Another year has come to a close, and with that, it's time for my end-of-the-year review. From the two pictures, as far you know, I sat all year in the same spot and read, just letting the beard grow long and lush. Who's to say that didn't happen?
Before last year, the most books I'd read in a year was 26. But, with some sort of new combination of grit and moxy (and no social life), I tallied 100 in 2019. Like the first four-minute mile, my eyes were opened to my own capabilities and I decided to go for 100 again in 2020.
Here's a bit of recap and analysis of those reads.
Top 5 Overall Favorite Reads of the Year
1. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah- This book is just fantastic. Kristin Hannah sweeps you into this story emotionally and takes you into the depths of feelings associated with WW2. As I said in my original review, the war-torn emotions are unbearably palpable.
2. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer - A very niche book about the brain's capabilities and memory competitions in the U.S and Europe. His writing is rich and the memory palace technique is fascinating.
3. On the Road with Saint Augustine by James K.A. Smith - I have liked James K.A. Smith for a while now, so naturally picking up his most recent book was an easy decision. This is one of his best, in my opinion, combining church history analysis with great philosophical prose and diction.
4. The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister - This was one of the most beautiful stories I read all year (along with The Nightinggale, of course). Her descriptions of the scenery through the sense of smell was unique and captivating.
5. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - A fiction that reads like a non-fiction teaches you so much about the world. As I said in my review, Hosseini put clarity and poignancy to the Afghan honor and shame culture.
Top 3 Couldn't-Put-Down Page Turners
1. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
2. The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Top 3 Books That Changed My Perspective
1. The Lucky Few by Heather Avis
2. Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America by Chris Arnade
3. Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma
Top 3 Christian Teaching Books
1. Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland
2. Born Again This Way by Rachel Gilson
3. Disability and the Gospel by Michael S. Beates
Top 3 Most Fascinating Memoirs
1. The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger
2. The Adventurer's Son by Roman Dial
3. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Top 3 Most Gripping Non-Fiction
1. The Last Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff
2. In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
3. The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton
Top 3 Books I Should Have Stopped Reading
1. Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback by George Plimpton
2. Pirate by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell
3. The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward
Top 3 Fun and Light-hearted Reads
1. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Sample
2. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
3. Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
And, with that, another year has come to a close. As I reflect back on my 2020 reads--a year full of processing a new child with a rare genetic syndrome, a pandemic that raged across the world, and lots of time at home trying to live in the chaos that is 3-kid life--I find that I gravitated toward both fiction and non-fiction fairly equally. The fiction helped me escape challenging life around me, and the non-fiction helped me to learn and dream vicariously through others' stories.
Last year I ended on a Bill Gates kick, having watched the Inside Bill's Brain documentary on Netflix. And, again this year, I conspicuously find myself ending the year on a Bill Gates kick, just recently discovering and listening to the Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions Podcast. Bill, the offer still stands, if you'd like to go hangout together, read and discuss books, and drink Diet Coke together, hmu.
