Not in order that I actually read them this year, and I think I might be missing a few. I read mostly library Kindle books this year, and I suspect I missed a few that I read in physical form. I spent a lot of this year, proportionally, reading either Animorphs or The Witcher books, and I declare it a good use of my quarantine reading.
I didn’t separate out physical books from Kindle this year, but re-reads have an asterisk, and there’s reviews for stuff I found worth highlighting.
Mostly, looking back at this list, I remember reading most of the Animorphs during a dark phase in my daughter’s sleep journey, where I would sit in a dark room and rock her for literally a few hours a night, between bedtime and middle of the night wakings. We did sleep training, and I am very pleased to have finished my 2020 reading in my own bed, with my daughter asleep in hers. 2020 had a few wins!
The Return of the Thief, Megan Whalen Turner
I have this thing where I never like new books in the Thief universe until I’ve re-read them. I like this one more than any of the other sequels, but I think I still need some time to digest it all. Also I don’t want to write a lot of spoilers here. I love this series enough that even though I’m not sure about how some things turned out, just being back with the characters was a gift. I wouldn’t mind if MWT wants to write a short story every year or two. She seems like she might be that kind of author.
The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski
I’ll just put a note here for the series so far, but they’re fun. I jumped into this after the TV series aired. Not my new favorite series, but definitely entertaining, and while I think they might be getting weirder, I’m reading Tower of Swallows now and I love that there’s now a whole gang. Plus if I have any active fandom right now, it’s probably Geralt/Dandelion, so there’s that.
Blood of Elves, Andrzej Sapkowski
The Alice Network, Kate Quinn
The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern
I have been reccing this to everyone. There were a lot of little details I loved, but mostly it was weird and beautiful and gave me wonderful dreams for a few weeks.
The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
The Color of Magic, Terry Pratchett
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Marine
This was both completely its own thing and also reminded me of a lot of sci fi I read when I was a lot younger. Really loved it, and looking forward to the next part.
The Time of Contempt, Andrzej Sapkowski
Baptism of Fire, Andrzej Sapkowski
Call Down the Hawk, by Maggie Stiefvater
Kind of disappointing, honestly. I’ll probably read the next one anyway.
The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon
I loved this too!
Into Thin Air, by John Krakauer
SO. STRESSFUL. But really fascinating.
City of Brass, by S. A. Chakraborty*
Kingdom of Copper, by S. A. Chakraborty*
Empire of Gold, by S. A. Chakraborty
I’m not sure about the pacing at the end of this, but I’m giving the series as a whole an A. I’ve really enjoyed the world she created, and I was happy with the way things resolved.
We Hunt the Flame, Hafsah Faizal
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Deep, Rivers Solomon
I was not super impressed? I loved the concept, but less the execution. I do love the story of how the book came about though. That in itself is way cool to me.
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, Lindsay C. Gibson
Blah. Saw this recced a lot, and I found it utterly useless (as a self-identified child of emotionally immature parents). *shrug*
Lalani of the Distant Sea, Erin Entrada Kelly
The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins
Also disappointing. Meh.
Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
I don’t love it like some people did, but I think maybe I didn’t have enough of a teenage goth phase. I did like it though, and I have the second one on hold at the library and am excited to see where it’s going.
Julie of the Wolves, Jean Craighead George*
Julie, Jean Craighead George*
27-93. The Animorphs + Chronicles/Megamorphs series, K. A. Applegate
So cool!! I read a lot of these when I was young but definitely not the whole series, and I’m glad I did. They’re obviously for kids, but they don’t pull their punches, and the series holds up really well, and also hit some hard 90s nostalgia for me.
I don’t want to jinx things, but you know how everyone wants to live on a commune with their friends? It looks like we’re buying a fancy house on 3 acres with another couple and living the dream. It’s not a farm commune, but it is a stunningly gorgeous house and we’re super excited to share it with friends and raise our kids together and live ten minutes from our other friends.
@semperama tagged me in 10 books I’m planning to read this year. Fun! A lot of these are things sitting on my Libby Hold list.
Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. I missed this when it came out, but I just read her newer book, Starless Sea, and fell head over heels in love, so I’m really looking forward to this. It actually just came up for me today at the library.
Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski. The first (I think) in The Witcher series. What can I say? The show got me hooked.
A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine. I actually have no idea what this is about, but a good friend of mine recced it very enthusiastically, so I’m looking forward to it.
Call Down the Hawk, by Maggie Stiefvater. I enjoyed the Raven Cycle, though it wasn’t life changing or anything for me. Still, I liked it enough that I’m giving this a try.
The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon. I can’t tell if I’m going to love this or think it’s boilerplate, but it keeps showing up on my rec lists, so I’m giving it a whirl. I’m just so dubious of popular books. They’re often popular for a reason! But sometimes they suck. It is a great title though.
Into Thin Air, by John Krakauer. Feels like a classic, and while I kind of expect anxiety from reading it, I want to experience it.
Space Opera, Catherynne M. Valente. This has actually been on my To Read list for a long time, and the wait list is always epic on it so I haven’t bothered, but I want to actually get on the list, because it comes highly recommended.
Empire of Gold, by S. A. Chakraborty. I loved the first two in this series, and the third is coming out this summer. HYPE!
Watership Down, by Richard Adams. I have no idea how, but somehow I’ve never read this book? For some reason having a baby made me think I should catch up on childhood classics I missed.
Animorphs 54: The Beginning. Actually the last book in the series, and I’m listing just this one because I’m roughly halfway through a total readthrough (in between other things), and looking forward to completing it. I’d read a lot, but not all of them, when I was younger, and they hold up well!
Ooh. I haven’t been on tumblr much, obviously, but I was looking back at what I have posted, and at least I’m making progress on books! I read the first five books on this list and loved all of them -- Memory called Empire and Priory of the Orange Tree were both especially awesome, though Priory had some odd pacing issues at the end, imo. Still worth it. The Witcher series is fun, and I’ve read both the short story collections and the first novel, just starting the second.
And I finished my Animorphs re-read! What a trip! They hold up shockingly well, though the pop culture references are adorably 90s. I don’t feel like they get enough credit for really being ahead of the game in the semi-post-apocalyptic-kids-fighting-for-their-lives YA book category. Talk about the impact of war, and Animorphs was doing cool stuff way before Suzanne Collins came along.
It turns out that I very much want to be a wild woman with my baby tied to my back while I garden and tend my house and yard, but in reality it’s stinking hot outside and there are mosquitoes and my child has irrationally long arms that she will thrust into anything dirty/spiny/sharp/hot that she can reach, which is somehow everything.
How are her arms so long? She is still a baby! I can tell because she has no sense about the things she wants to stick her hands into!
I just remembered that Tori Amos' Little Earthquakes album exists and now I am wallowing in adolescent angst nostalgia. I don’t think I ever actually deserved or even understood this album, but damn is it A Mood for being 14 and Catholic and maybe gay and definitely misunderstood and just kind of feral.
@semperama tagged me in 10 books I’m planning to read this year. Fun! A lot of these are things sitting on my Libby Hold list.
Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. I missed this when it came out, but I just read her newer book, Starless Sea, and fell head over heels in love, so I’m really looking forward to this. It actually just came up for me today at the library.
Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski. The first (I think) in The Witcher series. What can I say? The show got me hooked.
A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine. I actually have no idea what this is about, but a good friend of mine recced it very enthusiastically, so I’m looking forward to it.
Call Down the Hawk, by Maggie Stiefvater. I enjoyed the Raven Cycle, though it wasn’t life changing or anything for me. Still, I liked it enough that I’m giving this a try.
The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon. I can’t tell if I’m going to love this or think it’s boilerplate, but it keeps showing up on my rec lists, so I’m giving it a whirl. I’m just so dubious of popular books. They’re often popular for a reason! But sometimes they suck. It is a great title though.
Into Thin Air, by John Krakauer. Feels like a classic, and while I kind of expect anxiety from reading it, I want to experience it.
Space Opera, Catherynne M. Valente. This has actually been on my To Read list for a long time, and the wait list is always epic on it so I haven’t bothered, but I want to actually get on the list, because it comes highly recommended.
Empire of Gold, by S. A. Chakraborty. I loved the first two in this series, and the third is coming out this summer. HYPE!
Watership Down, by Richard Adams. I have no idea how, but somehow I’ve never read this book? For some reason having a baby made me think I should catch up on childhood classics I missed.
Animorphs 54: The Beginning. Actually the last book in the series, and I’m listing just this one because I’m roughly halfway through a total readthrough (in between other things), and looking forward to completing it. I’d read a lot, but not all of them, when I was younger, and they hold up well!
So I wanted to buy more locally, but it turns out that a pandemic is a great motivator. Thanks to shortages in the grocery store, I now have a subscription service with a local coffee roaster, a giant bag of flour from a local miller, and all our beer is being delivered by local breweries.
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