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?

Earth: an erasure poem

At the very last minute, I flubbed the “the” in this poem (and “catch” and “cross” could also be more legible) but I think you get the idea. Enjoy!

Recommended Podcasts

I have to admit that I was a little late to the podcast game. For the longest time, I associated podcasts with itunes/apple. After all, the name originated as an amalgamation of the words ipod and broadcast. It seemed like too much of a hassle to try and get them on my phone. For a long time, I stuck to my library audiobooks and figured I wasn’t missing out on too much. But, boy was I wrong. Over the past couple years, podcasts have become standard parts of my days and weeks. It is such a joy to listen to passionate and intelligent folks talk about things for which they are passionate and knowledgeable. I have come to collect them on my phone like rare and prized stamps in a collection. So, this week, I decided I would detail a few of my recent favorite episodes below:

The Plant Proof Podcast, hosted by Simon Hill - Building a Healthy Gut With Dr. Will Bulsiewicz

This episode covered SO MUCH. It delves into the basics of the latest science on the micro biome, as told by gastroenterologist and plant food advocate Dr. B. Both fascinating and enlightening, it will give you new insight into the multitudes within us.

The Rich Roll Podcast, hosted by Rich Roll - Andrew Morgan on the True Cost of Fast Fashion

I know what you’re thinking. You’ve seen the movie, how much more could this podcast contain that you haven’t already heard? The answer is a lot. Rich and Andrew get into really insightful conversations about family, personal responsibility, and duty as it relates to living in a capitalist society. This one came out almost four years ago, but I just heard it for the first time last month. If you haven’t listened yet either, it’s worth checking out.

Between the Covers, hosted by David Naimon — Layli Long Soldier: Whereas

Poet Layli Long Soldier on poetry, place, history, and her book of poems, Whereas. This is one of the best podcasts to which I have had the pleasure of listening. I won’t give away too much. Just listen. I promise you won’t regret it.