I read 102 books.
Total pages 14,320. Hours ~124
Female/Male: 51/49
Fiction/Non: 78/24
New to Me Authors: 91 / Repeat Authors: 11
This year, I read my 6th Shirley Jackson. I read a 5th book by Elizabeth Strout. Four authors, I read for the 3rd time: James McBride, Wallace Stegner, Drew Rozell, and Toni Morrison. The rereads included an author that was both a first for the year and then read it with my ears for its second intake: Becoming Duchess Goldblatt. I reread The Sellout for the TOB Super Rooster and I read two poetry collections by Billy Collins. I read 4 authors for the second time: read another by Ta-Nehisi Coates but the second was fiction. I read the next in a series to catch my second by Hilary Mantel. Michael Pollan’s Caffeine was my second of his.
Classics: didn’t have the patience to figure this out; oldest book The Picture of Dorian Gray 1890. Only 2 books published before 1900. Books published in 2019 = 20, in 2020 = 23.
Shortest book: Not figuring this out because I read so many poetry collections that were < 100 pages and plenty of novellas, and I couldn’t decide how to handle exceptions to not. Plus I read a lot of kids books.
Longest book: Ducks, Newburyport at 1020 pages. Took me months.
Longest Audiobook: Ok, here’s where I admit that I didn’t keep track this year. And more truth is that last year, I created my track sheet in December! So, it is just not going to happen where I present all the stats and show pretty pie graphs. Maybe 2021. Maybe.
The longest audiobook was likely We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry, at 14 hours and 44 minutes. And it was too long. Fun! but too long. Not typical that I didn’t have any chunkster audiobooks! You might suggest it would be lack of a commute and thus no listening while driving time? But I rarely listened to my audiobooks on commute to work. Not sure…
LIke last year, I took advantage of Audible’s monthly freebies quite often.
This is last year’s pie chart just because this post needs some color. LOL
Comparing… THIS YEAR, I upped my 5 star givings to 34%! Four stars were given to 33 %, three stars to 38%, and 4% got 2 stars. No ratings of 1 star.
Which is interesting… Because I don’t feel like I had a really tremendous feel-good reading year. Maybe this actually supports that I can’t quickly think of my top reads? Too many?
Favorite poetry: Mad With Yellow by Lisa J. Starr
I didn’t do any readalongs. I didn’t do any reading projects. (Tho, @Bybee might think different?)
WAIT! not true. My poetry was a personal reading project and it was wonderful. I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams to read a poem every day. Did it change my life? Maybe. Maybe…
I did do the Super Rooster and am quite pleased with myself.
My blogging could be described as “fits of bursts”; I’m okay with what I managed to post.
I finished the What’s in a Name 2020 Challenge earlier than usual. All good.
I read 4 (2 to completion) books in 2020that were on the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die: Tender is the Night, Club Dumas, Cry the Beloved Country, Treasure Island.
My first time to read 100+ books but I feel like I cheated, to be honest. Yea, yea, I know that the book police ain’t out to get me or anything but the challenge to make it doesn’t sit right with me. I honestly have taken that last 3 weeks off. I can feel it in my brain that I’m not reading — yet I can’t seem to sit and READ. It’s such the weirdest thing.
Hoping the flip of the calendar page, will truly bring a renewed motivation and thrill with reading. But yowza, I hate to DNF.
Finally, PIE: 
and, drumroll please for the 2020 Pie in Literature Award, the WINNER of my best book with pie for this year is Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman!
The fact that it’s important not to despair though when you’ve got pies in the oven, …, the fact that you have to have mercy on your pies, be there for your pies, and in return they will be good dutiful pies and serve you, …
Honorable Mentions: Oh, goodness. I read so many more pie-themed books this year! I read a pie cookbook (wait, I do that every year, don’t I?). I sought out pie-themed books, truth.
I hail Ladybird, Collected (and NO – not just because it mimics Ducks with that comma) but because I want everyone to read it and have it get picked up for national distribution. Please visit HERE or HERE to get your copy.
I bring to your attention to We Ride Upon Sticks – some good pie mentions; make me smile just to think on. And well, sure, of COURSE: Summer of a Thousand Pies, Enemy Pie, and Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe.
Finally, the pies I made yesterday and today!
Harvey Wallbanger Pie for Dad’s birthday and the Spinach Ham Gouda Quiche made today for Happy New Year!!
Be kind, be readin’, give me a book rec. Let’s chat this year, yes?
It’s no small thing, feeling that we matter, that we couldn’t just be any diner and it couldn’t just be any pie. – Ladybird, Collected
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Care's Books and Pie 