This year, for the very first
time, I resolved to try to record all the fiction I read on Goodreads. I’ve always known that I like to read a
lot—but what does that really MEAN?
(Besides, I work full time, so clearly I can’t read as much as I did
when I was younger. Right?)
For the Goodreads Reading
Challenge for 2019, I made my goal 100 books.
This seemed reasonable—a little less than 2 books per week. For most of the spring I was right on
schedule, maybe 2-3 books ahead. Then something
happened.
So that’s kind of alarming. (‘Do you actually do any work?’ asks my
brother.)
Okay, that’s not quite as bad as
it seems. This year for the first time I
started watching anime (in February) and this naturally led to my starting to
read manga for the first time (in July).
So over one hundred of those books are volumes of manga, which take only
half an hour to an hour to read.
So let me share some of my reading
highlights of the year!
Favorite new authors:
Megan Whalen Turner –
Thief series. What she does with POV is
crazy… And who doesn’t love stories set
in fantasy versions of the Mediterranean?
Tui Sutherland – Wings of
Fire first series for middle-grade readers.
I’m ambivalent about the second series.
Go dragons!
Christian picks:
Katie Ganshert – She has a
gift for taking a story that I read the blurb for and thought “That’s going to
be too dark for me,” and making it heart-warming and edifying. Keep writing!
Stephanie Grace Whitson –
Solid historical fiction, but maybe too realistic for me. (Sooo many people die.)
Wyn Owens – The Dragon’s
Flower. Go fantasy Japan! I want a sequel…
Through the Valley of the Kwai
– Because God is amazing.
Melanie Cellier – Fairy
tale retellings!
Favorite manga:
Fullmetal Alchemist –
fantasy adventure with more redemption arcs than you can shake a stick at. Some magical wierdness that I could have done
without, but whatever. This story is so
good…
Fruits Basket, Maid-sama,
Takane and Hana, High School Debut – Why do I like mild shojo manga when I
hate YA romance?!
Library Wars – currently reading! In a future when libraries have their own
defense force to stop attackers bent on censorship, a group of friends will defend
the Kanto library network. Both political
commentary and some mild (and hilarious) romance in here.
Yes, re-reading again:
Georgette Heyer – Because my
mom is into these now!
Martha Wells – Where is
the next Murderbot book? I can’t wait!
Jim Butcher – The Aeronaut’s
Windlass. This book has everything,
including talking cats.
This was the first time I tried to do the Goodreads challenge. I definitely noticed that my average ratings went down over the course of the year... when I started, I was a lot more likely to give a four star rating, but the more books I rated the more I thought "Maybe this isn't really a four-star book" and gave it three stars. Not sure why this happened. Anyone else have this experience?
What were your favorite reads from 2019?
