2020 Reading During Covid

 

Maybe it's just that this was such a horrible year my list didn't seem to have a lot of great reads.  It was hard to put together a list of "top five", but I'll settle on these (click on title for full review of each):

1) The Fact of a Body - A Marzano-Lesnevich 2017 Fiction

    I loved the twists and turns of this very different mystery.

2) I Am A Strange Loop - Douglas Hofstadter - 2007 Science

    I'm sorry I waited so long to read this.  Heavy reading worth the effort to synthesize science and   philosophy

3) I Think You're Wrong, But I'm Listening - S Holland and B Silver - 2019

    My effort to survive the political chaos of the last decade.. and still churning.

4) House of Broken Angels - Luis Alberto Urrea - 2018

    A wonderful story of an immigrant family that makes the experience real and personal.

5) Calypso - David Sedaris - 2018

    His dry humor and loving slicing and dicing of his family always makes me laugh.

And though I haven't received my copy, the author shared an advance manuscript with me and for anyone with children or children at heart, this is a must read:

The Only Lonely Cow - by Nancie Meek (author), Elizabeth Beatty (Illustrator)

My real focus this year has been on genealogy reading.  Of the 52 books I read, 13 had a genealogical or genetics focus, and those reviews find their way into my genealogy society newsletter.  I've been reading more non-fiction, mostly science-based, the last several years but still use fiction for enjoyment.  

In 2021 I'm determined to work off my TBR list.  I've got a couple books waiting for me at the library and three others on order.  

Check out the list on the right for the complete list of 2020 reads.  Let me know what got you through in 2020.

2019 Recap - The Favorites

Well, I'm finally getting around to reviewing 2019 reads and listing the top 5.  Without further ado, those are:

5) Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman (2017)
4) Educated - Tara Westover (2018)
3) Ancestors - William Maxwell (1971)
2) Angle of Repose - Wallace Stegner (1971)
1) The Battle for God - Karen Anderson (2000)

 That's a couple of recent one and two older ones and one in the middle, publishing range wise and two auto-biographies, two fictions and one philosophical non-fiction.  You can click on the link to each one to read my review. 

My number one pic, The Battle for God by Karen Anderson is a insightful, thoroughly researched and thought challenging read about the evolution of the three major Judaeo Christian religions and the consequences of sub-groups feeling marginalized and victimized.  Prophetic and enlightening.

Overall, I managed to hit 50 reads this year, a slow summer because I chose travel over reading for enjoyment.  The complete list of 2019 reads is here. What did you enjoy reading in 2019?