I had a year of great reading. I had set a lower goal than usual to give myself time to read some LONG books and I did do that.
I read 122 books with an average length of 366 pages.
I read 44674 pages with an average of 122 pages a day. I think this is my most satisfying statistic since I always hope to read 100 pages a day. It looks like I nailed that one!
This year I decided to determine my top favorites by listing out all the books I noted as 5 star books on Goodreads. I got 46! It would seem either I am getting better at choosing books or books are getting better overall. Win-win, I would say.
I narrowed it down to 25 but added a few more at the bottom. For once I managed to get all of these reviewed on the blog and that is perhaps my best achievement. After all my wingeing last January, I figured out how to keep the blog going plus work on my writing. Of course, I was stuck at home for 9 months of the year so I should not brag.
In alphabetical order by title here are my favorites:
August Is A Wicked Month, Edna O'Brien
Barn 8, Deb Olin Unferth
Bellefleur, Joyce Carol Oates
Cantoras, Carolina De Robertis
The Glass Hotel, Emily St John Mandel
Hamnet, Maggie O'Farrell
How To Write An Autobiographical Novel, Alexander Chee
In the Country of Women, Susan Straight
The Keepers of the House, Shirley Anne Grau
Lilith's Brood Trilogy (Dawn, Adulthood Rites, Imago), Octavia E Butler
A Long Petal of the Sea, Isabel Allende
Night Boat to Tangier, Kevin Barry
Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars, Joyce Carol Oates
The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich
Piranesi, Susannah Clarke
The Reckless Oath We Made, Bryn Greenwood
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
The Sweetest Fruits, Monique Truong
Transcendent Kingdom, Yaa Gyasi
Unseen City, Amy Shearn
Unsheltered, Barbara Kingsolver
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Women of Copper Country, Mary Doria Russell
Your House Will Pay, Steph Cha
Extras:
One of my goals for the year was to get caught up on all Neal Stephenson books I had not yet read. I still have one to go but I loved the ones I read 5 stars worth.
Quicksilver, The Confusion, System of the World, Anathem, and Reamde.
I cannot leave out The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Sadly we lost him this year so I add this one in his honor.
I have enjoyed reading all the year end lists from the bloggers I follow. We are mighty readers!
A huge thank you to all who follow me here with extra thanks for all who comment. Due to my reading groups on Zoom and all of you, I never felt too lonely this year.
Happy New Year! Happy Reading! Happy Blogging Days Ahead!
Happy New Year! Piranesi has appeared on a lot of year end lists. I must read it soon!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Helen. I wonder how you will react to Piranesi!
DeleteI love these year end tops lists. I've only read (4) from your picks but now I have so many more as possibilities of future reads - hope 2021 is another good reading year for you.
ReplyDeleteI know! I have added titles too from others' lists.
DeleteSo glad to see How To Write An Autobiographical Novel on here because it really is so freaking good!
ReplyDeleteI know! I think whenever I get stuck in my writing this year I will read parts of it again.
DeleteThat's a great idea!
Delete100 pages a day is a LOT! for me anyway... i don't keep track but i have the feeling i read quite a bit less this year than normal: other interests have been raising their ugly heads and interfering with my true purpose in life haha... i read at least a book/week, tho, and often 3 and try to post on 1. that may change this year if it gets to be too much which it might do; sometimes i feel the pressure and that's counter-productive... anyhow, i hope this year goes a lot better than the last one did and all bloggers have a wonderful time and lots of cake and money, haha...
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, I don't actually read 100 pages every day. But when a book is really gripping sometimes I read way more than 100. Anyway, pressure is not something I like to feel about reading or blogging. We should take it easy and concentrate on the cake! Money would be nice too of course.
DeleteDefinitely a good year - for READING [lol]. Here's to more in '21.
ReplyDeleteThanks, CK! More and more.
DeleteThis is an impressive list. You also read an impressive number of books and read am impressive number of pages per day.
ReplyDeleteMay 2021 be a good reading year for all of us.
Thank you, Brian. I sure had a good time doing it. I always feel that reading stories about others helps me make sense of life around me. Yes to 2021!
DeleteYou achieved a lot of great reading stats whether you were home for 9 months or not... So brag away, you've earned it!
ReplyDeleteSo encouraging you are. I was raised to think that bragging was a bad thing and I never want to make people feel they have to read as much as I do. It does feel like an achievement though.
DeleteYou had a better year than ever Judy -- and I'm impressed by all of these great books on your list this past year! You are a Force. I like your goal/hope of reading 100 pages a day ... and might consider something similar for myself .... even if it's 50 pages a day. Wishing you a great 2021 reading year.
ReplyDeleteIt was one of the best years in terms of great books. Even 50 pages a day will get a person through a lot of books!
DeleteWith the average length of books as it is I think adding a page a day is essentially adding a book a year. So 50 pages a day... 50 books a year!
DeleteYou definitely earned bragging rights, so get your brag on! I am also proud of you for choosing 25+ - I don't know how the TTT crowd can (mostly) narrow it to 10. I enjoy your blog and your reviews, and your company most of all. I appreciate you and am so glad we are blogger buddies. Happy New Year, friend.
ReplyDeleteThe feeling is mutual, Sarah. Let's have a year we can brag about!
DeleteSounds good to me! <3
DeleteMy wife read far more fiction than I and she has read six if the books in your list and approves of your selection! Happy New Year, Judy. Good reading in 2021!
ReplyDeleteTell your wife thanks!
DeleteI love that you wanted to get caught up on all Neal Stephenson's books. He is my brother's favorite author and he has been reminding me to read one of his books. I have two of his books on my wishlist for this year, so fingers crossed I get to them (Reamde and Seveneves).
ReplyDeleteAlso, great that you had a lot of 5-star reads. Hope you will see more of that in the coming year. I certainly need to follow your lead and review books I read sooner. I intentionally kept it low-fare last year but I do want to change that now.
Those are both great Stephenson books, though all are great. So, 2021 is about changing some things and making a lot of things better. Happy Reading to you!
DeletePiranesi was my last book of the year and now I'm trying to figure out what I can say about it. Your favorites list is an impressive one. Here's looking forward to more wonderful books to read in this bright, shiny new year.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, Piranesi. How to write about it while not giving anything away! My husband recently finished it and the whole time he was reading it and making remarks, I just had to say, "You'll see." I so hope we have a bright shiny new year.
DeleteI just love these lists... a couple of my favorites are here, along with several others that your reviews convinced me to to add to my tbr. Happy 2021!
ReplyDeleteI think all readers love book lists! I am happy I could contribute to your TBR lists.
DeleteA belated Happy New Year! What a great list, I’m looking forward to Barn 8 when I eventually get my hands on it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Heather! Barn 8 was so good and so different. I like different!
DeleteNice list. I have only read Unsheltered, but I was very disappointed by the writing.
ReplyDeleteI do want to dive into Neal Stephenson, hopefully this year! Happy New Year of reading and reviewing! It's also a pleasure to read you
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Emma!
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