For the past four years, I’ve set a reading goal for myself. Yes, like a first-grade teacher awarding gold stars and pizza-party bribes to encourage early literacy. My goal is simple and easy to remember.
Every year, I aim to read at least fifty-two books. One book for each week of the year.
That makes sense, right? Sometimes I wander into graphic novels or middle grade, which boost my numbers as they don’t take as much time.
And every December, I look back through my GoodReads list and reminisce. To be honest, I’ll get to the end of the year and forget titles I read back in, say, February. My memory is a slippery place, however.
This year, I’ve read fifty-eight books! I plan on squeezing in another three-ish, so it looks like I’ll be breaking sixty. Actually, if I can get to sixty two, I’ll beat my 2016 record, so it’s worth a shot. (I apologize ahead to my husband, as I may read in the car instead of providing lively road-trip commentary.)
OK, enough chit chat. Let’s talk 2020’s best books!
That One I Adored
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (Have you jumped on the Backman train yet?)
Books Involving War
Last Christmas in Paris: A novel of World War I by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (Vietnam War)
Lovely War by Julie Berry (WWI)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (WWII)
Fantasy
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (and its sequel Muse of Nightmares)
Heartstone by Elle Katharine White
Fable by Adrienne Young
Young Adult
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Christian Fiction
Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer (Think Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)
Autumn Skies by Denise Hunter (I’ve read everything she’s published, so they’re all running together in my mind. However, I always adore every novel. Girlfriend wrote three books this year. THREE. Blows my mind.)
Non-Fiction
When Life Gives You Pears by Jeannie Gaffigan
Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas
Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking by Susan Cain
Now it’s your turn! Please comment below for with some favorite titles. I’ve got fifty-two slots to fill for 2021…
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Currently Reading:
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – Y’all, I’m falling down the Rainbow Rowell well, and it isn’t my first time. I recently discovered Fangirl, Vol. 1: The Manga, which is a graphic novel of the first one-fourth of the original novel. It whetted my appetite for more Fangirl, so I dove in face first. I’ve also checked out Attachments, Eleanor and Park, and Landline, all of which I’ve read before. I’ve fallen, and I don’t care to get up!