When I opened up Goodreads on January 1st, 2020 I was highly disappointed to see that I didn’t make my 2019 Reading Goal. But then I remembered, “Oh yeah, I had a baby and moved to a new country…” so I think I’ll give myself a pass for 2019. Even with major life changes, I still managed to read 16 books (my goal was 19). Like anything else, some were great, some were not-so-great, and most were somewhere in-between. Here’s a recap of my original goals and what I ended up reading.
- Autobiography/Memoir – I had wanted to read Michelle Obama’s Becoming, and even made the comment “This will be an easy one to check off the list.” Well, apparently I spoke too soon. Being such a popular book, I am still on my library’s waitlist for a digital copy. Heading to Amazon to buy myself the hard copy right now…In the meantime, I’m currently listening to the audiobook of Amy Poehler’s Yes, Please and counting that as my memoir fulfillment.
- Nonfiction – I did read I’ll Be Gone in the Dark as anticipated, as well as Killing Kennedy. Both were stories of real events but written to read like fiction novels, so I found them both very interesting. Although, if I’m being honest, Killing Kennedy was a bit slow because of the amount of background information given on Lee Harvey Oswald.
- Historical Fiction – I failed on this one. I have added The Storyteller to my reading list for 2020. I had planned to read Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale for this category, but I read her Winter Garden and while it was good, I just didn’t love it enough to read another of hers right away. Maybe this year…
- Young Adult – I still want to read Puddin’, I just keep forgetting! I decided to try a couple of different YA series, and I have to say I was disappointed. The first was Legend. It basically felt like a Divergent knockoff. It was just interesting enough to read Book #2 – Prodigy, but probably not a series I would recommend to anyone. The other YA book I read was Inception (The Marked series). And when I compare this one to a Twilight knockoff, I mean right down to the exact character traits and plot setups. It was pretty terrible.
- Audiobook – I’m a late adopter of this media format. I’ve mostly given over to my Kindle rather than paperbacks, and I love podcasts, but for some reason audiobooks just weren’t my thing. Probably because technology is my nemesis and I just didn’t know how to actually access and listen to an audiobook on my phone. An audiobook to me meant popping a CD into my discman so I could listen to James Patterson while I spent 20 minutes in the tanning bed. Ah, the good ol’ days. Anyway, I’m proud to say that I finally figured it out! I downloaded the Libby app to make it easier to download my library books from my phone rather than my computer, and it turns out I can download audiobooks too and listen to them right from the same app. I might have done it sooner if I’d only known how easy it was! My first audiobook however, was a fail. I tried Gabrielle Union’s We’re Going to Need More Wine, but it just wasn’t my style. I’m now listening to Amy Poehler’s Yes, Please, but I’m not sure I’m loving it either. I might have to try a fiction. Side note – the podcast I’m currently listening to, Hunted, is my first fiction podcast, and it’s pretty interesting.
- Romance – I checked the box on this one with Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks. I loved the Zambia connection on this one.
- Recommendation from a Friend – One of my friends from my old book club recommended The Woman in Cabin 10, and it was a great read! I always love a good mystery, and this one was even better because it broke me out of the typical police drama/true crime mystery that I would normally choose.
- Acquaintance Author – In 2020 I’m hoping to read The Lost Vintage by a fellow Foreign Service spouse. It has been compared to Sarah’s Key and The Nightingale, so I’m hoping it’ll be a good read.
- Geographical Book – I read my new Georgian cookbook…Does that count?
- Series – In addition to the YA series that I tried, I read three more books in one of my favorite series – The Women’s Murder Club. I read books 12-14 in 2019, so I’m hoping to get caught all the way up through #19 in 2020.
In summary, I didn’t feel like 2019 was a great year for
books in my world. Below is a list of what I read. I’m happy to say that I’ve
already finished one good book this year, I’m in the middle of another light
read, and I’ve maxed out my books on hold at the library (Yikes, 6+ month wait
for Such a Fun Age!).
Read this post for my reading goals in 2020.