I was a bit more accurate with my reading estimate this year compared to 2018.
I set an initial goal of 100 books and read 109.
As per usual, here’s a review breakdown:
I’m still not sure how to use the review system. I largely went with the Goodreads scale (1 = didn’t like it, 2 = it was okay, 3 = liked it, 4 = really liked it, and 5 = loved it). It’s still just so arbitrary that I don’t even know if it’s helpful. I’m using it as a shorthand for myself, to remind myself of the books I loved or that I didn’t connect with. But since my ratings do get aggregated and affects the book’s overall rating, should I just not? Am I overthinking this?
I’m probably overthinking this.
Anyway.
Here are the stats from 2019:
- Total read: 109
- Author gender (M/F/NB): 14/54/1 = 69 different authors
- Roughly a 20%/79%/1% breakdown
- Authors of color: 22
- Nonfiction/fiction: 14/95, with 28 graphic novels across both categories
- Owned/Bought/Borrowed: 7/20/82
- Re-reads: 1
I bought too many books this year. Oops. There were so many that I just wanted to own! And authors I wanted to support! But I should go back to my previous system of only being allowed to buy a book for every eleven books read from the TBR or from the library.
Here are the first nine books I read:

First nine books of the year.
And here are the last nine books I read:
And here is a quick list, in no particular order, of the books that really stuck with me this year:
- The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander (Indiebound link)
- Educated by Tara Westover (Indiebound link)
- This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (Indiebound link)
- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Indiebound link)
- Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Indiebound link)
- The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary (Indiebound link)
There were many more books that I loved, but these are the ones that I’m still ruminating on.
Looking back, I think I only wrote up posts about five or six books last year? I’ll try to be better about that. There are so many good books that I want to yell about.
My reading goal for 2020 is 100.