Merry bookmas!
What that tree and 2020 have in common is I did not read very many books in either. My books-completed count is lower this year (10) than in past years (usually between 14 and 18) due to the lack of a subway commute for most of it (where I now realize I get most of my reading done), reduced time out in the world (in other words, away from my TV), and a newfound passion for jigsaw puzzles at home. I've had a puzzle going on my kitchen table almost non-stop since April.
But 10 is more than 0, so let's talk about the books I read this year.
In order
JAN: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
JAN: The Library Book by Susan Orlean
FEB: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
FEB: Belgravia by Julian Fellowes
MAR: Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
APR: Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith
MAY: Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender
JUN-AUG: half of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
SEP-NOV: half of The Overstory by Richard Powers
OCT: The Witches by Roald Dahl
DEC: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
DEC: Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms by John Hodgman
10 is the number finished, but if you'll allow me to count Outlander and Overstory has half a book each, the count of total books read is 11.
The year was very front-heavy, most of the second half of the year taken up by long or dense books I did not end up finishing. My favorite book of the year was Darkness, garnering my only Goodreads 5-star review of 2020. I did not like Norwegian (which Goodreads tells me was the most popular book on their site that I read this year) or Witches.
One other interesting fact from Goodreads: Medallion was both the least popular (least shelved/reviewed) and highest rated book I read this year, which I think John Hodgman would find appropriate.
By the authors
Of the books I finished, 6 were by men and 4 by women. The authors were British (Fellowes, Dahl), Australian (Godfrey-Smith), Japanese (Murakami), and from the US (the rest). Two are deceased (Dahl, Le Guin). Of the living authors I read, Murakami is the oldest (although only 7 months older than Fellowes) and Hodgman is the youngest at 49. This year, I read my 6th book by Maguire, my 4th by Murakami (and possibly my last, woof), and my 2nd by Le Guin and Hodgman.
By publication date
I read no books that were published this year, but Medallion was the closest at the end of 2019. The oldest book I read was Darkness (1969). The rest were from the eighties (Witches, Norwegian), nineties (Confessions), aughts (Bel Canto, Willful), and teens (Minds, Belgravia, Library, Medallion).
By setting
These books took place largely far from home (NYC). The closest was Medallion, based in Brooklyn but chronicling mostly travel around the country. Library is centered mostly in LA and Willful was mostly non-specific but one assumes the US. The rest were abroad: Belgravia and Witches in the UK, Confessions in the Netherlands, Bel Canto in an unnamed South American country, Norwegian in Japan, Minds off the coast of Australia, and the farthest abroad was Darkness on the planet Winter. All are set in the recent past except Confessions (17th century), Belgravia and Library (19th century), and Darkness (presumably the distant future).
By genre
Fiction (7):
- Fantasy: 2 (Confessions, Witches)
- Science fiction: 1 (Darkness)
- Historical fiction: 1 (Belgravia)
- Short stories: 1 (Willful)
- Plain-old novels: 2 (Norwegian, Bel Canto)
- History: Library
- Science: Minds
- Memoir: Medallion
- After reading Belgravia, I watched the TV miniseries on EPIX (via Amazon Prime)
- I read Witches with the Page & Popcorn Book & Movie Club. We watched both film adaptations of the book (1990, 2020). I also watched Where'd You Go, Bernadette? (which I read last year), and Little Women and The Hate U Give (which I did not read) with P&P.
- After reading Bel Canto, I watched the 2018 film with my friend Sue Ha on Prime.
- After not finishing Outlander, I likewise did not finish the first season of the Starz series on Netflix
- I watched Crazy Rich Asians (which I read last year) on a plane
- I watched a few episodes of the new Tales of the City, but this series isn't based on the one book I read (years ago)
- I watched Unorthodox, a miniseries based on the book by Deborah Feldman, which I read years ago
- There is no movie made of Minds, but I did watch My Octopus Teacher which was a similar story of a diver connecting with an octopus
- Loaners: Norwegian was loaned to me by Holly, Confessions by Lindsay (or maybe "stolen from" would be more accurate), and Minds by my boss
- Gifts: Library, Belgravia, and Medallion were all gifts from my parents, I believe from three separate birthdays/holidays
- My bookshelf: Bel Canto and Willful have been in my possession for a while, 4 and 14 years respectively
- Purchases: Darkness (Housing Works), Outlander (Community), Overstory (Terrace Books), Witches (Center for Fiction)
- Library, Darkness, Belgravia, Bel Canto, and Outlander were all goals I set for myself in last year's big book post which I (mostly) achieved.
- The Starless Sea, The Testaments, and A Favourite of the Gods were goals from the last big book post which I'll carry into 2021.
- I'm sure I'll come up with other goals as I dismantle the book tree and see what's hiding in there, but I know I will want to read Dreyer's English (which I got this summer on the same trip to Center for Fiction when I got Witches) and Motherless Brooklyn, which my book club just chose as its next selection.
