came in and it had a due date so I was pushing myself. #noregrets
The next criteria that I tested myself on was a diversity audit. One tip for 2020, I'm going to keep track of this as I go because it took a while to look up each and every book and check whether the author was a person of colour. Of my 100 books, 18% were written by people of colour.
Ensuring that you have different voices represented in your reading is super important (as well as your social media follows, news sources, etc.). I noticed a big trend towards that this year, which definitely helped me to achieve a mediocre percentage this year because books written especially by black authors were popular. My goal for 2020 is to read more books by First Nations authors, as well as Asian authors to better reflect the population of Winnipeg. I looked up the percentages online and am hoping to show the same percentages in my reading.
Audio Book Favourites
Let's start with audio books. This was a new reading experience for me in 2019, and a large part of the reason why my book count is so high. I majorly slacked on my podcasts, and consumed tons of books via audio. 32% of my reading was done via audio.
Getting into audio books was a little bit hard for me, so I don't have a ton of super deep audio book recommendations because I found it easiest to dip my toe into the audio book pool with celebrity memoirs. If you aren't sure you like audio books, I found this the easiest way to start, it helped to listen to voices that I already knew. Celebrity memoirs, books by instagrammers you follow that read their own books, etc. was an easy way to learn how to listen to books for hours while doing other things. If you are used to podcasts, non-fiction in general might be easier on audio which is what I definitely found. 81% of my audio listening was non-fiction.
All of my audio books were borrowed through the Libby app, which allows you to borrow books from your local library and they are automatically returned on their due date through the app. There can be long holds, and you can end up with 18 books at a time (may or may not have happened to me multiple times), but it's easy to renew or place another hold on a book if you don't get to it during your 21 day loan.
My favourite non-fiction audio books were Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (I have all of his other books on hold as well so I'm excited for them to be available!), I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (an engrossing story that taught me so much I should have already known about Islam and the Taliban), & Save me the Plums by Ruth Reichl (weirdly enthralling for a book about working at a cooking magazine). If you were looking forward to some celebrity memoir titles, I'd recommend anything by Mindy Kaling, and I also enjoyed Nick Offerman & Megan Mullally's book, The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.
My favourite fiction audio books were The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker, The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson, and Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella. I found the narrators easy to listen to so I could get into the books, and The Dreamers in particular was hard to put down! I listened to it over Christmas break which was hard to do as we were around people most of the time, so I found myself playing it in the bathroom to try to hear more of the story!
Non-Fiction Favourites
In looking at my numbers, I read 51% non-fiction this year. It looks like it was a percentage I held steady too, because I started analyzing my reading at 85 books and I was at 51%, and now today when I updated the last 15 books I was still at 51% so I was glad to see that.
I'm in a Christian non-fiction book club, so that definitely contributes, and I love a good productivity or practical tips book as much as the next gal. I also read some great coffee table type non-fiction books with lots of pictures so that helped my numbers in December. Now, on to favourites:
The Road Back to You by Suzanne Stabile & Ian Morgan Cron
If you are new to the Enneagram personality typing system, this is a super easy book to read and will help you to figure out your type and what that means for you. If you're wondering, I'm a 6w7. This was our January book club read and I'd recommend it for a book club (along with any other personality books) as it makes for great discussion.
I Think You're Wrong, but I'm Listening by Beth Silvers & Sarah Stewart Holland
First off, what a great title. This book is about grace filled political conversations, taking off your team jersey and getting to know those on the other side, and getting curious about other stances rather than defensive about your own. It was super helpful during a time of hard church conversations (I definitely should have read it weekly to keep my feet on higher ground), and I gave it to my dad for Father's Day as we love to have conversations about controversial topics and politics. Highly recommend their podcast as well, Pantsuit Politics.
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
This book was hyped like crazy on my instagram so I had to read it. It earned every bit of praise that it got. Easy to read, but packs a punch, Essentialism is all about doing less, but better which is basically my life ambition. In the vein of one of my favourite follows, The Lazy Genius (her podcast is a must), this book will help you to be a genius about things that matter and lazy about the things that don't.
Educated by Tara Westover
A little different than my first 3 picks, this is a memoir about a Mormon girl who grew up in her survivalist family living in the mountains of Idaho. If you aren't a big non-fiction reader, this feels like a novel because it's hard to believe anything that happens to her would have happened in real life. It was hard to put down which is more than can be said for a lot of non-fiction reads.
I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott
This essay collection was funny and relatable on every page and I remember being pleasantly surprised by it and so glad to have read it. I have trouble remembering books after I read them, but as I went through my 2019 list I immediately knew this was a favourite. Very much enjoyed. Mary Laura Philpott also makes an appearance on a very enjoyable episode of What Should I Read Next, one of my favourite reading podcasts.
Fiction Favourites
The moment we've all been waiting for, fiction favourites! In case you have trouble with math, I read 49% fiction this year. While I read about half an half fiction & non-fiction, if I could only read one I'd definitely pick fiction. I loved almost every book I read this year in the fiction category, so this is really really hard.
A guilty pleasure for me is middle years books. Yes, books for 10 year olds lol. I don't feel good about this so I'm putting it first so you can get to the good stuff next if this is not for you. I only read 1 series and 1 individual book this year I think, but both landed on my favourites for sure. They make you feel happy, they usually teach you something, and they are an easy fast read. Just a pure delight. I felt embarrassed typing this but anyway, moving on. Run right now to your library (or come over and borrow) Matilda and Mysterious Benedict Society. We went to see the Matilda musical early last year so we bought the book in anticipation and I loved it so much. I love reading books before seeing a movie or in this case a play, and it did not disappoint. It also hits one of my favourite criteria for top books which is books about books and reading. Such a delight. Mysterious Benedict Society is a series that I can't wait to read with my nephews when they're old enough. It's a great read aloud if you have young-ish kids. I'd say it's younger than Harry Potter as far as themes, but as I don't have kids I don't want to give a specific range in case I'm way off base. It has some suspense themes, but nothing dark, sexual, or languagey. I think it would be a fun read aloud because it has a lot of riddles and things to solve as you read.
I don't know how to categorize the rest, so let's just do a quick dump of book names in the order I read them.
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)
This is the first of 4 (so far) books in JK Rowling's Cormoran Strike series. This first book is right up my alley as far as mystery novels. I love a private detective with an assistant, and this book was super fun to read. I found the next couple books in the series a little bit more difficult, the second in particular has some really strange things in it that I wasn't super onboard with. I loved the 4th again though, Lethal White, so I'd recommend keeping going with the series if you think the 2nd one is too creepy.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
This was a favourite of both myself & Philip this year. It was an amazing, suspenseful, historical fiction book set in WWII. It's a really unique view of the war because it follows one character who is a blind girl in France, and another who is a young adult boy in Germany. Their paths eventually intersect, and the book jumps back and forth in time leading you up to a climactic event making it really suspenseful. Philip loved it, and at first I wasn't so sure but by 60 pages it was a clear favourite and I couldn't put it down.
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
This book had a few open door romance type scenes that might not be your thing (aren't really mine either, but in a physical book it's a bit easier to skim past - open door on audio is the worst though!). It follows 4 kids who see a psychic who tells them the day they are going to die. It unfolds following each of the kids in the order that they die and shows how they each act based on what they learned and what it means for the way their life unfolds.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Bachman
I loved this book. I borrowed it from the library, but it's on my list to buy because I could see it being a great reread especially as I get older. It is about the grouchiest old man who is so lovable even though he is so crochety. I was smiling while I read it because he's just so endearing. There are some triggering themes of suicide to be aware of, and those parts were hard to get through, but the overall lessons and themes in the book are worth it. We did watch the movie which is not in English so if you aren't into reading subtitles, wait for the American version which Tom Hanks is creating hopefully soon!
The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall and Ask Again Yes by Mary Beth Keane
I accidentally started both of these books around the same time which was super confusing because both were about two couples who are neighbours and the husbands work together and the wives don't like each other. It took me a while to not mix them up so I wouldn't recommend that method. The Dearly Beloved follows two couples, the husbands are both pastors and end up co-leading a church. The wives are opposites with one being a traditional church wife and the other being an athiest. It is a great fiction book that allows you to think of your faith from different angles and I found myself taking pictures of pages to save quotes. One example:
"Our love of God is not as important as our faith in God. Love wanes. Faith cannot. One can have faith and anger, faith and hate. One can believe deeply and still rail against God, still blame God. In fact, if one can hate God it is a sign of deep faith, because you cannot hate and at the same time doubt God's existence."
Ask Again Yes is also about two couples that are neighbours, and in this case the husbands are cops that work together. The wives again don't get along, with one having severe mental illness. Two of the kids love each other which keeps the families intertwined even after a tragic event takes place. I love a complicated family saga and this hit the nail right on the head for me.
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
I sought this book out by searching "best fiction books about the AIDS epidemic". Just as so may of us enjoy WWII historical fiction, I find books about a more recent tragedy such as the AIDS crisis so fascinating. I really want to read more books next year about events that happened in the 60s-80s to learn more about events that took place during my parents lifetime before I was born. The Immortalists also touches on this theme which got my interests peaked, and this book was an amazing telling about that time. It takes place in Chicago and Paris, jumping back and forth from 1985 to 2015. It follows a group of men that are great friends and unfortunately we watch as a number of the pass away during the crisis. It was a wonderful book and told the story in such a powerful way.
That's all for favourites! This is a bit of a novel in itself, so if you need to up your 2020 reading numbers feel free to count this as a book. My goal for 2020 is to hit 101. My goal for 2019 was 50, and I hit 100, so we'll see if I can do it again. So far I've read 3 books that I have loved so I'm already looking forward to sharing those with you! Message me about your reading anytime, I love having friends to talk books with! If you need suggestions on how to up your reading, what books to read, or anything else readerly - I hope I can help!
