I read 79 books in 2020 and while that’s fewer than I wanted I’m still counting it as a win!
42 nonfiction books and 37 fiction. Of that nonfiction, 16 were running memoirs typically about marathoners or ultra-marathoners. I got really into listening to them while running — very motivating.
Here are my personal top 5 read from 2020:
The All for the Game trilogy by Nora Sakavic. I read this trilogy for the first time while vacationing in Hawaii in February and haven’t been able to get it out of my head. I ended up rereading it in October to try to jump-start my reading again . . . and then again a couple of weeks ago. It is wild. Only recommended for people who like queer stories about made-up sports where the mafia is involved. That’s just the tip of the iceberg but this series has everything I wanted and reads like really good fanfiction (as in, you gently suspend your disbelief a lot) and has not one, but two kidnappings.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle. Another book I read twice this year after hearing Glennon speak on Brené Brown’s podcast in the spring. I’ve gushed over it before and you are truly missing out if you haven’t read it yet. It was empowering and life-changing and so beautifully true. Glennon’s wife (and U.S. soccer star), Abby Wambach, also has a great (short) book called Wolfpack that I read this read.
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. I read so many great running books this year, but this one was my favorite (maybe followed closely by North by Scott Jurek). A story that is all at once about the evolution and history of running, the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s Copper Canyons who are incredible distance runners, and the author’s own journey of running pain-free. . . and so much more. I loved this book.
Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie. The first book in a new sci-fi space trilogy that has everything you could want. Here, the Goodreads intro says it all: “A young pilot risks everything to save his best friend–the man he trusts most and might even love–only to learn that he’s secretly the heir to a brutal galactic empire.” I don’t know why anyone is sleeping on this story.
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. This was a dense and emotionally heavy read, but an important one for me this summer. I’d never learned about the intersection of race and our criminal justice system before in any meaningful way and it’s so important than everyone does. I tried to expand my reading list to include more anti-racist texts this year and also recommend reading How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi and I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown.
Fiction Honorable Mentions. These books were queer, well-written, mostly YA, and kept me turning pages. I’m not counting rereads like Whatever and Red, White, and Royal Blue . . .
- Ziggy, Stardust, and Me by James Brandon (if I was doing top 6, this would be it! Here’s my post on it).
- King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
- Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales
- Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen
- The Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (also got its own post)
- You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson
- Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
- Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (one more post)
Here’s to another year of books!
With Love,
Natalie