2020: Reading Year in Review

This past year challenged my reading like no other. What was once an enjoyable escape and past time became an intense struggle. There were several weeks-long periods where I kept picking up books trying to read and giving up after 20 minutes went by and I could barely finish a few pages. Focus often alluded me in the time of doom scrolling. Somehow, I managed to read 54 books. Although several of them were on the shorter side.

Historically, the vast majority of the books I choose to read are non-fiction. This year, I tried to mix it up a little (especially to try to read more graphic novels and fiction) and I’m so glad that I did. Getting out of my nonfiction box afforded the opportunity to read the best book I read all year (and one of the best books I’ve read in my lifetime), a book that changed my mind/ideas about what a book could be. It holds the top spot in my “Top 5 Reads of 2020” list. I won’t say much else about it other than to read it if you haven’t already!

Top 5 Reads of 2020

1. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong (fiction)

2. Geography of the Heart, by Fenton Johnson (nonfiction)

3. Counting Descent, by Clint Smith (poetry collection)

4. Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates (nonfiction)

5. Beyond the Gender Binary, by Alok Vaid-Menon (nonfiction)

Because I am also a spreadsheet nerd, I made some year end graphs:

This coming year I hope to plan out a little more what I’d like to read (and also take a healthy chunk of books off of my TBR shelf).

Here is the full list of books I read in 2020. The bolded/italicized ones were books I either really liked or ones that especially stuck with me:

1. Deep Creek, by Pam Houston

2. Homo Deus, by Yuval Noah Harari

3. How We Fight For Our Lives, by Saeed Jones

4. The Lost Words, by Robert Macfarlan and Jackie Morris

5. The Weight of Shadows, by José Orduña

6. This is Water, by David Foster Wallace

7. Range, by David Epstein

8. Pain Woman Takes Your Keys, and Other Essays from a Nervous System, by Sonya Huber

9. The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben

10. Start With Why, by Simon Sinek

11. Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better, by Pema Chödrön

12. Geography of the Heart, by Fenton Johnson

13. The Inevitable, by Kevin Kelly

14. 21 Lesson for the 21st Century, by Yuval Noah Harari

15. Peace is Every Breath, by Thich Nhat Hanh

16. Beyond the Gender Binary, by Alok Vaid-Menon

17. When Things Fall Apart, by Pema Chödrön

18. Dare to Lead, by Brené Brown

19. Rising Strong, by Brené Brown

20. The Dip, by Seth Godin

21. Stray, by Stephanie Danler

22. Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

23. Why We Swim, by Bonnie Tsui

24. Stamped: racism, antiracism, and you, by Jason Reyonds, Ibram X. Kendi

25. Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad

26. Recollections of My Nonexistence, by Rebecca Solnit

27. How to Do Nothing, by Jenny Odell

28. Better Than Before, by Gretchen Rubin

29. Self-Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

30. The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden

31. The Hatred of Poetry, by Ben Lerner

32. Fiction:

33. Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer

34. The Deep, by Rivers Solomon

35. Cinderella Liberator, by Rebecca Solnit

36. Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch

37. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong

    Poetry Collections:

38. Pioneers in the Study of Motion, by Susan Briante

39. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, by Ross Gay

40. Be With, by Forrest Gander

41. Cast Away: poems for our time, by Naomi Shibah Nye

42. Counting Descent, by Clint Smith

43. Good Bones, by Maggie Smith

44. Don’t Call Us Dead, by Danez Smith

45. The Essential Emily Dickinson, by Emily Dickinson, Joyce Carol Oates

46. Night Sky with Exit Wounds, by Ocean Vuong

47. The Book of Light, by Lucille Clifton

    Graphic Novels:

48. They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei

49. Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe

50. The Arrival, by Shaun Tan

51. El Deafo, by Cece Bell

52. Kindred: a graphic novel adaptation, by Octavia Butler (adapted by Damian Duffy)

53. A Fire Story, by Brian Fies

54. Queer: a graphic history, by Meg-John Barker, Julia Scheele

55. Gender: a graphic guide, by Meg-John Barker, Julia Scheele

What were the best books you read in 2020?

April 2019 Books

I have set a reading goal for the year of 60 books and, so far, I have read 21. I set this overall goal early in the year after having a conversation with my friend and fellow writer, Cheryl. I realized that I could be committing to finishing way more books per year. Previously, I would let a lot of books go half read. In order to meet this goal and to challenge myself this term to set up a curriculum while I am not taking creative writing courses, I have assigned myself the following books for the month of April:

• Not Even Wrong by Paul Collins (nonfiction, memoir) - finished

• Whip Smart by Melissa Febos (nonfiction, memoir) - half finished

• Ghost Fishing edited by Melissa Tuckey (poetry anthology) - have not begun

• Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg (self-help, audiobook) - nearly finished

• Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk (self-help, audiobook) - finished, although started earlier in the year

This first month’s “curriculum” is lacking nonfiction craft. My intention this month was to focus on reading the published work of some creative writing professors as well as to finish off some of the audiobooks that have been on my list at the library.

I will be the first to admit that I do not shy away from self-help books and I am also not ashamed to read them (although most of the time I am listening to self-help books on my commute versus reading them). I have anywhere from an hour to hour and a half round trip commute four days a week and I often prefer to fill that time with learning new concepts rather than listening to music. Having books or podcasts to look forward to has exponentially improved my commute experience. I have nothing at all against music, but my mind is often hungry for new information and growth. I often find myself listening to the Rich Roll Podcast when I am not devouring new self-help books.

This April, I am also challenging myself to submit at least one essay or poem to submittable for publication. I have an entire “writing manifestation” checklist to check off which includes this challenge as well as “receive my first acceptance for publication” and “receive my first rejection for publication.” So, either way the submission goes I get to check off two items, one for submitting and one for getting either an acceptance or rejection. I am always reminding myself that failure and rejection are part of the process. What’s the most important is that you actually go out there are do that damn thing!

For May’s curriculum, I am planning to add in at least one book in nonfiction craft. I would also like to include a book of poetry a month and prioritize more nature writing and writers of color in general. If anyone has any nonfiction or poetry suggestions, please feel free to connect with me here or on twitter @katcoolahan! I would love to hear them.