a recap:
2010: i read 15 books.
2011: i started my book challenge with the goal of reading 25 books; i read 38.
2012: 34 books
2013: 34 books again
2014: 32 books
2015: 35 books
2016: 58 books (fluke/who have i become?)
2017: 57 books (the new normal?)
2018: 42 books (which somehow feels like a failure even though i
know it's not.)
2019: 54 books (i'm back, baby!)
17 of those were diverse books (as in, the main character or the author is not white) - this is my highest total in a year yet and i'm really proud of this!
my favorite books of 2019:
bone, by yrsa daley-ward
the heart’s invisible furies, by john boyne
a place for us, by fatima farheen mirza
all the ugly and wonderful things, by bryn greenwood
heavy, by kiese laymon
no one tells you this: a memoir, by glynnis macnicol
the testaments, by margaret atwood
Friday, January 3, 2020
december: 52, 53 & 54
here's how i finished up 2019!
political tribes, by amy chua (i listened to this on audiobook and it was interesting and ultimately good but could have been a longform essay instead of a book, which is how i feel about a fair amount of nonfiction. so don't rush out to get this, but i did learn some interesting stuff in this book about human desire to belong to a group and thus to create "out group members" and the problems that can create.)
this is my body, by cameron dezen hammon (i read this at the recommendation of a friend and it was fine and all but i think a more religious person was the target audience here. if you are that more religious 30-something woman, look into this book. otherwise, please skip.)
salt to the sea, by ruta sepetys (arron's aunt lent me this and i really enjoyed it. there are four narrators and each chapter is only a few pages long, so it was perfect to read in little snippets during winter break. a super easy and rewarding read and i learned a lot about an aspect of WWII history that i knew nothing about - the fleeing of refugees and wealthy germans by boat in 1945 as it became clear germany was going to lose the war. if you like historical fiction, i highly recommend!)
political tribes, by amy chua (i listened to this on audiobook and it was interesting and ultimately good but could have been a longform essay instead of a book, which is how i feel about a fair amount of nonfiction. so don't rush out to get this, but i did learn some interesting stuff in this book about human desire to belong to a group and thus to create "out group members" and the problems that can create.)
this is my body, by cameron dezen hammon (i read this at the recommendation of a friend and it was fine and all but i think a more religious person was the target audience here. if you are that more religious 30-something woman, look into this book. otherwise, please skip.)
salt to the sea, by ruta sepetys (arron's aunt lent me this and i really enjoyed it. there are four narrators and each chapter is only a few pages long, so it was perfect to read in little snippets during winter break. a super easy and rewarding read and i learned a lot about an aspect of WWII history that i knew nothing about - the fleeing of refugees and wealthy germans by boat in 1945 as it became clear germany was going to lose the war. if you like historical fiction, i highly recommend!)
november: 50 & 51
the testaments, by margaret atwood (this is atwood's sequel-of-sorts to the handmaid's tale and i put my name on the list at the library super early for this and was lucky enough to get it at the end of october - woo hoo! i'm actually a card-carrying member of two libraries - houston and pittsburgh - which was been a real boon to my reading. the pittsburgh carnegie library system is amazing and has much more extensive holdings than houston, btw, which you might not be surprised to hear given their namesake's endowment. but that's neither here nor there. i loved this book, which does not take us back to offred's story but instead gives us a few other women and their stories both inside and outside gilead. the book is set 15 or so years after the handmaid's tale ends. highly recommend!)
the great believers, by rebecca makkai (my friend kenley recommended this to me and i'm so glad she did. a really great story told in two time frames - 1980s chicago, through the eyes of a gay man facing the AIDS crisis in his friend group, and 2010s paris, as the sister of a man in that friend group searches for her daughter. this was a quick and satisfying read, though obviously pretty tough to read at points.)
the great believers, by rebecca makkai (my friend kenley recommended this to me and i'm so glad she did. a really great story told in two time frames - 1980s chicago, through the eyes of a gay man facing the AIDS crisis in his friend group, and 2010s paris, as the sister of a man in that friend group searches for her daughter. this was a quick and satisfying read, though obviously pretty tough to read at points.)
october: 45, 46, 47, 48 & 49
and here i am catching up on posting what i read this fall. sheesh - i should have posted this months ago! but here we go. in october i read:
educated, by tara westover (i listened to the audiobook of this one and loved it. it's just as incredible as everyone says it is and memoirs are one of my favorite genres. highly recommend!)
american spy, by lauren wilkinson (this book had such a great premise - black female CIA agent does lots of spying - but i found the book to be a bit ponderous and i kind of had to make myself finish it. even though obama liked it, don't run out to grab this one.)
the woman in the window, by a.j. finn (super creepy thriller that i read for a work book club - it's not my normal genre, but i did like gone girl and the girl on the train so i guess i read these kind of books when they get a ton of press. it gave me a nightmare so i guess it did its job. i was definitely intrigued and was trying to guess who was the bad guy through the book. this would be a great beach read or (what's the winter equivalent?)...a ski weekend read. definitely google the author after you read the book. he's got some weird stuff going on in his world, too...)
talking to strangers, by malcolm gladwell (i listened to the audiobook of this, too, which was worth it. i always like gladwell's books and this was no exception, but this book tackles some really tough themes - rape, police shootings, and waterboarding among others - so be warned that parts of this book are hard to get through ESPECIALLY if you listen to the audiobook, as gladwell includes some real audio clips from sandra bland's police stop, for example. i'm glad i read this and would recommend it!)
the handmaid's tale, by margaret atwood (i re-read this in preparation for reading her most recent book. i've watched the tv show and really enjoyed it, but i loved going back to the story the show is based on and seeing how atwood crafted this world before hollywood got involved. i pulled out several quotes from the book about love that really spoke to me. all in all, very glad i went back to this.)
educated, by tara westover (i listened to the audiobook of this one and loved it. it's just as incredible as everyone says it is and memoirs are one of my favorite genres. highly recommend!)
american spy, by lauren wilkinson (this book had such a great premise - black female CIA agent does lots of spying - but i found the book to be a bit ponderous and i kind of had to make myself finish it. even though obama liked it, don't run out to grab this one.)
the woman in the window, by a.j. finn (super creepy thriller that i read for a work book club - it's not my normal genre, but i did like gone girl and the girl on the train so i guess i read these kind of books when they get a ton of press. it gave me a nightmare so i guess it did its job. i was definitely intrigued and was trying to guess who was the bad guy through the book. this would be a great beach read or (what's the winter equivalent?)...a ski weekend read. definitely google the author after you read the book. he's got some weird stuff going on in his world, too...)
talking to strangers, by malcolm gladwell (i listened to the audiobook of this, too, which was worth it. i always like gladwell's books and this was no exception, but this book tackles some really tough themes - rape, police shootings, and waterboarding among others - so be warned that parts of this book are hard to get through ESPECIALLY if you listen to the audiobook, as gladwell includes some real audio clips from sandra bland's police stop, for example. i'm glad i read this and would recommend it!)
the handmaid's tale, by margaret atwood (i re-read this in preparation for reading her most recent book. i've watched the tv show and really enjoyed it, but i loved going back to the story the show is based on and seeing how atwood crafted this world before hollywood got involved. i pulled out several quotes from the book about love that really spoke to me. all in all, very glad i went back to this.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)