2020 End-of-the-Year Book Survey

 

2020 End-of-the-year book survey

Stats:

• Number of books read and completed: 142
• Number of re-reads: 8
• Genre you read the most: Literary fiction, at least I think so. This year was a very strange year for me as far as reading selections. I found myself reading lots of poetry and more essays and short stories compared to other years.
  
• Number of books started but not finished: 20
  
• Number of children's books read: 29
• Number of poetry books read or reread: 17
• Number of memoirs and nonfiction books read: 55
  

Reading Survey:

(Click on book title if you want to read my review of it.)

1. Best Book You Read In 2020?

• Literary fiction: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
  
• Best YA:  Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds.
  
• Best graphic novel: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
• Nonfiction: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

2. Book You Were Excited About and Thought You Were Going To Love, But Didn’t?

• Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore 
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
  

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? 

• (Good way about a bad topic) Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankin
  

4. Book You “Pushed” the Most People to Read (And They Did)?

• I didn't do any book pushing this year, unless you count me pestering my husband until he read (and finished) Lonesome Dove.
  

5. Best series you started in 2020?

•  Bill Hodges Trilogy by Stephen King
  

Best Sequel of 2020?

•  The Secret Commonwealth (Book of Dust, #2) by Philip Pullman

Best Series Ender of 2020? 

•  The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Handmaid's Tale #2)
  

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2020?

•  Jenny Offill (author of Weather)
  

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

•  Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. A western.
  

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

•  Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
  

9. Favorite Book Club Selection Based On the Discussion?

•  Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler. It was such a strange year with book clubs meeting over Zoom calls or shivering outside on the porch, wearing masks. I liked this book and thought everyone contributed to the conversation.
  

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2020?

•  Close to Birds: An Intimate Look at Our Fine Feathered Friends by Mats Ottosson
  

11. Most memorable character of 2020?

• Augustus McCrae from Lonesome Dove
  

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2020

•  The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
  

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2020

• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
  

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2020 to finally read?

•  Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman
  

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2019?

• “It’s a particular kind of pleasure, of intimacy, loving a book with someone.”
  ― Lily King, Writers & Lovers

16. Shortest and Longest Book You Read In 2020?

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, longest, 858 pages
• Mittens by Clare T. Newberry, shortest, 28 pages
  

17. Book Which Shocked You The Most

• 
  Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
  

18. Best Audiobook I Listened to in 2020

• Fiction: Weather by Jenny Offill
  
• Nonfiction: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
  

19. Favorite JH and SH Nonfiction Books I Read In My Role as a Cybils Judge

• Playlist: The Rebels and Revolutionaries of Sound by James Rhodes. (SH)
• The First Dinosaur: How Science Solved the Greatest Mystery on Earth by Ian Lendler (JH)
  

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2020 from an Author You’ve Read Previously

•  Stamped by Jason Reynolds.
  

21. Best Book You Read In 2020 Which Was Based SOLELY On a Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

•  Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult. Recommended by my sister.
  

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2020?

•  Westley, the hero in Princess Bride by William Goldman
  

23. Best 2020 debut you read?

•  Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
  

24. Best World-building/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry...the old west
  

25. Book Which Put a Smile on Your Face/Was the Most FUN to Read?

•  The Restaurant at the End of the World by Douglas Adams, sequel to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
  

26. Book Which Made You Cry or Nearly Cry in 2020?

• Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder
• The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  

27. Hidden Gem of the Year? There are several:

• Cicada by Shaun Tan
  
• Letters of Note by Shaun Usher
  
• Cast Away: Poems for Our Time by Naomi Shihab Nye
  
• How We Got to the Moon by John Rocco
• Close to Birds by Mats Ottosson
  

28. Anything odd about this year's reading list? 

•  2020 was such a strange, surreal year. I found it difficult to settle on reading and on particular books. If they were too serious, long, difficult, trite, or silly I just set them aside and didn't finish them. I had at least 20 books that I started but did not finish.
  

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2020?

•  The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. It is a little illustrated book full of wise conversations.
  

30. Book Which Made You Angry (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

• A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America by Rucker and Leonnig
  

31. Favorite poetry or short story collection: 

• Citizen: An American Lyric
  

32. Favorite classic book read during the year:

•  East of Eden by John Steinbeck
  
  
  

33. One Book You Didn’t Read In 2020 Which Will Be a Top Priority in 2020?

• Fiction--- Ready, Player Two by Ernest Cline
  
• Nonfiction--- A Promised Land by Barack Obama
  
• YA/Junior/Children's--- The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein
  
• Classic--- Dune by Frank Herbert
  
• Poetry/Essays: Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine 

34. Bookish goals for 2021

•  Complete the tasks set before me as a Cybils book award judge (Jan. 1st to Feb. 14th.)
  
• Write reviews for all book club selections.
•  My one book I hope to read is the first Discworld novel: The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett.
• Read two of the five National Book Award winners.
• Read the Pulitzer Prize winner for literature.
  

Blogging survey:

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2020?

This is embarrassing to admit, but I am terrible about remembering site names of blogs I visit.

2. Favorite reviews that you wrote in 2020?

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
  
•  East of Eden by John Steinbeck
  

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

• Wonderful Remembrances and a Blessing
  

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

  Book club on my back porch after a three month hiatus where we didn't meet at all.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2020?

My Sunday Salon posts became quite political as my concern over what the Trump campaign was up to. I heard from many of my readers, supporting my point-of-view.

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

I was pretty distracted for most of the year with politics and COVID/lockdown concerns. Though I continued blogging I completed far fewer book reviews than usual.

7. Most Popular Post This Year on Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

• Review: Motherless Brooklyn (Over 1000 views)
  

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

• Sunday Salon, Special Edition (Nov. 8th)
• Sunday Salon, Voting Edition (Oct. 31) 
• Books to Help Me Become an Anti-racist (Oct. 9th) 
• Black Lives Matter. A Look at the Books That Bring the Discussion Forward (June 5th)
  

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? None.

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

•  I've read 140+of my reading goal of 100 books this year.
• My Own Personal National Book Award Challenge---to read at least two of the winners for the past ten years.  I have not read the 2020 National Book Award winners yet.
  
• Read the Pulitzer Prize winner: The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. DONE!
  
• Read all the 2020 Printz winners, the award book and the honor books. I read 3 of 5. 
  
• • Dig by A.S. King- Award
  • The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi- Honor
  • Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki- Honor
  • Ordinary Hazards: a Memoir by Nikki Grimes-Honor
  • Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean- Honor
   
• Classics Club Spins. I completed only completed two classic books this year. I signed up for one additional Classics Spin but didn't even crack open my selection.
• So Big by Edna Ferber---completed.
  
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck---completed.

• To read Big Books as part of the Big Book Summer Challenge. I read five this summer of over 400 pages in length.
• Audiobook Challenge: I signed up to listen to 42 audiobooks in 2020, I actually only managed 33 (which is good considering I spent next to no time in the car this year compaired to other years.
  
• I completed my one big reading goal of the year: to read Lonesome Dove!

-Gratefully turning the page over on 2020.

-Anne