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.