2020 Reading Wrap-Up

#1. Exile's Honor (2002)

by Mercedes Lackey

#2. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)

by Anne Bronte

#3. A Singular Life (1895)

by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward

#4. Take a Thief (2001)

by Mercedes Lackey

#5. Daja's Book: The Fire in the Forging (1998) – Circle of Magic Quartet, #3

by Tamora Pierce

They say hindsight is 2020, but I think everyone would have appreciated some foresight into 2020 before it began. It was a strange year, but books will always be a constant one can rely upon. I exceeded my goal of reading 20 books this year and actually read 30! First I will link to the 12 books in my dual reading challenges and then I will rank all 30 books from the year together!

I created monthly categories for my own reading challenge and I also participated in the Back to the Classics reading challenge! (The link will bring you to the 2021 categories.) I changed a couple of the books from my original post, but I still read 1 book for each of the dual categories. That means I get 3 entries into the BTTC drawing!

January - Winter (Cold / Dark) 

-Classic by a Women Author

Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
by Ursula K. Le Guin (American, 1929-2018)

February - Black History Month
-Classic by a Person of Color
The Garies and Their Friends (1857)
by Frank J Webb (African-American, 1828-1894)

March - Women’s History Month 

-19th Century Classic (Published in the 1800s)
Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)
by Anne Bronte (English, 1820-1849) 

April - Easter / Religion 
-Classic with a Person’s Name in the Title
Doctor Faustus (1592) 

by Christopher Marlowe (English, 1564-1593)

May - Spring (New Beginnings / Children)
-Classic in Translation
Mio, My Son (1956)
by Astrid Lindgren (Swedish, 1907-2002)

June - LGBT Pride Month
-Genre Classic (Science-Fiction)
Babel-17 (1966)
by Samuel R. Delany (African-American, 1942- )

July - American / Patriotic  

-Classic with Nature in the Title
The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
by J. D. Salinger (American, 1919-2010)

August - Summer (Travel / Sun)  

-Classic Adaptation 

Treasure Island (1883) 

by Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish, 1850-1894)

September - Fall (School / Teachers) 
-Classic with a Place in the Title
Villette (1853)
by Charlotte Bronte (English, 1816-1855)

October - Halloween / Horror
-Abandoned Classic 

Dracula (1897) 

by Bram Stoker (Irish, 1847-1912)

November - Thanksgiving / Family
-Classic About a Family
The Whole Family (1908)
A collaboration of 12 authors edited by: 

Elizabeth Jordan (American, 1865-1947)

December - Christmas / Santa
-20th Century Classic (Published 1900-1970)
Letters From Father Christmas (1920-1943)

by JRR Tolkien (English, 1892-1973)

(NOTE: The Tower Treasure (1927), will count as my 20th-century classic if the Christmas book is disqualified due to being considered a picture book.)

   

In addition to the 12 books for the reading challenges, I read 18 other books! I also am working on 3 author challenges (Bronte sisters, Tamora Pierce, and Mercedes Lackey) AND I'm trying to get through my TBR shelf. Of the 30 books I read, 6 of them were non-fiction. 

Here are the 24 fiction books ranked:

1. Exile's Honor (2002) - 9.6/10

by Mercedes Lackey (American, 1950- )

2. Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) - 9/10

by Anne Bronte (English, 1820-1849)

3. A Singular Life (1895) - 8.7/10

by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward (American, 1844-1911)

4. Take a Thief (2001) - 8.7/10

by Mercedes Lackey (American, 1950- )

5. Daja's Book - The Fire in the Forging (1998) – Circle of Magic #3 - 8.7/10

by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

6. Babel-17 (1966) - 8.3/10

by Samuel R. Delany (African-American, 1942- )

7. Sandry's Book - The Magic in the Weaving (1997) – Circle of Magic #1 - 8.3/10

by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

8. Exile's Valor (2003) - 7.9/10

by Mercedes Lackey (American, 1950- )

9. Letters From Father Christmas (1920-1943) - 7.9/10
by JRR Tolkien (English, 1892-1973)

10. Left Hand of Darkness (1969) - 7.6/10
by Ursula K. Le Guin (American, 1929-2018)

11. Treasure Island (1883) - 7.6/10
by Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish, 1850-1894)

12. The Spirit of Christmas (written before 1936) - 7.5/10

by GK Chesterton (English, 1874-1936)

13. Briar's Book - The Healing in the Vine (1999) – Circle of Magic #4 - 7.3/10

by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

14. Tris's Book - The Power in the Storm (1998) – Circle of Magic #2 - 7.1/10

by Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )

15. The Handmaid's Tale (1985) - 6.9/10

by Margaret Atwood (Canadian, 1939- )

16. The Garies and Their Friends (1857) - 6.7

by Frank J Webb (African-American, 1828-1894)

17. Mio, My Son (1956) - 6.3/10
by Astrid Lindgren (Swedish, 1907-2002)

18. Dracula (1897) - 6.1/10
by Bram Stoker (Irish, 1847-1912)

19. Redwall (1986) - 6/10

by Brian Jacques (English, 1939-2011)

20. The Whole Family (1908) - 5.7/10

A collaboration of 12 authors edited by:
Elizabeth Jordan (American, 1865-1947)

21. Doctor Faustus (1592) - 5.4/10

by Christopher Marlowe (English, 1564-1593)

22. The Tower Treasure (1927) - 5.1/10
by Franklin W. Dixon (Canadian, 1902-1977)

23. Villette (1853) - 4.6/10

by Charlotte Bronte (English, 1816-1855)

24. The Catcher in the Rye (1951) - 1.7/10
by J. D. Salinger (American, 1919-2010)

Reading six non-fiction books is impressive for me! I tend to avoid non-fiction in general, but these had all been sitting on my TBR shelf for a while and I figured it was time to finally read them. I don't have a ranking system for non-fiction books, but half of them I would consider 'good' and the other half 'meh.'

Good non-fiction:

A Dog Called Hope (2016)

by Jason Morgan (American, ?- ) and Damien Lewis (British, 1966- )

Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology (2010)

by Jennifer K. Stuller (American, 1975- )

The Supergirls: A History of Comic Book Heroiness (2009)

by Mike Madrid (American, 1950s(?)- )

Meh non-fiction:

Complete Guide to Money (2011)
by Dave Ramsey (American, 1960- )

Perfectly Yourself (2006) - couldn't find my copy, so it's not in any photos in this post
by Matthew Kelly (Australian, 1973- )

The Four Purposes of Life (2011)
by Dan Millman (American, 1946- )

Sometimes you start a book and just have no interest to finish it. 

That happened once this year.

Abandoned book:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
by Mark Twain (American, 1835-1910)

I already have a rough idea of what I want to read for the Back to the Classics 2021 reading challenge and I'm hoping to publish that blog post soon! If you like to read books that have been published 50+ years ago, I highly suggest checking out the challenge!