{"id":1884,"date":"2020-12-31T10:39:44","date_gmt":"2020-12-31T18:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/?p=1884"},"modified":"2020-12-31T10:39:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-31T18:39:44","slug":"2020-the-13th-annual-year-in-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/?p=1884","title":{"rendered":"2020: The 13th Annual Year in Books"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I was really hoping I would beat my past reading record (90 books!) this year, but alas, it was not meant to be. I made it to 88 books, which makes 2020 the new second-place for my competition with myself to read the most books. Looking at past books of the year posts, I saw I had written this in <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/?p=391\">2017<\/a>, &#8220;I made it through 62 books in 2017, which feels like a success considering the madness this year wrought.&#8221; All I can say is, wow, she didn&#8217;t know a damn thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Page count:<\/strong> 32,996 pages, based on the page numbers recorded in LibraryThing. When I read 90 books in 2014, the page count was 35,177 pages. So maybe I wouldn&#8217;t have beat my record anyway, were I to count pages. <\/li><li><strong>Library use:<\/strong> 49 library books, 39 of my own books. Shout out to the library for keeping reading from being prohibitively expensive.<\/li><li><strong>Female\/male authors: <\/strong>77 women authors, 10 men authors, 1 with a mix (from an anthology). This means about 88 percent of the books I read were by women. Come through, matriarchy.<\/li><li><strong>Digital and analog: <\/strong>47 digital, 41 paper. This stat doesn&#8217;t mean much, since I&#8217;m an equal-opportunity reader, but it is fun to see how things shake out each year.<\/li><li><strong>Fiction and non-fiction: <\/strong>56 fiction, 32 non-fiction. About one-third of this year&#8217;s books were non-fiction, which seems to be my new trend. Earth is full of interesting things.<\/li><li><strong>Books in other languages: <\/strong>I read 8 books in Spanish, which I think is the most I&#8217;ve read in one year. It&#8217;s finally starting to feel more natural. It only took -checks notes- 10 years.<\/li><li><strong>Favorites<\/strong>: <ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/books\/the-midnight-bargain-9781645660293\/9781645660071\">The Midnight Bargain<\/a> by C.L. Polk for witchcraft and taking down the patriarchy<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/books\/the-once-and-future-witches\/9780316422048\">The Once and Future Witches<\/a> by Alix E. Harrow, also for witchcraft and taking down the patriarchy but in a totally different way<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/books\/the-city-of-brass\/9780062678119\">The Daevabad Trilogy<\/a> by S. A. Chakraborty for middle eastern-themed fantasy<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/books\/the-f-ck-it-diet-eating-should-be-easy\/9780062883612\">The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should Be Easy<\/a> by Caroline Dooner for going into the science of diets and why they are pointless<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/books\/the-night-watchman\/9780062671189\">The Night Watchman<\/a> by Louise Erdich for historical fiction about Native people set in the not-so-distant past <\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/books\/children-of-time\/9780316452502\">Children of Time<\/a> by Adrian Tchaikovsky for the spider kingdom sci-fi you didn&#8217;t know you needed<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/books\/the-vanishing-half-9780525536291\/9780525536291\">The Vanishing Half<\/a> by Brit Bennett for a haunting perspective on race<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/books\/can-t-even-how-millennials-became-the-burnout-generation\/9780358315070\">Can&#8217;t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation<\/a> by Anne Helen Petersen because it documents why millennials are having such a hard time and shows that it&#8217;s not an individual problem<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/books\/miracle-country-a-memoir\/9781616209988\">Miracle Country: A Memoir<\/a> by Kendra Atleework for the inland California environmentalist perspective<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And now, the list!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Date Finished<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Title<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Author<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>1\/3<\/td><td>The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History<\/td><td>Kassia St. Clair<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>1\/4<\/td><td>Indelible in the Hippocampus: Writings From the Me Too Movement<\/td><td>Shelly Oria (editor)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>1\/5<\/td><td>Rogue Protocol<\/td><td>Martha Wells<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>1\/10<\/td><td>Exit Strategy<\/td><td>Martha Wells<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>1\/12<\/td><td>Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China<\/td><td>Leta Hong Fincher<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>1\/19<\/td><td>The Mirror Empire<\/td><td>Kameron Hurley<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>1\/30<\/td><td>Empire Ascendant<\/td><td>Kameron Hurley<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2\/3<\/td><td>La fruta del borrachero: Una novela<\/td><td>Ingrid Rojas Contreras<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2\/4<\/td><td>The Broken Heavens<\/td><td>Kameron Hurley<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2\/8<\/td><td>Nine Pints: A Journey through Time, Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood<\/td><td>Rose George<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2\/12<\/td><td>The Sisters of the Winter Wood<\/td><td>Rena Rossner<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2\/16<\/td><td>The Secret Lives of Glaciers<\/td><td>M Johnson<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2\/18<\/td><td>Stormsong<\/td><td>C. L. Polk<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2\/21<\/td><td>The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should Be Easy<\/td><td>Caroline Dooner<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2\/24<\/td><td>The Secret Chapter<\/td><td>Genevieve Cogman<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3\/2<\/td><td>The Luminous Dead<\/td><td>Caitlin Starling<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3\/10<\/td><td>Autonomous<\/td><td>Annalee Newitz<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3\/12<\/td><td>The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power<\/td><td>Shosana Zuboff<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3\/18<\/td><td>Mostly Dead Things<\/td><td>Kristen Arnett<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3\/21<\/td><td>Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China<\/td><td>Leta Hong Fincher<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3\/23<\/td><td>Docile<\/td><td>K. M. Szpara<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4\/1<\/td><td>The Starless Sea<\/td><td>Erin Morgenstern<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4\/2<\/td><td>Umami<\/td><td>Laia Jufresa<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4\/13<\/td><td>Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America<\/td><td>Sarah Kendzior<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4\/13<\/td><td>Little Gods<\/td><td>Meng Jin<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4\/17<\/td><td>The City We Became<\/td><td>N. K. Jemisin<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4\/19<\/td><td>Women Talking<\/td><td>Miriam Toews<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4\/24<\/td><td>How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse<\/td><td>K. Eason<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4\/28<\/td><td>The Glass Hotel<\/td><td>Emily St. John Mandel<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5\/2<\/td><td>Caramelo<\/td><td>Sandra Cisneros<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5\/4<\/td><td>The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper<\/td><td>A. J. Fitzwater<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5\/8<\/td><td>Gingerbread<\/td><td>Helen Oyeyemi<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5\/14<\/td><td>Network Effect<\/td><td>Martha Wells<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5\/16<\/td><td>Los hombres me explican cosas<\/td><td>Rebecca Solnit<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5\/17<\/td><td>The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race<\/td><td>Jesmyn Ward (ed.)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5\/20<\/td><td>Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot<\/td><td>Mikki Kendall<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5\/24<\/td><td>Ancestral Night<\/td><td>Elizabeth Bear<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6\/1<\/td><td>The Night Watchman<\/td><td>Louise Erdrich<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6\/7<\/td><td>American Oligarchs: The Kushners, the Trumps, and the Marriage of Money and Power<\/td><td>Andrea Bernstein<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6\/12<\/td><td>Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle<\/td><td>Emily Nagoski, Amelia Nagoski<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6\/15<\/td><td>The Strange Case of the Alchemist&#8217;s Daughter<\/td><td>Theodora Goss<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6\/25<\/td><td>European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman<\/td><td>Theodora Goss<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6\/28<\/td><td>Children of Time<\/td><td>Adrian Tchaikovsky<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7\/1<\/td><td>El reino del drag\u00f3n de oro<\/td><td>Isabel Allende<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7\/5<\/td><td>The Vanishing Half<\/td><td>Brit Bennett<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7\/8<\/td><td>They Were Her Property: White Woman as Slave Owners in the American South<\/td><td>Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7\/10<\/td><td>The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet<\/td><td>Becky Chambers<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7\/16<\/td><td>Gods of Jade and Shadow<\/td><td>Silvia Moreno-Garcia<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7\/21<\/td><td>The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl<\/td><td>Theodora Goss<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7\/24<\/td><td>Goldilocks<\/td><td>Laura Lam<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7\/25<\/td><td>A Closed and Common Orbit<\/td><td>Becky Chambers<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7\/29<\/td><td>Record of a Spaceborn Few<\/td><td>Becky Chambers<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>8\/4<\/td><td>Children of Ruin<\/td><td>Adrian Tchaikovsky<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>8\/8<\/td><td>American Prison: A Reporter&#8217;s Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment<\/td><td>Shane Bauer<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>8\/16<\/td><td>Harrow the Ninth<\/td><td>Tamsyn Muir<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>8\/24<\/td><td>A Burning<\/td><td>Megha Majumdar<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9\/1<\/td><td>How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States<\/td><td>Daniel Immerwahr<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9\/1<\/td><td>Technical Communication Today, 6th Edition<\/td><td>Richard Johnson-Sheehan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9\/6<\/td><td>Empress of Forever<\/td><td>Max Gladstone<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9\/6<\/td><td>Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism<\/td><td>Safiya Umoja Noble<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9\/11<\/td><td>The First Sister<\/td><td>Linden Lewis<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9\/16<\/td><td>Miracle Country: A Memoir<\/td><td>Kendra Atleework<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9\/20<\/td><td>Sistema nervioso<\/td><td>Lina Meruane<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9\/25<\/td><td>Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism<\/td><td>Seyward Darby<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10\/1<\/td><td>Feminismos: Miradas desde la diversidad<\/td><td>ed. Pikara<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10\/1<\/td><td>Can&#8217;t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation<\/td><td>Anne Helen Petersen<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10\/6<\/td><td>A Witch in Time<\/td><td>Constance Sayers<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10\/16<\/td><td>Machine<\/td><td>Elizabeth Bear<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10\/19<\/td><td>The Midnight Bargain<\/td><td>C. L. Polk<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10\/19<\/td><td>Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void<\/td><td>Mary Roach<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10\/25<\/td><td>Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains<\/td><td>Kerri Arsenault<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10\/30<\/td><td>The Once and Future Witches<\/td><td>Alix E. Harrow<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10\/31<\/td><td>Beowulf: A New Translation<\/td><td>Maria Dahvana Headley<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11\/2<\/td><td>Piranesi<\/td><td>Susanna Clarke<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11\/5<\/td><td>The Space Between Worlds<\/td><td>Micaiah Johnson<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11\/6<\/td><td>Sombras de Reikiavik<\/td><td>Anthony Adeane<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11\/8<\/td><td>Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and their Surprising Rise to Power<\/td><td>Anna Merlan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11\/12<\/td><td>Transcendent Kingdom<\/td><td>Yaa Gyasi<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11\/20<\/td><td>The Language Hoax: The World Looks the Same in Any Language<\/td><td>John H. McWhorter<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11\/22<\/td><td>The City of Brass<\/td><td>S. A. Chakraborty<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11\/27<\/td><td>The Kingdom of Copper<\/td><td>S. A. Chakraborty<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12\/4<\/td><td>The Empire of Gold<\/td><td>S. A. Chakraborty<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12\/9<\/td><td>Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest<\/td><td>Zeynep Tufekci<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12\/11<\/td><td>Thick: And Other Essays<\/td><td>Tressie McMillan Cottom<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12\/13<\/td><td>The Empress of Salt and Fortune<\/td><td>Nghi Vo<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12\/22<\/td><td>The Unreality of Memory and Other Essays<\/td><td>Elisa Gabbert<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12\/27<\/td><td>Escaping Exodus<\/td><td>Nicky Drayden<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12\/29<\/td><td>What We Don&#8217;t Talk about When We Talk about Fat<\/td><td>Aubrey Gordon<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was really hoping I would beat my past reading record (90 books!) this year, but alas, it was not meant to be. I made it to 88 books, which makes 2020 the new second-place for my competition with myself to read the most books. Looking at past books of the year posts, I saw&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[86],"tags":[345,87,69],"class_list":["post-1884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-345","tag-books-of-the-year","tag-inspired-by-real-life-events"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3ni6N-uo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1884"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1887,"href":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1884\/revisions\/1887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}