Monday, January 4, 2021

Books I Read in 2020

 I had a goal to read 45 books last year, and I exceeded it by one book, which I finished in the nick of time on New Year's Eve. 🙌 (You wouldn't know that I read 46 books from the Goodreads graphic below because they didn't update my total number of books read at the top. It's okay, I'll forgive them.) I read some great books last year, and some stinkers. Such is the nature of reading. This year I have the same goal, to read 45 books again. That averages out to about four books per month, which is a reasonable amount for me and the types of books I read. I love reading; it opens up my world, I learn a lot from it, and and it's a healthy respite from the realities of life. 📚

2020
My Year in Books
16,027
pages read
Donna
45
books read
This is my journey in books for 2020!

Updated January 1, 2021. Newly completed books appear after a delay.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Shortest Book
105
pages
Saints Volume 2 by The Church of Jesus Christ ...
Longest Book
833
pages

Average book length in 2020
 
356
pages

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Most Popular
4,015,909
people also shelved
The Venus Week by Rebecca  Booth
Least Popular
181
people also shelved

My average rating for 2020
 
3.5

The Heavens Are Open by Wendy Watson Nelson
Highest Rated on Goodreads
4.64 average

The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede

My first review of the year

really liked it
I'd never heard about how this happened after 9/11 and I found it so interesting and heartwarming. I have a whole new level of respect for Newfoundland and its people. (And now I know how to pronounce it correctly too!) It's refreshing to read about the inherent goodness of people, especially in the midst of tragedy perpetrated by fellow humans whose inherent goodness has been extinguished. Good will always win in the end. ...more

MY 2020 BOOKS
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede
really liked it
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Mary B by Katherine J. Chen
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell
The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande
Emma by Jane Austen
When Life Gives You Pears by Jeannie Gaffigan
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Hearing the Voice of the Lord by Gerald N. Lund
it was amazing
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor
Monticello by Sally Cabot Gunning
The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters
The Heavens Are Open by Wendy Watson Nelson
For Elise by Sarah M. Eden
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
it was amazing
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
Grit by Angela Duckworth
Permanent Record by Edward Snowden
What the Lady Wants by Renee Rosen
Mrs. Houdini by Victoria  Kelly
A Rumored Fortune by Joanna Davidson Politano
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Away Off Shore by Nathaniel Philbrick
When by Daniel H. Pink
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
really liked it
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees
Murder at Marble House by Alyssa Maxwell
Lion in the Valley by Elizabeth Peters
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Jane and the Man of the Cloth by Stephanie Barron
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
The Venus Week by Rebecca  Booth
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Saints Volume 2 by The Church of Jesus Christ ...
Someone We Know by Shari Lapena
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Born This Happy Morning by John Bytheway
it was amazing
Jane and the Wandering Eye by Stephanie Barron
Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

My last review of the year

really liked it
I learned so much about this country's beginnings as well as the history of my Mayflower ancestors from reading this very well-researched and well-written account. It doesn't paint a totally rosy picture by any means and is honest about the good and the bad, which I appreciated. It's neat to live right near where these things took place. It brings history to life, and there's so much to learn from it. I think this book or at least excerpts from i ...more
MISSING BOOKS?
You can easily add books to this list by setting the Date Read for each book to any time in 2020.
Are you re-reading? That counts too!
2020 Reading ChallengeImg rccompleted
2020 READING
CHALLENGE
You read 46 out of 45 books.
 
102%
Congratulations! You're really good at reading, and probably a lot of other things, too!