reading in 2020

[meitachi]

Total books read this year: 124
Nonfiction: 14
Books read posts: Jan-Feb | Mar-Apr | May-Jun | Jul-Aug | Sep-Oct | Nov-Dec

Series I started this year:
-The Center by M.C. Lee (1-5) - finished
-The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (1-5) - ongoing!
-Given (1-6) by Natsuki Kizu - ongoing!
-The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (1 & 2 out of 4)

Cnovels I read this year:
-You Boys Play Games Very Well
-Everyone Thinks That I Like Him
-Don't You Like Me
-Very Happy
-Glory (WIP)
-My Underachieving Seatmate Doesn't Need Any Comforting
-PUBG Online Romance of the Century

Webtoons I read this year:
-All About Lust
-Talk to Me
-Can't Take My Eyes Off You
-BJ Alex
-Ordinary Men

Following a few more WIPs for both cnovels and webtoons!

Under the cut I'll do a year in review meme, plus highlight the year's reading challenge.


I made up these questions! Pulled together from some book bloggers' end of year reviews, but I like my own.

• Favorite fiction book of the year?
  This is so hard. I really, really loved so many of Frances Hardinge's books this year. The entire Murderbot series made me really happy and was a joy to read. I probably shouldn't count my two Heyer rereads, which always delight me. I think it comes down to The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa from January, which nearly ruined me emotionally even though I knew what was coming, and A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher, which was charming and dark and funny and just really nice to end the year on.



• Favorite nonfiction book of the year?
  Close call between Loving Sports When They Don't Love You Back by Jessica Luther and Kavitha A. Davidson and Dreyer's English by Benjamin Dreyer, two topics I am very invested in -- the intersection of politics and sports, and nerdy grammar. I'll give it to Loving Sports, though; it's written by two women, one of whom is nonwhite, and the perspectives they included and the topics they discussed are just really resonant with me, as a nonwhite female sports fan who also hates everything about how sports exists currently in our society. It was frustrating and cathartic to feel "seen", and to have other issues raised that even I haven't wrestled with as deeply. One lasting perspective that has stayed with me: salary caps are anti-worker and pro-billionaire owner. I think about that a lot when fans are bemoaning those multi-million dollar contracts for players.



• What book was the most challenging to read this year?
  I heard talk that reading Ling Ma's Severance was surreal and tough this year because it has a pandemic, critique of capitalism, and the struggles of being Asian American and a woman, but I am very good at divorcing reality from fiction so it felt more like a pastiche on Zombieland than anything eerie IRL. Marlon James' Black Leopard, Red Wolf was tough in that rape-and-dark-themes-makes-for-grit way that men often write, but overall I enjoyed it because it was so different from the usual fantasy novel, being set in Africa and drawing upon various African lore and myth.
  
  In reality the toughest were two: A Good Provider is One Who Leaves by Jason DeParle, about global immigration, remittances, and specifically one family in the Philippines he's been following for over 30 years -- it was challenging as my first real foray into reading nonfiction that wasn't just essays or memoirs, so it had a lot of historical research around the personal stories that forced me readjust as a reader accustomed to easy fiction. The second book is Know My Name by Chanel Miller, which was challenging emotionally, and even though I read the book in one day, I had to take breaks multiple times to cry.



• What book was the most disappointing? I.e., good premise, bad execution? Didn't live up to the hype?
  Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez, where the cover was the best part of the book and that's a damn shame. It's supposed to be Ecuadorian-based historical fantasy - magic in the lush setting of Ecuador's past. It had disappointing prose, bad politics, flat characters and no strong relationships, and a lack of suspense around the "mystery" identity of one of the characters. Really disappointing.
  
  There were plenty of other books I didn't love (The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, Docile by K.M. Szpara, that Ali Carter mystery) and some that didn't quite live up in execution to their fun premises, but this one was definitely the most disappointing.



• What book was the most fun to read?
  Oh shoot, so many. Seriously, the entire Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Every Hidden Legacy book by Ilona Andrews is always fun. Stranger Planet by Nathan M. Pyle is kind of a cheat, since it's funny comics. But going to give this to my Heyer rereads though: These Old Shades and Devil's Cub are just such silly romps of drama and mischance and I love them.



• Most anticipated book? How did it hold up?
  I think the two books I most anticipated for the year were Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, since it was the finale of the series (and got delayed in release a few times this year!) and Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh, who had sort of fell into radio silence for 7 years. Both were exceptional. Having a bad memory means I didn't remember all the details of the previous Queen's Thief books, but settling into the book meant a lot came back relatively quickly. I really like Turner's writing, her character POVs and how deftly she uses them to reveal things about other characters (like Gen) and their relationships. The ending didn't disappoint, and I've said before I hope to do a full reread of the series in the future.
  
  Brosh's comics were just as funny and surprisingly touching as her first book, Hyperbole and a Half, though obviously she and I are both in different places in life now. It's kind of nice to feel like we've both grown, and to read this book kind of felt like touching base with an old friend.



• Favorite new discovery?
  FRANCES HARDINGE. I love her. I think I've read every book now except A Skinful of Shadows and Deeplight, so I'll try to get them next. She is just so weird and creative and good at writing her worlds, and especially good at writing young female leads who are strong and flawed in very believable, relatable ways (even if they live in a totally fantasy world!). All her books/worlds skirt on kind of creepy, yet are rooted in real relationships and characters you root for. I loved/hated The Lie Tree, which is so good on family relationships, and love the broader world and adventure in Fly by Night and Fly Trap, but I think my favorite of all is Cuckoo Song.



• What book did you learn the most from?
  Nonfiction books, here's your chance! I read Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe because it had gotten so much praise and because I knew nothing about The Troubles. It was fascinating and written very engagingly. "Narrative nonfiction" definitely works for me. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer was also fascinating and led down some Wikipedia holes, including the articles/statements/books challenging his recollection and narrative of the events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster.
  
  But I'm giving this category to Asian American Dreams by Helen Zia, because there's so much I am continually learning about Asian American history and its intersection with other movements, other communities, and it's fascinating to read a book published in 2000 (pre-9/11!) and think about what has changed and what has influenced where we are today.



• What book was the trope-iest/most comforting?
  Ahaha, my favorite category. So many regency romances, m/m romances, and Golden Age mysteries. I'm giving this one to The Only Gold by Tamara Allen, a historical m/m novel set in the late 1800s at a bank, about banking policy, and it sounds so dry and boring and yet! Yet the character and relationship dynamics were so good, and the setting immersive, and it just hit the right notes for me on both the romance and the historical setting, which often don't both work at the same time. Very comforting.



• Favorite cnovel?
  I've discovered that I only really love modern cnovels, and I prefer that they are about gaming! Entertainment is okay. Systems and cultivation and rebirths...I struggle! For all the wonky translation and footnotes, my favorite completed cnovel this year was probably You Boys Play Games Very Well, which is both set at university and has gaming and is entirely fluffy with very little conflict and hilarious fan/chat comments.
  
  Very Happy was also fun but I didn't like the ML as much as I loved both MC/ML in You Boys. There's a chance Glory could become my favorite, but is a WIP and I need to see how it ends! Also find time to reread Guide on How to Fail at Online Dating which I didn't count for this year even though I finished reading it thsi year because I did the bulk of the reading last year, I'm pretty sure.



• What book on your to read list are you most looking forward to reading?
  Oh there's so much...but right now, undoubtedly Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell, which is formerly The Course of Honour (i.e., space princes arranged marriage). Supposedly she has added more/adapted the story a bit! So I'm intrigued.



• Out of everything you read, what will stick with you the longest?
  How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell has been on my mind since I read it more recently, and I've talked about it a lot, but I think it's still probably true that this book is going to be one that sticks with me. I bought a copy after returning the library book, and plan to revisit it pretty frequently.

2020 FFA MEME READING CHALLENGE

JAN | INDOOR OR OUTDOOR - A book featuring cats
The Tell-Tail Heart by Monica Shaughnessy - Edgar Allan Poe's cat helps him solve a mystery!

FEB | THE MISFITS BRITABOO - A book not from your own country
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy - Shenanigans (yay) and anti-Semitism (yikes)

MAR | READ HARDER 2020 - A picture book or a middle grade book
Goodnight, Veggies by Diana Murray - I love a good picture book, the art can be so nice!

APR | THE TOTALLY CREEPY MEME CSV FILE - A book about a dystopian society or a non-fiction book about computer science
Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge - Yeah, it's a stretch for "dystopian" society but I really hate dystopias

MAY | DON'T BE KOSOKO - A book about Kosovo or a country you know next to nothing about
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe - Northern Ireland was not really part of my cultural/historical osmosis, nor part of my curriculum

JUN | REYLO, KISSED - A scifi book
All Systems Red by Martha Wells - launching me into the Murderbot series!

JUL | ENDGAME - A book with multiple POVs
One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus - sequel to One of Us is Lying, both of which were fun YA thriller/mysteries that were surprisingly engaging

AUG | BOHEMIAN ROCKETMAN - A biography of a musician or a sports professional
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer - more memoir than biography, but mountain climbing is definitely a professional sport

SEP | OBSERB THAT BERB - A book featuring birds
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge - Surprisingly less about birds or creepy dolls than the cover and title might suggest

OCT | THE BFEs THREADS - An epistolary novel
The Mislaid Magician, or Ten Years Later by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer - A delightful third book in the Sorcery & Cecilia series

NOV | CHILDREN IN PUBLIC PLACES - A book where the main character is a parent
Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyami - When your mom might have come from a magic fairy tale land

DEC | PIEROGI - A book about or featuring food
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher - Is the carnivorous sourdough starter or the militant gingerbread man the star? I loved both!

General thoughts: I think I read more nonfiction this year than I have in literally decades? I usually consume a lot of news but not nonfiction books. Memoirs and essays made for the easiest reads, but narrative nonfiction helps when I'm engaging in specific past events/eras/topics. After a lifetime of reading fiction, I know what I like so it's easier to comb through recs and figure out what to try that's likely to be to my tastes. It is much harder for me to narrow down nonfiction that I think will be both interesting and engaging enough to carry me through.

Reading is still meant to be fun so for 2021 I still want to read my faves: regency romances, cozy mysteries, tropey m/m stories, and a good fantasy. But I also want to push myself a little bit too, so I'd like to continue reading interesting nonfiction (I will have a realistic goal of, like, 15), and maybe a genre or two I normally don't prefer. I tried horror this year, and scifi, plus a "psychological" thriller. The scifi worked to my tastes, the horror was okay, the thriller was distinctly not for me.

Though not intentional, the bulk of my reading was books by women, and I'd prefer to keep that trend. Could definitely stand for the authors to be more diverse on other fronts (race, class, LGBT, disability, worldview), and I'll look for opportunities, but realistically it won't be the main driver for picking most of what I read.

ETA: For my own records, AO3 says I read roughly 1,660 fics NOT counting those I backbuttoned out of or those I reread over and over. Fandoms: for new stuff, I briefly dipped into Gallaghercest (Oasis), Crooked Media RPF as a carryover from 2019. Also spent some time with The Witcher mostly for the porn, went on a 1D tour that was only Harry/Niall, got into ATLA after watching the show, checked out Promare after the movie, revisited FMA after the show, explored Demon Slayer after the show, and poked my head into Bond/Q without having seen any of the movies. When restless I revisited old standbys like HP, Star Trek AOS, GenKill, DCU. (Always pining for Pimms; there is very rarely new content.) Also revisited YOI (only JJ/Yuri), Dresden Files, and BNHA -- always a mixed bag. The main thread throughout the year was lots of hockey, but I checked out new teams/pairings like the Islanders and Canucks! Got very into Tkachuk/Draisatl this year, as did the fandom. Gimme more.