I have nothing to say to 2020. I will bite my thumb at it, sir. But, that being said, I did have more time for reading and listening to audiobooks. I’ll complain about every other part of 2020, but not the time I had to achieve my Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge goal because… I read 100 books.
Sort of. I finished 100 books (either read or listened to) but I don’t know if I can truly count all of them as ‘books’. I found them on Goodreads so I added them to my ‘read’ list, but does the Audible Sleep series really count if it’s listed by each 8-minute episode? Insert some variant of a cheeky, grinning emoji here – maybe the devil-horn smirking one.
Setting up my Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge
I set my Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge goal to 50 books in January. One tumultuous year later and I’ve doubled it. Do I dare set my 2021 Reading Challenge to 100 books or is that just asking for another year of lockdown and isolation? Hmm. After careful consideration, I think I’ll stick with 50. That way I can exceed Goodreads’ user analysis’ expectations if 2021 goes downhill in terms of COVID-19 (side note: as if the virus was discovered in 2019 and it’s now – almost – 2021).
Of my 100 ‘read’ books, there were some goodies. I think my favourite was The Shining by Stephen King. Except, I then watched the movie and didn’t find it even the slightest bit scary, so maybe I ruined that for myself. Oh well. Still worth it. I loved The Shining so much I even wrote a post about it, which you can check out here (if you do feel so inclined).
Other noteworthy reads
- The Dry by Jane Harper (I need to read more of her books immediately).
- Stillhouse Lake series by Rachel Caine (got me hook, line and sinker).
- Heartstopper by Alice Oseman (one to make you smile and go ‘aww’).
- Troll Hunting by Ginger Gorman (not about trolls under bridges with suspiciously good hearing for goats’ hooves, I swear).
- Grit by Angela Duckworth (because everyone needs a good self-help book).
- The Switch by James W. Clement (the only diet book I’ve enjoyed, or read).
- Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton (for the character voice alone).
- A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (because how dare I claim to love fantasy but not include my favourite fantasy read of the year, plus I also wrote a post about Ged).