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Mar. 15th, 2021 10:34 pmHow many books did you read this year?
I read 107 books, with the following breakdown:
91 women, of whom 11 were writers of colour; 16 men of whom 2 were writers of colour.
14 biographical
13 children's
8 young adults
5 non-fiction
67 fiction
Far fewer books than in 2019, partly because my overwork and subsequent burnout didn't lend themselves to reading, and partly because I raced through Agatha Christie's oeuvre in 2019 and didn't have anything like that to go through in 2020.
Did you reread anything? What?
Two James Herriots, and Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in preparation for The Mirror and the Light. It had been some time since I'd read them so it was a very good move, I'm not sure I would have picked up on lots of things had I not done so.
However, I'm also certain I reread a bunch of Angela Thirkells when I was buying copies of the ones I didn't have as ebooks, but I don't seem to have recorded those at all.
What were your topfive books of the year?
Burmese Days - George Orwell
Fleishman is in Trouble - Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The Mirror and the Light - Hilary Mantel
Fire from Heaven - Mary Renault
Queenie - Candace Carty-Williams
Old Baggage - Lissa Evans
My Sister the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
Scabby Queen - Kirstin Innes
Sunflower - Rebecca West
Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?
I hadn't read any Lissa Evans before, and since reading Old Baggage I've been working my way through them with great enjoyment. I only have one left now (Odd One Out) so I hope she is even now crafting some more excellence. I would very much like to read more about Mattie Simpson, but don't think that will be forthcoming.
Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?
Because I spent much more time at home in 2020 than I had originally planned, I literally started every day in my flat opening my eyes to see the shelves of unread books in front of me. I think I read 12 of them last year, which leaves around 90 still to go. Not counting all the ebooks I keep buying.
Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?
The goals I set last time I did this meme were to read one of the French children's books I have accumulated and to read as much as I did in 2019. Neither of which I achieved! Ah well.
What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?
The oldest book I read was Marriage by Susan Ferrier, which was published in 1818, making it more than TWO HUNDRED YEARS OLD. (I realise that people with literary interests that do not usually firmly situate themselves in the twentieth century will scoff here, but I am not those people.) It was very good! A Scottish author too which was good (had a special little sticker on the front of the Virago edition).
I have also owned a copy of Beyond the Vicarage by Noel Streatfeild for at least twenty years, but only got round to reading it in 2020. It was very good indeed, and I would like to read a critical biography of her too.
How many books did you buy?
Since I was back in Edinburgh when the charity shops reopened after lockdown, I bought more hardcopies than I was expecting! I also picked up occasional books in
Did you use your library?
Yep! Still pleased that my Kobo connects directly to Edinburgh libraries. Do I read all of the books I check out and download? No! Especially since I often check out the book on my computer and then forget to put it on the ereader. I intend to read them all at some point, anyway. The book I borrowed that I wouldn't have bought myself and enjoyed was Slammed by Lola Keeley, a lesbian romance about high ranking tennis players.
What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?
Hours, but I couldn't tell you which took longer and which were quicker.
What reading goals do you have for next year?
Should I attempt to recommit to a French book? I would still like to do it, but at this point I don't really see it happening. I would like to read at least ten books from my unread shelves. I would like at least one of the ten to be one of the academicy books I want to read but have been finding too daunting.
What’s the longest book you read?
Probably one of the Hilary Mantel ones, or maybe the Penny Vincenzi? I feel like Penny Vincenzi books are doorstops in paper form, from my vague memory of shelving as a bookseller. Wow, Goodreads confirms that Old Sins outdoes them by around two hundred pages, clocking in at 992 pages.
What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?
I think probably The Mirror and the Light, and yes it very much did. This has also prompted me to check when the paperback of is due so that I can have it on my shelves - end of April, but I can't find any images of the spine, so I don't know whether it will match or clash.
Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?
I do not think so. If anyone wants to tell me about something they saw in great detail, please do. I like secondhand drama that doesn't concern me.
Any books that disappointed you?
What were your least favorite books of the year?
Secrets at St Bride's wasn't great, I bought it becuase I will almost always read a boarding school story in any genre, but it was mostly tedious. I think it was It Must Have Been the Mistletoe which was the one where the heroine took the entire book to realise the man she fancied wasn't gay after all, which was blatantly obvious from the start. I also didn't think much of Expectation by Anna Hope, it was supposed to be electric and voice of a generation but I kind of wanted to punch all of them.
What genre did you read the most of?
Women's middlebrow fiction from the mid 20th century, as always.
Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)?
I did rereads of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies , which both won the Booker (and BUTB the Costa as well), and the The Mirror and the Light was shortlisted for the Women's Prize.
Queenie won the comedy women in print prize which was what finally spurred me on to read it. While it is very funny I also found it very hard to read in places because it is so raw. It was also the best debut book at the British Book Awards best of and was shortlisted for the Jhalak. Fleishman is in Trouble was shortlisted for best debut at the British Book Awards too.
Troubles won the "lost" Man Booker for 1970. I had not previously heard of the Lost Man Booker, which was retrospectively awarded in 2010 to mark that the change in Booker eligibility from "published the year before" to "published that year" had meant that books in 1970 missed out. It's different from the other Bookers in the process as well as belatedness - a public vote online vote after the judges' shortlist.
Since 2005 I have only read 13 books published in 1970, and I would probably agree that Troubles was the best of those, assuming that they wouldn't award it to The Player's Boy as it's a children's book.
The Nickel Boys won the Pulitzer and Orwell, but I haven't read it, because despite Jess and me valiantly attempting some vote-rigging, our Sittwe bookclub chose a book suggested by one of my nemeses, which SHE HAD ALREADY READ and therefore shouldn't have been eligible. You may wish to point out that I could have read it on my own time anyway. You would be correct.
Hmm. I wonder if I want to set myself the task of reading all the Booker winners? I do like a list, and I've already read 14 of them so it's not like starting from scratch. It might also help in future book quizzes to have a better idea of what the Booker winners were.
What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?
I think the books I read that were the recipients of most hype all lived up to it! Especially Scabby Queen, which the First Minister talked up.
Everything I read in 2020:
( List. )
I read 107 books, with the following breakdown:
91 women, of whom 11 were writers of colour; 16 men of whom 2 were writers of colour.
14 biographical
13 children's
8 young adults
5 non-fiction
67 fiction
Far fewer books than in 2019, partly because my overwork and subsequent burnout didn't lend themselves to reading, and partly because I raced through Agatha Christie's oeuvre in 2019 and didn't have anything like that to go through in 2020.
Did you reread anything? What?
Two James Herriots, and Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in preparation for The Mirror and the Light. It had been some time since I'd read them so it was a very good move, I'm not sure I would have picked up on lots of things had I not done so.
However, I'm also certain I reread a bunch of Angela Thirkells when I was buying copies of the ones I didn't have as ebooks, but I don't seem to have recorded those at all.
What were your top
Burmese Days - George Orwell
Fleishman is in Trouble - Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The Mirror and the Light - Hilary Mantel
Fire from Heaven - Mary Renault
Queenie - Candace Carty-Williams
Old Baggage - Lissa Evans
My Sister the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
Scabby Queen - Kirstin Innes
Sunflower - Rebecca West
Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?
I hadn't read any Lissa Evans before, and since reading Old Baggage I've been working my way through them with great enjoyment. I only have one left now (Odd One Out) so I hope she is even now crafting some more excellence. I would very much like to read more about Mattie Simpson, but don't think that will be forthcoming.
Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?
Because I spent much more time at home in 2020 than I had originally planned, I literally started every day in my flat opening my eyes to see the shelves of unread books in front of me. I think I read 12 of them last year, which leaves around 90 still to go. Not counting all the ebooks I keep buying.
Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?
The goals I set last time I did this meme were to read one of the French children's books I have accumulated and to read as much as I did in 2019. Neither of which I achieved! Ah well.
What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?
The oldest book I read was Marriage by Susan Ferrier, which was published in 1818, making it more than TWO HUNDRED YEARS OLD. (I realise that people with literary interests that do not usually firmly situate themselves in the twentieth century will scoff here, but I am not those people.) It was very good! A Scottish author too which was good (had a special little sticker on the front of the Virago edition).
I have also owned a copy of Beyond the Vicarage by Noel Streatfeild for at least twenty years, but only got round to reading it in 2020. It was very good indeed, and I would like to read a critical biography of her too.
How many books did you buy?
Since I was back in Edinburgh when the charity shops reopened after lockdown, I bought more hardcopies than I was expecting! I also picked up occasional books in
Did you use your library?
Yep! Still pleased that my Kobo connects directly to Edinburgh libraries. Do I read all of the books I check out and download? No! Especially since I often check out the book on my computer and then forget to put it on the ereader. I intend to read them all at some point, anyway. The book I borrowed that I wouldn't have bought myself and enjoyed was Slammed by Lola Keeley, a lesbian romance about high ranking tennis players.
What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?
Hours, but I couldn't tell you which took longer and which were quicker.
What reading goals do you have for next year?
Should I attempt to recommit to a French book? I would still like to do it, but at this point I don't really see it happening. I would like to read at least ten books from my unread shelves. I would like at least one of the ten to be one of the academicy books I want to read but have been finding too daunting.
What’s the longest book you read?
Probably one of the Hilary Mantel ones, or maybe the Penny Vincenzi? I feel like Penny Vincenzi books are doorstops in paper form, from my vague memory of shelving as a bookseller. Wow, Goodreads confirms that Old Sins outdoes them by around two hundred pages, clocking in at 992 pages.
What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?
I think probably The Mirror and the Light, and yes it very much did. This has also prompted me to check when the paperback of is due so that I can have it on my shelves - end of April, but I can't find any images of the spine, so I don't know whether it will match or clash.
Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?
I do not think so. If anyone wants to tell me about something they saw in great detail, please do. I like secondhand drama that doesn't concern me.
Any books that disappointed you?
What were your least favorite books of the year?
Secrets at St Bride's wasn't great, I bought it becuase I will almost always read a boarding school story in any genre, but it was mostly tedious. I think it was It Must Have Been the Mistletoe which was the one where the heroine took the entire book to realise the man she fancied wasn't gay after all, which was blatantly obvious from the start. I also didn't think much of Expectation by Anna Hope, it was supposed to be electric and voice of a generation but I kind of wanted to punch all of them.
What genre did you read the most of?
Women's middlebrow fiction from the mid 20th century, as always.
Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)?
I did rereads of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies , which both won the Booker (and BUTB the Costa as well), and the The Mirror and the Light was shortlisted for the Women's Prize.
Queenie won the comedy women in print prize which was what finally spurred me on to read it. While it is very funny I also found it very hard to read in places because it is so raw. It was also the best debut book at the British Book Awards best of and was shortlisted for the Jhalak. Fleishman is in Trouble was shortlisted for best debut at the British Book Awards too.
Troubles won the "lost" Man Booker for 1970. I had not previously heard of the Lost Man Booker, which was retrospectively awarded in 2010 to mark that the change in Booker eligibility from "published the year before" to "published that year" had meant that books in 1970 missed out. It's different from the other Bookers in the process as well as belatedness - a public vote online vote after the judges' shortlist.
Since 2005 I have only read 13 books published in 1970, and I would probably agree that Troubles was the best of those, assuming that they wouldn't award it to The Player's Boy as it's a children's book.
The Nickel Boys won the Pulitzer and Orwell, but I haven't read it, because despite Jess and me valiantly attempting some vote-rigging, our Sittwe bookclub chose a book suggested by one of my nemeses, which SHE HAD ALREADY READ and therefore shouldn't have been eligible. You may wish to point out that I could have read it on my own time anyway. You would be correct.
Hmm. I wonder if I want to set myself the task of reading all the Booker winners? I do like a list, and I've already read 14 of them so it's not like starting from scratch. It might also help in future book quizzes to have a better idea of what the Booker winners were.
What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?
I think the books I read that were the recipients of most hype all lived up to it! Especially Scabby Queen, which the First Minister talked up.
Everything I read in 2020:
( List. )
