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End of 2019 Reading Recap

End of 2019 Reading Recap

Happy 2020! I am happy to be moving into a new year with new possibilities and a new TBR. Well, some of the old stuff made it to the new TBR, but still, a refresh for the new year is here. But before we can get started on the 2020 reading journey, we need to look back on the final 3 months of reading activity. So, here, for your enjoyment, is the 2019, end of year reading recap.

Book Club

In my last update, I mentioned that I skipped The Book Report two months in a row and I was not sure if I wanted to return, but in October I decided to attend a meeting and it was just what I needed. I made a couple new GoodReads friends and got a slew of great new book recommendations at the meeting. I skipped November (birthday month) and then December was cancelled (potential ice storm in Northern Alabama) and I will not be attending in January, but am planning to return full force with a pile of books to discuss, in February! There is also another project I am working on that might result in a book club, but it is top secret. I love reading and it is even better with the accountability of book groups to keep me on task.

Book Challenges

During the Fall of 2019, I cut back on my book challenge involvement. It was fun to participate in the summer, but I needed a bit of break from the stress of finishing books on such a heightened timeline. At the end of the year I continued to attempt reading books from the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge but also failed pretty miserably as you can see below. In 2020, I am going to try again to read a few books from the Read Harder Challenge and hopefully do a bit better this time around.

End of Year Reads

24. Saga, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan
Completed on 10 October 2019
Rating = ***
Read Harder Challenge Category = n/a

25. Recollections of My Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit (review here)
Completed on 23 October 2019
Rating = ****
Read Harder Challenge Category = n/a

26. This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America by Morgan Jerkins
Completed on 5 November 2019
Rating = *****
Read Harder Challenge Category = n/a

27. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Completed on 5 November 2019
Rating = *****
Read Harder Challenge Category = n/a

28. Paper Girls, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan
Completed on 7 November 2019
Rating = ****
Read Harder Challenge Category = n/a

29. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
Completed on 23 November 2019
Rating = ****
Read Harder Challenge Category = n/a

2020 Reading Plan

GoodReads

This year I have set my GoodReads book challenge total at 36. That puts me at approximately 3 books per month and with the pace I read in 2019, I think this year’s number is more than possible. It is already the 13th of January and I’m at 0 completed for the month, but I am about 2/3 of the way through a book I started in December and have a couple other digital books that are close as well. One of my big goals this year is to finish all the books on my kindle that I started in previous years (some are as old as 3 or 4 years) or DNF them.

TBR List and Book Riot Read Harder Challenge

My TBR list for this year will be listed on GoodReads at my 2020-reading-list shelf, but here is a sampling of books that I am hoping to read that also fulfill a category in the Read Harder Challenge (BR#)…

  • BR1. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  • BR2. Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
  • BR4. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
  • BR8. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
  • BR10. Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney C. Stevens
  • BR11. How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones
  • BR13. Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi
  • BR15. Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Reading Reviews

I will still be doing a number of Net Galley reviews in 2020, so keep an eye out for those. Next up is Buy Yourself the Fucking Lilies by Tara Schuster, which should be up by mid-January. In February I will be reviewing How to be An Artist by Jerry Saltz and in March, Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Varol. In April I will be taking a reviewer hiatus and then starting up again in May with We Are Not Free by Traci Chee. Reviewing new books is a rewarding experience and I highly recommend joining Net Galley if you are looking to become a reviewer as well.

That is about it for this update, but that sure is a lot! Happy reading and see you in the next update.

Peace, Chantale aka hippiegrrl

Currently reading…

How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time
The Art of Memoir
Living a Feminist Life
Thick: And Other Essays
Girl, Woman, Other
Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies: And Other Rituals to Fix Your Life, from Someone Who's Been There

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