They Don't Push, Don't Crowd, Congregate Until They're Much Too Loud
Happy Year of the Rat! I missed the Western calendar new year, so thought I'd use this lunar new year to reflect back on my favorite books of 2019. Without further ado, here are the books that are still lingering with me in 2020:
Nonfiction
In the Dream House – Carmen Maria Machado
Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life – Amber Scorah
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations – Mira Jacob
The Book of Delights – Ross Gay
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work – Shawn Achor
Fiction
The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern
A Song for a New Day – Sarah Pinsker
On the Come Up – Angie Thomas
The Nickel Boys – Colson Whitehead
Spinning Silver – Naomi Novik
Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea – Sarah Pinsker
Washington Black – Esi Edugyan
How Long 'til Black Future Month? – N.K. Jemisin
Poetry
Monument: Poems New and Selected – Natasha Trethewey
I also decided to start something new this year, by tallying my book stats to delve a bit more into my reading habits. Here's what I found:
Books read: 35
*by women: 25 (71%)
*by BIWOC: 12 (34%)
*by men: 10 (29%)
*by BIMOC: 3 (9%)
*by BIPOC: 15 (43%)
Queer Literature: 9 (26%)
Latinx Literature: 2 (6%)
Native/Indigenous Literature: 1 (3%)
Asian/Pacific Islander Literature: 2 (6%)
Black Literature: 10 (29%)
Fiction: 17 (49%)
Nonfiction: 11 (31%)
Poetry: 6 (17%)
Genre is a Blurry Thing: 1 (3%)
I read a lot fewer books in 2019 than usual. (My average is typically somewhere between 50 and 80.) What happened? Life.
Also, I read way less poetry than usual. A lot of my 2019 books were on my e-reader (a new thing for me), which often doesn’t lend itself well to poetry.
Instead, I read more nonfiction. Some of my favorite books of 2019 were memoirs and essay collections.
I read quite a bit of queer lit and black lit this year! Hooray! But where were my genderqueer writers this year? Yeesh.
2020 reading goals
*More poetry!
*More books in print. I miss turning pages.
*More books by BIPOC, especially Latinx, Native, and Asian authors.
*More books by non-binary and genderqueer writers.
(Thanks to Electric Lit, I’ve got some ideas for books that combine these last 2 goals.)
What did your 2019 reading look like? What are your reading goals for 2020?
Nonfiction
In the Dream House – Carmen Maria Machado
Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life – Amber Scorah
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations – Mira Jacob
The Book of Delights – Ross Gay
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work – Shawn Achor
Fiction
The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern
A Song for a New Day – Sarah Pinsker
On the Come Up – Angie Thomas
The Nickel Boys – Colson Whitehead
Spinning Silver – Naomi Novik
Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea – Sarah Pinsker
Washington Black – Esi Edugyan
How Long 'til Black Future Month? – N.K. Jemisin
Poetry
Monument: Poems New and Selected – Natasha Trethewey
I also decided to start something new this year, by tallying my book stats to delve a bit more into my reading habits. Here's what I found:
Books read: 35
*by women: 25 (71%)
*by BIWOC: 12 (34%)
*by men: 10 (29%)
*by BIMOC: 3 (9%)
*by BIPOC: 15 (43%)
Queer Literature: 9 (26%)
Latinx Literature: 2 (6%)
Native/Indigenous Literature: 1 (3%)
Asian/Pacific Islander Literature: 2 (6%)
Black Literature: 10 (29%)
Fiction: 17 (49%)
Nonfiction: 11 (31%)
Poetry: 6 (17%)
Genre is a Blurry Thing: 1 (3%)
I read a lot fewer books in 2019 than usual. (My average is typically somewhere between 50 and 80.) What happened? Life.
Also, I read way less poetry than usual. A lot of my 2019 books were on my e-reader (a new thing for me), which often doesn’t lend itself well to poetry.
Instead, I read more nonfiction. Some of my favorite books of 2019 were memoirs and essay collections.
I read quite a bit of queer lit and black lit this year! Hooray! But where were my genderqueer writers this year? Yeesh.
2020 reading goals
*More poetry!
*More books in print. I miss turning pages.
*More books by BIPOC, especially Latinx, Native, and Asian authors.
*More books by non-binary and genderqueer writers.
(Thanks to Electric Lit, I’ve got some ideas for books that combine these last 2 goals.)
What did your 2019 reading look like? What are your reading goals for 2020?
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